IE I really messed it up.....

[Andy]

I recently downloaded a certain file sharing program that
turned out to be a big mistake. (If you must know it was
called grokster). Anyway, I knew I shouldn't have done it
as soon as pop-ups started taking over my computer. Since
then I have removed the file sharing program but it seems
to have severly damaged ie. Pop-ups are horrible, (even
with Norton internet security enabled.) Some pages that
require a password and user name won't let me log in,
sometimes it throws an error message that says ie has
encountered a problem and needs to close, etc. Any help
on this problem would be appreciated. I was going to try
and just remove ie all together but found that it is not
possible with xp. I really don't want to reload xp and
loose all the information on my hard drive. Anybody?

Thanks,
Andy

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP IE/OE]

First eliminate any scumware.
See
Dealing with Unwanted Spyware, Parasites, Toolbars and Search Engines
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm

Note that AdAware and SpyBot S & D will each catch some things the other
won't. Also, each need to be updated before every use, even when just
downloaded.

If trying everything at that site does not fix the problem please post back
in the same thread.

 

[Charlie Tame]

www.winmx.com hasn't fallen prey to the spyware purveyors yet, though of
course you have to be careful what you download and also what you share.

Frank's advice is sound.

I'll include some more links if you get stuck.


--
More Secure ActiveX Settings
http://www.tames.net/security/activexsettings.htm

Even better browser security
http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~ehowes/resource6.htm
IE Won't work after removing spyware
http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm

Help Removing Parasites and AdWare
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
www.lavasoftusa.com
http://security.kolla.de/index.php?lang=en&page=about
http://www.spywareguide.com/product_list_full.php

Charlie