IE6 keeps crashing

[darlene]

A few days ago, we were getting pop up ads - even when we
weren't using the browser. Then IE6 started crashing.
The error is an invalid page fault in different .dll
modules. So I uninstalled IE6 and went back to IE5 and
then downloaded IE6 again. But it still keeps crashing.
And we still get random pop up ads while using the browser
not associated with the web page (for instance when I go
to google.com I'll get a pop up ad). We found some
suspicious programs and got rid of them, but there must
still be something embedded that we can't find. Any ideas
on how I can get IE6 to stop crashing?
Thank you.

 

[pschulan]

There's nothing in IE6 that makes it crash "out of the box". I have been
using it succesfully for over a year. Most likely, there are some spyware
or other nasty programs that rely on some features of IE6 to do their dirty
work. Suggest you download Ad-Aware 6.0 and Spybot Search&Destroy. Both of
these are free and do a good job of locating adware and spyware. Another
good program is SpywareGuard (also free), which protects your Browser from
being hijacked by pernicious programs that can download themselves invisibly
while you browse. I use all of these programs, and I have been free of this
type of menace since I've used them. Highly recommended.

Not all pop-ups are generated by these nasty programs. Some are simply
embedded in the code of the Web page you visit. These, while annoying,
cannot cause your browser to crash. so after you have cleaned up your
computer of adware / spyware / "scumware", you will still see some pop-ups
when you visit certain Web sites. If you don't like them, there are
pop-blocker programs you can find. The new version of the Google toolbar
comes with a popup blocker. I have been using this for several weeks and it
seems like a good one (free, of course).

-- phil

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP]

A few days ago, we were getting pop up ads - even when we
weren't using the browser. Then IE6 started crashing.
The error is an invalid page fault in different .dll
modules. So I uninstalled IE6 and went back to IE5 and
then downloaded IE6 again. But it still keeps crashing.
And we still get random pop up ads while using the browser
not associated with the web page (for instance when I go
to google.com I'll get a pop up ad). We found some
suspicious programs and got rid of them, but there must
still be something embedded that we can't find. Any ideas
on how I can get IE6 to stop crashing?
Thank you.

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