Corrupt Internet Explorer v 7 - need a fix

[jcage]

I ended up with a pretty significant malware attack on my XPpro
machine and all is pretty much back to where it was, other than
Internet Explorer 7. I've tried registry scanners or cleaners, tried
the MS solution for uninstall and reinstall (or fix), and tried the
sure fire tool I found here: http://www.thewindowsclub.com/repair-internet-explorer-with-fix-ie-utility

When I attempt to open IE, I get the "Internet Explorer has
encountered a problem and needs to close" message w/Debug and Close as
options. Frankly, I've put so much work into trying to repair it that
I'm about through and may just live with other browsers but it does
kind of bug me in just not having it working so if there were an easy
approach to getting it stable and working again, I'd like to give it a
try. I'm assuming re-installing v7 isn't one of those and downloading
and installing vIE8 may not be viable. Kind of frustrating so I
thought I'd post here for any ideas...

TIA

 

[LD55ZRA]

It depends on whether or not you have an IE7 on XP or Vista and still on the
system. It doesn't matter whether it is working properly or not because the
solution at this link is designed to fix anything on Vista systems:

http://support.microsoft.com/gp/pc_ie_intro

If you have XP then you will need to follow this article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318378

If none of the above articles help then you will need to reformat your HD
and then to install your operating system from scratch. You will need to
backup your data before you do this.

Hope this helps.

 

[jcage]

It depends on whether or not you have an IE7 on XP or Vista and still on the
system.  It doesn't matter whether it is working properly or not because the
solution at this link is designed to fix anything on Vista systems:

Same file is listed for repair of all versions of Windows at:
http://www.freewarefiles.com/Fix-IE-Utility_program_52418.html

Hope I can find a way to save my IE7 but it's in no way worth a
reformat of a hard drive to get it back. Too many other browsers on
the market nowadays but again, I'd like to save it if I can. Thanks
for the feedback.

 

[Rob]

Same file is listed for repair of all versions of Windows at:
http://www.freewarefiles.com/Fix-IE-Utility_program_52418.html

Hope I can find a way to save my IE7 but it's in no way worth a
reformat of a hard drive to get it back. Too many other browsers on
the market nowadays but again, I'd like to save it if I can. Thanks
for the feedback.

You should understand that after a malware attack, your system is
essentially untrusted. You now know about a gross error, but there
could be other subtle problems with your system that you have not yet
identified. According to a Microsoft specialist, a reinstall really
is the only way to completely solve this issue.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Are you running WinXP SP2 or SP3?

Is the computer fully-patched at Windows Update?

What anti-virus application or security suite is installed and is your
subscription current? What anti-spyware applications (other than Defender)?
What third-party firewall (if any)? Were any of these applications running
in the background when you installed IE7 (and/or SP3)?

Has a(another) Norton or McAfee application ever been installed on the
computer (e.g., a free-trial version that came preinstalled when you bought
it)?

 

[jcage]

Are you running WinXP SP2 or SP3?

Is the computer fully-patched at Windows Update?

What anti-virus application or security suite is installed and is your
subscription current?  What anti-spyware applications (other than Defender)?
What third-party firewall (if any)?  Were any of these applications running
in the background when you installed IE7 (and/or SP3)?

Has a(another) Norton or McAfee application ever been installed on the
computer (e.g., a free-trial version that came preinstalled when you bought
it)?

It's running SP2 but not 'fully patched'. Being fully patched with a
MSOS tends to be a long and winding road. Currently I'm running
PCTools SpyDoctor w/their firewall and what used to be Advanced
Registry Optimizer (but now is Advanced System Optimizer) that comes
with Malware/Spyware scanners as well, and Avira premium anti-virus.
Everything on the system is working well other than IE7. And as to
having to do a system rebuild, sounds like the popular analogy is
similar to the girl who went out on ya - you can never trust 'em
again... lol I've been thinking about updgrading the HDD on
this system and might do a complete rebuild when that time comes.
Kinda back to that analogy, a question comes back to what files to
back up. If you really wanted to be *sure*, you wouldn't take
anything with ya to the new system... ;-)

It crashed when my kid was using it and apparently the only thing I
had actively running was AVG anti-virus. Whatever kind of attack it
was, decimated the AVG. At the time, I only had one gig of ram so had
my Spyware Doctor shut off because there was some graphics intensive
work I was doing. So kind of a combination of the three perhaps, I
had an older version of Zonalarm firewall running, w/no Spyware Doctor
and AVG when he happened across some site. I've since beefed up the
ram and keep numerous things running in the system tray at once and
frequently run scans and associated updates. For all intents and
purposes, I was in pretty good shape computer-wise until the tough
times caused my kid to move back in with me and then where he went
online, started my woes.

 

[Leonard Grey]

"...It's running SP2 but not 'fully patched'..."

"...Currently I'm running...what used to be Advanced Registry Optimizer
but now is Advanced System Optimizer)..."

Live by the sword, die by the sword.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Nuke & pave the sucker!

It's running SP2 but not 'fully patched'. Being fully patched with a
MSOS tends to be a long and winding road. Currently I'm running
PCTools SpyDoctor w/their firewall and what used to be Advanced
Registry Optimizer (but now is Advanced System Optimizer) that comes
with Malware/Spyware scanners as well, and Avira premium anti-virus.
Everything on the system is working well other than IE7. And as to
having to do a system rebuild, sounds like the popular analogy is
similar to the girl who went out on ya - you can never trust 'em
again... lol I've been thinking about updgrading the HDD on
this system and might do a complete rebuild when that time comes.
Kinda back to that analogy, a question comes back to what files to
back up. If you really wanted to be *sure*, you wouldn't take
anything with ya to the new system... ;-)

It crashed when my kid was using it and apparently the only thing I
had actively running was AVG anti-virus. Whatever kind of attack it
was, decimated the AVG. At the time, I only had one gig of ram so had
my Spyware Doctor shut off because there was some graphics intensive
work I was doing. So kind of a combination of the three perhaps, I
had an older version of Zonalarm firewall running, w/no Spyware Doctor
and AVG when he happened across some site. I've since beefed up the
ram and keep numerous things running in the system tray at once and
frequently run scans and associated updates. For all intents and
purposes, I was in pretty good shape computer-wise until the tough
times caused my kid to move back in with me and then where he went
online, started my woes.

 

[jcage]

"...It's running SP2 but not 'fully patched'..."

"...Currently I'm running...what used to be Advanced Registry Optimizer
but now is Advanced System Optimizer)..."

Live by the sword, die by the sword.

Not sure I follow ya. Everything I've mentioned is the paid version
and received pretty high reviews around the net.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Not sure I follow ya. Everything I've mentioned is the paid version
and received pretty high reviews around the net.

Injudicious use of Advanced Registry Optimizer and its ilk may have caused
your problem. If you ever think your Registry needs to be cleaned,
repaired, boosted, tuned-up, cured, tweaked, or optimized (it doesn't), read
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099 and draw your own conclusions.

Extended Support for WinXP (x86) SP2 ends on 13 July 2010. After that date,
computers running WinXP (x86) SP2 will NOT be offered any further critical
security updates, Automatic Updates will not work, and Windows Update
website will not be accessible until SP3 is installed.

What does it mean if my version of Windows is no longer supported?
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/help/what-does-end-of-support-mean

 

[jcage]

Injudicious use of Advanced Registry Optimizer and its ilk may have caused
your problem.  If you ever think your Registry needs to be cleaned,
repaired, boosted, tuned-up, cured, tweaked, or optimized (it doesn't), readhttp://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099and draw your own conclusions.

Extended Support for WinXP (x86) SP2 ends on 13 July 2010. After that date,
computers running WinXP (x86) SP2 will NOT be offered any further critical
security updates, Automatic Updates will not work, and Windows Update
website will not be accessible until SP3 is installed.

What does it mean if my version of Windows is no longer supported?http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/help/what-does-end-of-supp...

Thanks for the info... Any thoughts on doing a 'restore'? I believe
that it's a restore that I've heard about that supposedly repairs all
windows system files, leaving all user files alone. If this is the
case, perhaps I should be looking at that approach.

 

[Twayne]

In

Thanks for the info... Any thoughts on doing a 'restore'?
I believe
that it's a restore that I've heard about that supposedly
repairs all
windows system files, leaving all user files alone. If
this is the
case, perhaps I should be looking at that approach.

System Restore would certainly be a good thing to try at
least. It may or may not make any difference, but if it's of
no use, you can always "restore back" to the original settings
you have before you ran it.

As for the ...aumha.net... web site link, that's a bunch of
crap in the latter parts, written by the same people on this
very group who wrongly claim that ALL registry management
programs are crap, or "snakeoil", their favorite term. It's
like company X sending you to the company X website to "prove
a point" about what their product does; pretty useless.

The fact that a version of a program or operating system with
a certain SP level no longer being supported, simply means
that there will be no further updates for that version.
Install SP3 and support will last until 2014.
But it means little else. And, IMO, MS keeps on sending
critical updates for their non-supported OS's anyway. I have a
win 2k system behind me here that still periodically gets MS
OS updates; just not on a repeatable schedule.
Several people are even still using win98, myself included,
on a machine out in my shop. I do ordering, searches, etc.
with it on line and no problems.
XP will remain a viable operating system for many years to
come. SP3 is worth installing though, just to eliminate the
over a hundred updates & fixes that are in SP2. Makes a
reinstall go a lot faster if nothing else.

HTH,

Twayne`

 

[jcage]

Thanks again for the time with your replies everyone... I discovered
one thing that surprised me as I logged into a user account on this
machine and Internet Explorer worked just fine. I expected to login
back into the admin account and have it work as flawlessly and was
dismayed when in 'admin' mode, I was faced with the same choices,
'debug' and 'close' when getting into IE through Admin level. Is
there some way to mirror settings over from that user account to
'Admin'? Everything on this machine seems to be NEARLY where it was
before the crash so I hate to do anything really radical and have any
'setback'.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Repost: Nuke & pave the sucker!