Help: strange browser behaviour after windows update

T

Tom Perkin

Hello,

Having installed XP from scratch, I ran windows update. It
downloaded and installed a series of hotfixes, listed below. After
rebooting, web browsing through IE is showing some strange behaviour.
Many pages time out, including www.windowsupdate.com itself when it
gets to the point where it redirects to

http://v5.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/v5consumer/default.aspx?ln=en-us

Google itself remains fast, but when clicking on links from google, the
page
is *very slow* to load or times out. This mostly doesn't occur if I
type the URL directly into the address bar. I have tested on unvisited
pages in order to control for cached pages.

Google links redirect like:

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=U&start=1&q=http://sourceforge.net/&e=...

It seems to have something to do with redirection, or possibly
connection to a server that wasn't the original one requested. Another
efect seems to be that if I go to a site whose page contains elements
from multiple servers, it times out on the secondary elements. For
example, from www.hp.com it loads most of the page, but times out on a
component from hphqglobal.112.2o7.net.

I have tried installing SP2 from the 270MB package that contains
everything, but ths has not helped. I am convinced upstream
connectivity is fine since other machines on the same LAN are fine. I
have run an up to date Symantec Virus scan on the machine, and ad-aware
came back with nothing so I don't think it is a security breach.

Any suggestions appreciated.

warm regards,

-tom

Details:
Base install: windows XP pro SP1a (from a CD)
hotfixes applied (extracted from windowsUpdate.log)

816093: Security Update Microsoft Virtual Machine (Microsoft VM)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB828741)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB873339)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB885836)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB890175)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB888302)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB891781)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB888113)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB873333)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB835732)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB893086)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB892944)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB893066)
Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1
(KB890923)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB890859)
Security Update for Windows Messenger (KB887472)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB885835)
Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool - May 2005 (KB890830)
Microsoft Windows Installer 3.1

Hardware:

Via MEII6000 mini-ITX motherboard with integrated ethernet, graphics
and sound.

Other software installed:
Firefox
ultraVNC server and viewer
VIA drivers for audio, Rhine ethernet and S3 graphics adapters.
 
R

Robert Aldwinckle

Tom Perkin said:
Hello,

Having installed XP from scratch, I ran windows update. It
downloaded and installed a series of hotfixes, listed below. After
rebooting, web browsing through IE is showing some strange behaviour.
Many pages time out, including www.windowsupdate.com itself when it
gets to the point where it redirects to

http://v5.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/v5consumer/default.aspx?ln=en-us

What is your primary Languages... setting?
If it isn't EN-US (e.g. to match the URL you are trying to use)
try making that (temporary) modification. (in IE: press Alt-T,O,Alt-L,...)

Also to get a better idea of which point it is hanging you could watch
the messages in the Status bar. I suggest Fullscreen mode
in order to maximize the size of the Status bar's message area.
(E.g. press F11 and Alt-V,B if necessary.)

Tip: If the messages are occurring too fast you could slow them down
considerably by using Security dialog Prompts. E.g. temporarily change
any settings in the appropriate zone which are currently Enable to Prompt
and reply Yes to any prompts you get when trying to use the above link
after this modification. To undo the change after your testing is complete
simply use the Default Level button (assuming you normally don't have
any other customization in effect.)

Google itself remains fast, but when clicking on links from google, the
page
is *very slow* to load or times out. This mostly doesn't occur if I
type the URL directly into the address bar. I have tested on unvisited
pages in order to control for cached pages.

Google links redirect like:

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=U&start=1&q=http://sourceforge.net/&e=...

It seems to have something to do with redirection, or possibly
connection to a server that wasn't the original one requested. Another
efect seems to be that if I go to a site whose page contains elements
from multiple servers, it times out on the secondary elements. For
example, from www.hp.com it loads most of the page, but times out on a
component from hphqglobal.112.2o7.net.

There are cookies associated with those. Are you blocking cookies?

I have tried installing SP2 from the 270MB package that contains
everything, but ths has not helped. I am convinced upstream
connectivity is fine since other machines on the same LAN are fine. I
have run an up to date Symantec Virus scan on the machine, and ad-aware
came back with nothing so I don't think it is a security breach.

Any suggestions appreciated.

I think, in spite of your observation about others on your LAN,
that you may find that the problem is related to your DNS or a firewall.
I would take packet traces of the connection attempts and look at them
to see if you can restate your symptoms in those terms. If necessary you
could do the same thing with the other machines which seem to be having
no similar difficulty and use their traces to spot any significant differences.

Tip: since you have XP Pro you can use its netcap utility to do the packet
capture for you. FWIW I find it much easier and a more transparent capture
than, say, Ethereal. I use Ethereal only for formatting.


Good luck

Robert Aldwinckle
---
 

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