IE 6.0 hangs my XP SP2 bad, please help, detailed case

[Guest]

ok, XP home SP2, IE 6.0 with latest patches, the machine is virus/spyware free.
this has been going on in sp1 as i remember too.

this is an isolated case, it only happens when i have
2 IE browser windows, one was spawned from the other,
example: i browse download.com, i click on the link there and it
opens the 2nd ie browser window. there are now 2 IE windows
both from download.com site.
the problem is: sometimes ( not all the time ) shortly after (0-3 sec) when
i close the 2nd IE window my OS hangs.
this is only happens when i click on x close button in the 2nd IE window,
not while browsing or scrolling or using other apps at same time,etc.
only at the moment the second ie window is closed.
this is the only time when os hangs, no problems otherwise.

another example: 1st browser window has this usergroup loaded,
2nd browser window is for writing this post, if i click x or close button on
this second window the OS may hang... 50/50 chance that it will do it.

the hang:
- there is no blue screen
- i can't use alt-task-delete, task manager don't show up
- desktop is stuck, mouse clicks don't work on any apps or windows
- start button don't click
- mouse moves
- there is no way to terminate any task
as i can't bring up the task manager
- event viewer has not trace of error

the only thing i can do after the hang is to hit powerbutton and
restart button and then click off "end task" boxes one by one until the
system reboots.

this is quite frustrating because when browsing i often get cought with that
hang when i close the second IE window.

other times there is absolutely no problem browsing.
just when i close the 2nd ie window created from the 1st ie window.

please help out.
i could not find anything in the microsoft knowledge base...

 

[Rob Parsons]

I am only guessing but I think this is not an IE problem but rather a design
and program process flow problem with the web sites in question where the
problem occurs. I would guess that they have not properly programed for the
On-top window being closed with the X button.

Are there any other buttons on the pages to close the windows? If there are
and these buttons close the windows gracefully then chances are that it is
the nut holding the keyboard writing the code problem.
Nothing we can do about it.

 

[PA Bear]

I'd run a more thorough check for hijackware, including posting a HijackThis
log to an appropriate forum:

http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=5878
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/data/prevention.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/archive/tshoot.html
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm
http://defendingyourmachine.blogspot.com/

When all else fails, HijackThis v1.99.1
(http://aumha.net/downloads/hijackthis.zip) is the preferred tool to use.
It will help you to both identify and remove any hijackware/spyware. **Post
your log to http://forums.spywareinfo.com/,
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html or http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30
for expert analysis, not here.**

 

[Guest]

well, i thought about that too and read microsoft knowledge base about
websites not being designed propely, but i don't think this is the case,
because it's just the simplest window close function in the IE... also
whenever there is close button within the 2nd window i close out that window
by pressing the offered button,
if there is no button then i close out with x. still same problem.
and the problem happens on some major well designed well known sites
as well as plain sites...

this is only happens if i have 2 IE windows opened... and when i close the
2nd window... frustrating.
i reset all IE setting to default, no use.
i enabled script debugging back to see if any error will come up.
i enabled windows send debug info to see if something comes up there.
***i enabled "load folder as separate process" with the hope that this can
isolate
that 2nd IE window and allow me to kill it with the task manager...


i get a sence that closing out that 2nd window the error kills not only IE
but also
windows explorer shell... that's why i can't bring up the task mananger

still need help here...

 

[Guest]

spyware is not likely to be the case here for me.
i scrub the regularly machine with over 10 major
AV AS apps, have best firewall, + know and watch my OS components well.

i agree that crashing IE could open be in fact open backdoor type deal,
but i fail to see why it only happens on the child IE window.

again the problem is: parent IE opens child IE with hyperlink, when closing
child IE
the OS sometimes hangs. other times it's all good.

i am wondering if it makes sense to uninstall and reinstall IE or repair
the installation? this is IE 6 sp2, is there an pointer on how to do that
specifically for IE 6/sp2

thanks.

 

[PA Bear]

IMO you can't be sure the problem isn't hijackware-related until an
experienced expert has given your HijackThis log a clean bill of health.
Again, I'd rule out hijackware before doing anything else. If the problem
is hijackware-related, reinstalling IE won't help: Hijackware infects the
Operating System, not the browser.

How to reinstall or repair Internet Explorer and Outlook Express in Windows
XP:
(See the SP2-specific section)
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=318378

 

[Guest]

PA Bear, thanks again for the pointers.
i ruled out spyware, just checked my hijackthis log line by line again.

IE operates well, OS is stable, except this one error.

regarding reinstalling IE SP2 only ( not outlook ),
i am confused a bit looking at the link you provided below

my case is xp sp2 / ie sp2

i guess IE can not be unistalled on xp... can only be disabled ?
there is no isolated repair procedure only for IE 6 sp2 ?
instead must repair windows to repair IE ?
to repair xp SP2 is done by uninstalling sp2 update only and then
reinstalling
sp2 update ?
or do i have to repair windows based on original cd, the do sp1 and sp2
upgrade?

when doing: run -> sfc /scannow i get prompted for original CD, at which
point i decided not to continue, thinking that old and new components should
not be mixed... is there a procedure to verify only IE components?

is there a procedure that allows to repair or reinstall ( on top of the
existing )
of IE 6 sp2 ?

basically what are the best steps to take to repair IE 6 sp2 ???

thanks again.

 

[PA Bear]

i ruled out spyware, just checked my hijackthis log line by line again.

It doesn't matter if *you* think your hijackthis log's OK. Have it review
by an expert. Until you do so, you cannot be sure the machine's
hijackware-free IMO.

IE operates well, OS is stable, except this one error.

See above.

basically what are the best steps to take to repair IE 6 sp2 ???

Again, there is no IE6 SP2. You're running IE6 SP1 in WinXP SP2.

As KB318378 points out, to Repair or Reinstall IE6 in WinXP SP2, you must
reinstall WinXP SP2. Again, I don't think it'll solve your problem.

If it's a newer machine that came with WinXP SP2 pre-installed, follow the
first set of directions (as if it was WinXP or WinXP SP1) as you can't
uninstall just SP2.

If you only upgraded from WinXP SP1 to SP2 recently and you've had this
problem since the upgrade, the hijackware's been long present on the
machine: Uninstall SP2 via Add/Remove Programs before running the thorough
check for hijackware and Trojans. Don't upgrade to SP2 again until an
expert's given your hijackthis log a clean bill of health.

 

[Guest]

PA Bear,
i will follow your expert advice and assume i still have hijackware or
remnants of it.

in your oppinion, what are the best AV and AntiSpyware apps out there?
is there any other app that i need to add to the list below ?

i am using: Ad-aware, SSD, Hijackthis, NAV, NOD32,
MicrosoftBaselineAnalyser, MicrosoftAntiSpyware,
SpySweeper,SpywareDoctor,SpywareBlaster,TheCleaner
+ many helper programs: SecurityTaskManager, WinTask a bunch of component
utilities ffrom NirSoft and SystemInternals, varius disk
scrubbers,PortExplorer,
and Sygate.
all comes out clean in the end, and i don't remember being hijacked or
injected,
although it could be a designer type injection, etc...
but i did have some minor adware once in a while.

so the probability is low that i have something left, but you never know.

i examin hijackthis log myself since when you post to those forum you are
not likely to get a response from them, but i will do it again.

intuitively i think that since microsoft is in big mess regarding component
management, the os is wide open, so they started closing things up in SP1 and
SP2 updates especially for IE and most likely there are plenty of unresolved
issues (bugs) in there

regards

 

[Robert Aldwinckle]

....

the hang:
- there is no blue screen
- i can't use alt-task-delete, task manager don't show up
- desktop is stuck, mouse clicks don't work on any apps or windows
- start button don't click
- mouse moves
- there is no way to terminate any task
as i can't bring up the task manager
- event viewer has not trace of error

the only thing i can do after the hang is to hit powerbutton and
restart button and then click off "end task" boxes one by one until the
system reboots.

Those symptoms are often associated with driver or hardware problems too.
IE may only be an unwitting accomplice by doing something which exposes
such latent problems.

You could try running Task Manager in "tiny footprint" mode with just
the statistics for your IE task(s) showing to see if you could detect a
pattern from them from each "hang". It would also be interesting to note
whether Task Manager would still be dispatched and in particular whether
the IE tasks still appeared to be doing anything. Etc. Unfortunately
it is impossible to see all possible statistics at once so you will have to pick
what you think would be a useful subset of them to look at when your hang
occurs.

<title>KB314227 - Task Manager Menu Bar and Tabs Are Not Visible in Windows XP</title>


Good luck

Robert Aldwinckle
---

ok, XP home SP2, IE 6.0 with latest patches, the machine is virus/spyware free.
this has been going on in sp1 as i remember too.

this is an isolated case, it only happens when i have
2 IE browser windows, one was spawned from the other,
example: i browse download.com, i click on the link there and it
opens the 2nd ie browser window. there are now 2 IE windows
both from download.com site.
the problem is: sometimes ( not all the time ) shortly after (0-3 sec) when
i close the 2nd IE window my OS hangs.
this is only happens when i click on x close button in the 2nd IE window,
not while browsing or scrolling or using other apps at same time,etc.
only at the moment the second ie window is closed.
this is the only time when os hangs, no problems otherwise.

another example: 1st browser window has this usergroup loaded,
2nd browser window is for writing this post, if i click x or close button on
this second window the OS may hang... 50/50 chance that it will do it.

the hang:

....