Problem loading pages to IE6

[Guest]

Suddenly (started last week) I have problem loading web pages into IE6. I can
connect to and browse web using Firefox, Mozilla or Netscape. Till last week
I used Maxthon (which use IE engine) to browse web, but now I have to switch
to Firefox. Displaying local html files works fine.

Unfortunatelly Windows XP is quite dependent on IE (even if it is not a
default browser). For example I cannot do web based Windows Updates, or I
tried to check Google AJAX Toolkit, but its "home" browser uses IE, so it
does not work.

I would be completely comfortable to live without IE, but it seem to be
impossible to setup Windows to totally uninstall IE.

I have even reformatted and reinstalled Windows XP SP2, and initially it
worked but after few reboots the problem was back. It might be caused by some
application (I have most of the aplications installed on D drive), but I have
no idea which one, and I did not install any new application before it
started happening.

Anybody has an idea what might be wrong, or how to debug the problem?

 

[PA Bear]

Before You Connect a New Computer to the Internet
(formatting and reinstalling WinXP = a New Computer)
http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/before_you_plug_in.html

Protect Your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/

If you didn't take care of everything on the first page before otherwise
connecting to the internet (e.g., to browse or check email), the culprit
is/was probably hijackware.

Checking for/Help with Hijackware
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=5878
http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_Removal_and_Prevention:_Introduction
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/data/prevention.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/tshoot.html
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm
http://defendingyourmachine.blogspot.com/
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

When all else fails, HijackThis v1.99.1
(http://aumha.org/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://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30,
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html,
http://forums.subratam.org/index.php?showforum=7, or other appropriate
forums for expert analysis, not here.**

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the recommendations, they were quite useful!

I did all the recommended steps and ran all the recommended tools (still
have to report HijackThis logs), but none of the tools including HijackThis
revealed anything strange, and the problem with IE not able to connect to web
is still there.

I have to admit, that there was a small window where I had network working
and virus scan was not installed (got network working first, then I installed
Norton AntiVirus). I had high hopes that it is hijack attack, but now I am
not convinced.

I would not mind not using and totally uninstalling IE, but it is almost
impossible to do. I tried to follow guide from MS Knowledge base, but no
luck. IE seem to be integrated into Windows quite strongly. Now I understand
the lawsuites against MS. Bad side effect of having IE integrated into
Windows is the uninstall or reinstall of IE is hard to impossible.

Lubos