Problems with opening Internet Explorer

[Ron P.]

I'm having a problem opening IE under only one of the accounts on my system.
It's running XP SP2 and IE 6.0. Most of the time, IE won't open, independent
of whether I use the START menu, QuickLaunch icon or iexplore from the Run
box. I've noticed that in the Processes section of the Task Manager that when
IEXPLORE.EXE loads properly, the Memory Usage is a minimum of 30,000-50,000 k
but when it doesn't open, IEXPLORE.EXE still appears under Processes but the
Memory Usage is always only in the 17,000s. Only one account has this
problem. There was a strange event days before this problem began -
multiple browser windows opening by themselves! NAV '08 & Spybot S&D found no
problems. No problems with changed home pages or redirects. Any thoughts ?
Am also unable to do a System Restore although it's my 1st attempt on this
system so that could be a separate issue. Would updating to IE 7 fix the
problem? Thanks for any insight you could provide. Ron P.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

First of all, it's very unlikely that System Restore will come to the rescue
here.

Second, NAV pretty much disables System Restore by default. See
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/symantecdoc1.html

Third, you've got a hijackware infection on your hands that neither NAV nor
Spybot can detect.

Unexplained computer behavior may be caused by deceptive software
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827315

Run a /thorough/ check for hijackware, including posting your hijackthis log
to an appropriate forum.

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://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

When all else fails, HijackThis v2.0.2
(http://aumha.org/downloads/hijackthis.exe) is the preferred tool to use (in
conjunction with some other utilities). HijackThis will NOT fix anything on
its own, but it will help you to both identify and remove any
hijackware/spyware with assistance from an expert. **Post your log to
http://spywarehammer.com/simplemachinesforum/index.php?board=10.0,
http://forums.spybot.info/forumdisplay.php?f=22,
http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30, or another appropriate forum for review
by an expert in such matters, not here.**

If the procedures look too complex - and there is no shame in admitting this
isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a local, reputable and
independent (i.e., not BigBoxStoreUSA or Geek Squad) computer repair shop.