Runtime Error Prevents Internet Explorer from Opening

[Guest]

Starting this afternoon, I cannot open Internet Explorer.
When I click on the shortcut icon, as well as the exe file, I get the
following pop-up:
______________________
Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library
Runtime Error!
Program: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplorer.exe

This application has requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual
way. Please contact the application’s support team for more information.
___________________

Outlook Express works fine (have received and sent emails), and I have web
access thru Firefox (downloaded onto and emailed from another computer after
this problem started).

I keep Norton Anti-virus updated, and ran Ad-Aware and Spybot with nothing
being detected.

I'm running XP/SP2, and updating with any security updates from MS on a
regular basis. I haven't done anything different to my computer over the past
24 hours that I can recall.

Any ideas?

Many thanks.
-Danny

 

[Don Varnau]

Hi,
Another program (possibly malware) may be interfering with IE. From Control
Panel> Internet Options> Advanced> uncheck "Enable third party browser
extensions." Does that allow IE to open? If so, you still need to find the
troublesome program so that you can re-enable browser extensions. BHODemon
2.0 from http://www.definitivesolutions.com/bhodemon.htm will allow you to
disable suspicious or unknown BHOs in similar fashion.

The CommonName parasite can cause this. Is CommonName or CN in add/remove
programs? See: http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/CommonName.html

Or this could be caused by another parasite. Try Ad-aware and/or Spybot.
See: Dealing with Unwanted Spyware and Parasites:
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
Also note the security tips and other important information on that page.

Additional information at:
The Parasite Fight http://www.aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
More security tips at http://www.aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
Bugs, Glitches & Stuffups: http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/darnit.html
What you can do about spyware and other unwanted software:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/spywarewhat.mspx

Another possibility:
From Internet Options> Advanced, if you have both Sun Java and Microsoft VM
(virtual machine) uncheck Sun Java.
More information on Java and Microsoft VM issues at
http://www.mvps.org/inetexplorer/archive/answers_9.htm

Another possibility... the "clean boot" troubleshooting method may help you
find the program that's causing this.
276393 - Understanding and Troubleshooting Unrecoverable Errors (Faults) in
Internet Explorer: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=276393

Hope this helps,
Don
MS MVP IE/OE


"Danny" wrote in message

 

[Guest]

It was a BHO: googletoolbar1.dll
I didn't download anything over the past few days, and I've been using the
google toolbar for a while (months), so should I assume that the corrupting
of this file is "just one of those things" or that some malware is lurking?
(I've run AdAware and Spybot, neither of which found anything.)
Thanks.
-Danny

 

[Don Varnau]

The Google toolbar may have been the only culprit. You should be able to
uninstall/reinstall the Google toolbar. It's not usually troublesome. If the
C++ Runtime errors stopped, I wouldn't keep looking for another cause.

Don
[MS MVP- IE/OE]

"Danny" wrote in message

 

[Guest]

Thanks a lot. This forum is a great resource.
-Danny

The Google toolbar may have been the only culprit. You should be able to
uninstall/reinstall the Google toolbar. It's not usually troublesome. If the
C++ Runtime errors stopped, I wouldn't keep looking for another cause.

Don
[MS MVP- IE/OE]

"Danny" wrote in message

It was a BHO: googletoolbar1.dll
I didn't download anything over the past few days, and I've been using the
google toolbar for a while (months), so should I assume that the corrupting
of this file is "just one of those things" or that some malware is lurking?
(I've run AdAware and Spybot, neither of which found anything.)
Thanks.
-Danny

 

[Rachel_H]

Hi, I had exactly the same problem as Danny, it turned out to be my
google toolbar too. Just wanted to say this is a great forum, thanks to
Don Varneau for his help - looked at many other forums before this who
were completely useless!