similar experience

[Jeff]

My IE6.0 is experiencing some symptons as described by Al,
George, and Jack. (Open in new window doesn't work;
clicking on the links that require opening a new browser
doeswn't work; default search bar has been changed to
something associate with i--search.com)

Somehow, reinstalling SP1 doesn't help; and during the
reinstallation, an error message would popup saying the
software has not passed the windows logo test or something
like that - how could that be possible? - SP1 was
downloaded from MS updates... Tried to get help from the
online support and they "cleverly" ask you to redirect your
request to the manufacturer of PCs/laptops...

Can somebody help? Or how can we get MS to help?

Any suggestions are much much appreciated.

 

[RJan]

I also have the same exact problem on one of my computers
(XP Home, IE 6, all with latest SP/Updates/etc) - I've
searched the MS knowledge base and found nothing related
to this - I'm still looking into it.

R

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP]

My IE6.0 is experiencing some symptons as described by Al,
George, and Jack. (Open in new window doesn't work;
clicking on the links that require opening a new browser
doeswn't work; default search bar has been changed to
something associate with i--search.com)

Somehow, reinstalling SP1 doesn't help; and during the
reinstallation, an error message would popup saying the
software has not passed the windows logo test or something
like that - how could that be possible? - SP1 was
downloaded from MS updates... Tried to get help from the
online support and they "cleverly" ask you to redirect your
request to the manufacturer of PCs/laptops...

Can somebody help? Or how can we get MS to help?

Any suggestions are much much appreciated.

First eliminate any scumware.
See
Dealing with Unwanted Malware, Parasites, Toolbars and Search Engines
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm

Note that AdAware and SpyBot S & D will each catch some things the other
won't. Also, each needs to be updated with the program's update function
before every use, even when just downloaded. There's also a lot more to do
than just those two programs. CWShredder is also available here:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/regs_edits/cwshredder.zip
**Post your HijackThis log to
http://forums.spywareinfo.com/ or the Spyware forum at
http://forum.aumha.org/ for expert analysis, not here.**
Alternative download pages for Ad-Aware, Spybot, HijackThis and CWShredder
may be found on this page:
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm.

If nothing there helps, please post back to this thread.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

 

[Jeff]

Thanks a lot, Frank. I actually read one of your post
yesterday (which I think is identical to your reply to my
post, see below) and tried what you recommended to do.

I happened to have AdAware and SpyBot both installed
previously. SpyBot did not catch anything at all; but
AdAware "deep-scan" (scaning all files and folders) found
the 9 or 10 changes in registry keys modified by ISearch.
So now that problem with ISearch is gone, for which I am
very happy.

HOWEVER, the problem with opening a new browser still
persists. IE update or reinstallation still did not pass
the Win logo test - so one or more components that I cannot
figure out are not installed - maybe that is the cause of
the remaining problems.

I copied George's post here to reinstate the problem one
more time:
--Everytime I click on a link and a new window pops up, the
window is barren, meaning there is no address bar, no
standard buttons appear, no status bar appears. The only
thing that shows up is the menu bar and the MSN toolbar.
I have no clue why it is doing this, and it only happens
when I click on a link that opens in a new window. If I
use the "file, new, window" method, everything is normal,
but when I click a link that opens in a new window the
problem described appears. Please help me with this, any
help you can give me is very appreciated. Thank you very
much.

Any more suggestions?

Thanks again for the suggestions on scumwares.

===========

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP IE/OE]

Thanks a lot, Frank. I actually read one of your post
yesterday (which I think is identical to your reply to my
post, see below) and tried what you recommended to do.

I happened to have AdAware and SpyBot both installed
previously. SpyBot did not catch anything at all; but
AdAware "deep-scan" (scaning all files and folders) found
the 9 or 10 changes in registry keys modified by ISearch.
So now that problem with ISearch is gone, for which I am
very happy.

HOWEVER, the problem with opening a new browser still
persists. IE update or reinstallation still did not pass
the Win logo test - so one or more components that I cannot
figure out are not installed - maybe that is the cause of
the remaining problems.

I copied George's post here to reinstate the problem one
more time:
--Everytime I click on a link and a new window pops up, the
window is barren, meaning there is no address bar, no
standard buttons appear, no status bar appears. The only
thing that shows up is the menu bar and the MSN toolbar.
I have no clue why it is doing this, and it only happens
when I click on a link that opens in a new window. If I
use the "file, new, window" method, everything is normal,
but when I click a link that opens in a new window the
problem described appears. Please help me with this, any
help you can give me is very appreciated. Thank you very
much.

Any more suggestions?

Thanks again for the suggestions on scumwares.

Check for a file named HOSTS with no extension (not Hosts.sam). It may be a
hidden file. Open it with Notepad and remove any line referencing the site.
Or, rename HOSTS to OLDHOSTS

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/