IE6 Issues after cleaning out malware

[CapCity]

PC is running XP Pro, SP3. For a few reasons, it has to run XP so upgrading
to Windows 7 is not an option right now.



It recently got hit with that fake Windows Security Alert trojan, where
every time you go to open IE you get all these warnings instead fo the
requested page, and every time you go to launch a Malware or Anti-Virus scan
it blocks the executable.



I got that cleaned out fairly easily, but Internet Explorer (version 6, SP3)
won't load any pages. It always gives a "server not found/DNS error." If I
go to the command line and ping a site, say www.google.com, it works fine.
Only have problems when I try to use the browser. Outlook downloads email
with no problem.



I read somewhere about an IE with no plug-ins in the start menu (system
tools) but I do not have that. I tried disabling all the add-ins manually in
IE but get the same error. The security level is medium.



The thing is, this happened to the same computer a few months back, and
after clearing out the trojan IE was doing the same thing it is now. I tried
some things then, but no luck. I even tried reinstalling IE, and then
updating IE to a newer version with no luck. I ended up formatting the hard
drive and reinstalling Windows since the computer was overdue for that,
running slow because of glut and all. I do not want to do that again, so I'm
hoping to just find out what is wrong with IE.



Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

[dadiOH]

Post by CapCity
PC is running XP Pro, SP3. For a few reasons, it has to run XP so
upgrading to Windows 7 is not an option right now.
It recently got hit with that fake Windows Security Alert trojan,
where every time you go to open IE you get all these warnings instead
fo the requested page, and every time you go to launch a Malware or
Anti-Virus scan it blocks the executable.
I got that cleaned out fairly easily, but Internet Explorer (version
6, SP3) won't load any pages. It always gives a "server not found/DNS
error." If I go to the command line and ping a site, say
www.google.com, it works fine. Only have problems when I try to use
the browser. Outlook downloads email with no problem.
I read somewhere about an IE with no plug-ins in the start menu
(system tools) but I do not have that. I tried disabling all the
add-ins manually in IE but get the same error. The security level is
medium.
The thing is, this happened to the same computer a few months back,
and after clearing out the trojan IE was doing the same thing it is
now. I tried some things then, but no luck. I even tried reinstalling
IE, and then updating IE to a newer version with no luck. I ended up
formatting the hard drive and reinstalling Windows since the computer
was overdue for that, running slow because of glut and all. I do not
want to do that again, so I'm hoping to just find out what is wrong
with IE.
Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Dial up? DSL? Cable? Router too?

1. Check the TCP/IP properties in Network Connections. Particulary the part
about obtaining a DNS server.

2. Turn off the modem, router and computer for a minute. Reboot

3. Reset and configure both if you still can't connect.

[CapCity]

Post by dadiOH

Post by CapCity
PC is running XP Pro, SP3. For a few reasons, it has to run XP so
upgrading to Windows 7 is not an option right now.
It recently got hit with that fake Windows Security Alert trojan,
where every time you go to open IE you get all these warnings instead
fo the requested page, and every time you go to launch a Malware or
Anti-Virus scan it blocks the executable.
I got that cleaned out fairly easily, but Internet Explorer (version
6, SP3) won't load any pages. It always gives a "server not found/DNS
error." If I go to the command line and ping a site, say
www.google.com, it works fine. Only have problems when I try to use
the browser. Outlook downloads email with no problem.
I read somewhere about an IE with no plug-ins in the start menu
(system tools) but I do not have that. I tried disabling all the
add-ins manually in IE but get the same error. The security level is
medium.
The thing is, this happened to the same computer a few months back,
and after clearing out the trojan IE was doing the same thing it is
now. I tried some things then, but no luck. I even tried reinstalling
IE, and then updating IE to a newer version with no luck. I ended up
formatting the hard drive and reinstalling Windows since the computer
was overdue for that, running slow because of glut and all. I do not
want to do that again, so I'm hoping to just find out what is wrong
with IE.
Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Dial up? DSL? Cable? Router too?

Good questions. Cable modem, w router.

Post by dadiOH
1. Check the TCP/IP properties in Network Connections. Particulary the
part about obtaining a DNS server.
2. Turn off the modem, router and computer for a minute. Reboot
3. Reset and configure both if you still can't connect.

Will try when I get home tonight.

Post by dadiOH
--
dadiOH
____________________________
dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

[Nil]

Post by CapCity
I got that cleaned out fairly easily, but Internet Explorer
(version 6, SP3) won't load any pages. It always gives a "server
not found/DNS error." If I go to the command line and ping a site,
say www.google.com, it works fine. Only have problems when I try
to use the browser. Outlook downloads email with no problem.

Check Internet Options | Connections | LAN Settings and make sure it is
not set up to use a proxy server. That's a common tactic that malware
uses to intercept your web activity.

[CapCity]

Post by Nil

Post by CapCity
I got that cleaned out fairly easily, but Internet Explorer
(version 6, SP3) won't load any pages. It always gives a "server
not found/DNS error." If I go to the command line and ping a site,
say www.google.com, it works fine. Only have problems when I try
to use the browser. Outlook downloads email with no problem.

Check Internet Options | Connections | LAN Settings and make sure it is
not set up to use a proxy server. That's a common tactic that malware
uses to intercept your web activity.

That was it, thanks!

And thanks to everyone else who respinded. A lot of good advice and tips.

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Post by Nil

Post by CapCity
I got that cleaned out fairly easily, but Internet Explorer
(version 6, SP3) won't load any pages. It always gives a "server
not found/DNS error." If I go to the command line and ping a site,
say www.google.com, it works fine. Only have problems when I try
to use the browser. Outlook downloads email with no problem.

Check Internet Options | Connections | LAN Settings and make sure it is
not set up to use a proxy server. That's a common tactic that malware
uses to intercept your web activity.

That was it, thanks!...

Now, how did that option become enabled and how do you know the computer's
really clean now?

[CapCity]

Post by PA Bear [MS MVP]

Post by Nil

Post by CapCity
I got that cleaned out fairly easily, but Internet Explorer
(version 6, SP3) won't load any pages. It always gives a "server
not found/DNS error." If I go to the command line and ping a site,
say www.google.com, it works fine. Only have problems when I try
to use the browser. Outlook downloads email with no problem.

Check Internet Options | Connections | LAN Settings and make sure it is
not set up to use a proxy server. That's a common tactic that malware
uses to intercept your web activity.

That was it, thanks!...

Now, how did that option become enabled and how do you know the computer's
really clean now?

From what I gather, several different trojans/malware/etc. will enable that
option in order to intercept my internet requests.

I've scanned the computer a couple of times with multiple tools (MS Security
Essentials, AdAware., AVG, MBytes), all updated, and it's come back clean.
And it's been in use for a few days now with no misbehaving.

I guess I don't know that it *really* is clean now, but I do feel reassured
... for now.

[Randem]

Any reason you are still on IE6 instead of IE8?

This may be of some help http://www.randem.com/virusproblems.html
--
The Top Script Generator for Jordan Russell's Inno Setup -
http://www.randem.com/innoscript.html
Free Utilities and Code - http://www.randem.com/freesoftutil.html

Post by CapCity
PC is running XP Pro, SP3. For a few reasons, it has to run XP so
upgrading to Windows 7 is not an option right now.
It recently got hit with that fake Windows Security Alert trojan, where
every time you go to open IE you get all these warnings instead fo the
requested page, and every time you go to launch a Malware or Anti-Virus
scan it blocks the executable.
I got that cleaned out fairly easily, but Internet Explorer (version 6,
SP3) won't load any pages. It always gives a "server not found/DNS error."
If I go to the command line and ping a site, say www.google.com, it works
fine. Only have problems when I try to use the browser. Outlook downloads
email with no problem.
I read somewhere about an IE with no plug-ins in the start menu (system
tools) but I do not have that. I tried disabling all the add-ins manually
in IE but get the same error. The security level is medium.
The thing is, this happened to the same computer a few months back, and
after clearing out the trojan IE was doing the same thing it is now. I
tried some things then, but no luck. I even tried reinstalling IE, and
then updating IE to a newer version with no luck. I ended up formatting
the hard drive and reinstalling Windows since the computer was overdue for
that, running slow because of glut and all. I do not want to do that
again, so I'm hoping to just find out what is wrong with IE.
Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

[BillW50]

Post by Randem
Any reason you are still on IE6 instead of IE8?

Well for me personally, I've used IE7 and IE8 for over a year and I
cannot take them anymore. Websites like titantv.com are just super slow
under IE7/8. Can't scroll or page for many seconds and it takes forever.
Even always slow Firefox beats loading webpages far faster than IE7/8
can.

But things are totally different under IE6! It is so fast that it beats
Firefox and Opera hands down. And I always preferred IE6 running under a
Maxthon v1.x interface. Which has far more features than IE7/8, Firefox,
or Opera will ever have. So this is why I switched back to IE6. As there
is nothing out there that beats it yet. ;-)

[Bill in Co]

Post by BillW50

Post by Randem
Any reason you are still on IE6 instead of IE8?

Well for me personally, I've used IE7 and IE8 for over a year and I
cannot take them anymore. Websites like titantv.com are just super slow
under IE7/8. Can't scroll or page for many seconds and it takes forever.
Even always slow Firefox beats loading webpages far faster than IE7/8
can.
But things are totally different under IE6! It is so fast that it beats
Firefox and Opera hands down. And I always preferred IE6 running under a
Maxthon v1.x interface. Which has far more features than IE7/8, Firefox,
or Opera will ever have. So this is why I switched back to IE6. As there
is nothing out there that beats it yet. ;-)

I've always liked (and preferred) the IE6 (and Maxthon 1.x) interface too,
but unfortunately there are some websites now that won't work with IE6.

[BillW50]

Post by Bill in Co

Post by BillW50

Post by Randem
Any reason you are still on IE6 instead of IE8?

Well for me personally, I've used IE7 and IE8 for over a year and I
cannot take them anymore. Websites like titantv.com are just super
slow under IE7/8. Can't scroll or page for many seconds and it takes
forever. Even always slow Firefox beats loading webpages far faster
than IE7/8 can.
But things are totally different under IE6! It is so fast that it
beats Firefox and Opera hands down. And I always preferred IE6
running under a Maxthon v1.x interface. Which has far more features
than IE7/8, Firefox, or Opera will ever have. So this is why I
switched back to IE6. As there is nothing out there that beats it
yet. ;-)

I've always liked (and preferred) the IE6 (and Maxthon 1.x) interface
too, but unfortunately there are some websites now that won't work
with IE6.

Glad to hear it! And the biggest problem I have seen is just cosmetic.
Sometimes the text is skewed off to the left a bit. But otherwise I
haven't seen too much of a problem. Most of the websites I go to are
still perfect under IE6. So I remain very happy about it.

And I am not a big fan of other browsers like FireFox or Opera. But if
you use IE6, it doesn't hurt to have them installed for the times that
IE6 just won't work well with. So I see this as an acceptable solution
myself. Is this how you handle it? Or did you replace IE6 with IE7 or
IE8?

[Bill in Co]

Post by BillW50

Post by Bill in Co

Post by BillW50

Post by Randem
Any reason you are still on IE6 instead of IE8?

Well for me personally, I've used IE7 and IE8 for over a year and I
cannot take them anymore. Websites like titantv.com are just super
slow under IE7/8. Can't scroll or page for many seconds and it takes
forever. Even always slow Firefox beats loading webpages far faster
than IE7/8 can.
But things are totally different under IE6! It is so fast that it
beats Firefox and Opera hands down. And I always preferred IE6
running under a Maxthon v1.x interface. Which has far more features
than IE7/8, Firefox, or Opera will ever have. So this is why I
switched back to IE6. As there is nothing out there that beats it
yet. ;-)

I've always liked (and preferred) the IE6 (and Maxthon 1.x) interface
too, but unfortunately there are some websites now that won't work
with IE6.

Glad to hear it! And the biggest problem I have seen is just cosmetic.
Sometimes the text is skewed off to the left a bit. But otherwise I
haven't seen too much of a problem. Most of the websites I go to are
still perfect under IE6. So I remain very happy about it.

As I recall, some of the banking sites wouldn't accept it (I'm thinking it
might have been BofA, but I can't recall).

Post by BillW50
And I am not a big fan of other browsers like FireFox or Opera. But if
you use IE6, it doesn't hurt to have them installed for the times that
IE6 just won't work well with. So I see this as an acceptable solution
myself. Is this how you handle it? Or did you replace IE6 with IE7 or
IE8?

Well, due to a couple of websites I was using (I think for online banking),
I was kinda forced to "upgrade", and first went to IE7, but eventually went
to IE8.

However, I still have GreenBrowser, SlimBrowser, and Maxthon 1.6 installed,
which look just like IE6, so I can have the best of both worlds. :-) But
I've gotten used to IE8 now, so at this point, I mostly use IE8, and
occasionally, Firefox.

[BillW50]

Post by Bill in Co

Post by BillW50

Post by Bill in Co

Post by BillW50

Post by Randem
Any reason you are still on IE6 instead of IE8?

Well for me personally, I've used IE7 and IE8 for over a year and I
cannot take them anymore. Websites like titantv.com are just super
slow under IE7/8. Can't scroll or page for many seconds and it
takes forever. Even always slow Firefox beats loading webpages far
faster than IE7/8 can.
But things are totally different under IE6! It is so fast that it
beats Firefox and Opera hands down. And I always preferred IE6
running under a Maxthon v1.x interface. Which has far more features
than IE7/8, Firefox, or Opera will ever have. So this is why I
switched back to IE6. As there is nothing out there that beats it
yet. ;-)

I've always liked (and preferred) the IE6 (and Maxthon 1.x)
interface too, but unfortunately there are some websites now that
won't work with IE6.

Glad to hear it! And the biggest problem I have seen is just
cosmetic. Sometimes the text is skewed off to the left a bit. But
otherwise I haven't seen too much of a problem. Most of the websites
I go to are still perfect under IE6. So I remain very happy about it.

As I recall, some of the banking sites wouldn't accept it (I'm
thinking it might have been BofA, but I can't recall).

Oh that would do it. My sister just called me and said her bank made her
upgrade from IE7 to IE8 and now her computer runs slow. She is running
Vista btw. That same bank used to require MS Money and wanted the latest
version as well before. I always heard about the trouble from her about
the latest versions of MS Money too. My favorite was MS Money 2000. The
later versions I didn't like much.

Post by Bill in Co

Post by BillW50
And I am not a big fan of other browsers like FireFox or Opera. But
if you use IE6, it doesn't hurt to have them installed for the times
that IE6 just won't work well with. So I see this as an acceptable
solution myself. Is this how you handle it? Or did you replace IE6
with IE7 or IE8?

Well, due to a couple of websites I was using (I think for online
banking), I was kinda forced to "upgrade", and first went to IE7, but
eventually went to IE8.

Oh ok. I was just curious and that is why I did it. ;-)

Post by Bill in Co
However, I still have GreenBrowser, SlimBrowser, and Maxthon 1.6
installed, which look just like IE6, so I can have the best of both
worlds. :-) But I've gotten used to IE8 now, so at this point, I
mostly use IE8, and occasionally, Firefox.

I sort of got use to IE7 and IE8 too, but IE6 is so darn fast! I knew it
was fast before, but after using IE7 and IE8 for a long time and then
going back to IE6, it is really super fast! I do occasionally use
FireFox and Opera as well.

[Unknown]

You have some other problem causing the slowness. I use IE8 and it is super
fast.

Post by Randem
Any reason you are still on IE6 instead of IE8?

Well for me personally, I've used IE7 and IE8 for over a year and I cannot
take them anymore. Websites like titantv.com are just super slow under
IE7/8. Can't scroll or page for many seconds and it takes forever. Even
always slow Firefox beats loading webpages far faster than IE7/8 can.
But things are totally different under IE6! It is so fast that it beats
Firefox and Opera hands down. And I always preferred IE6 running under a
Maxthon v1.x interface. Which has far more features than IE7/8, Firefox,
or Opera will ever have. So this is why I switched back to IE6. As there
is nothing out there that beats it yet. ;-)
--
Bill
Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) 1 of 3 - Windows XP SP2

[BillW50]

Post by Unknown
You have some other problem causing the slowness. I use IE8 and it is
super fast.

Really? I have some questions then.

1) Do you use other browsers and if you do which ones? I use FireFox and
Opera too.

2) I really like to know about the OS, RAM, and CPU you are running this
under? As my favorite is XP with 2GB of RAM, and on Celeron CPUs
(ranging from 900MHz to 1.7GHz) and IE7 and IE8 stinks!

[Unknown]

1) No I don't use other browsers. There is no need to, and I won't clutter
up
my system with unneeded items. I am very happy with IE8.
2) I am using Windows XP with SP3 and have 3 gigs of memory.
I am using (and only will use) Intel P4 at 3.2 GHz.
Your systems should run faster than what you indicate. I suggest you
investigate the amount of programs you are loading and anything running in
the background.
What type and speed internet connection do you have? I use ATT's slowest DSL
connection
and that is the speed determining item.

Post by BillW50

Post by Unknown
You have some other problem causing the slowness. I use IE8 and it is
super fast.

Really? I have some questions then.
1) Do you use other browsers and if you do which ones? I use FireFox and
Opera too.
2) I really like to know about the OS, RAM, and CPU you are running this
under? As my favorite is XP with 2GB of RAM, and on Celeron CPUs (ranging
from 900MHz to 1.7GHz) and IE7 and IE8 stinks!
--
Bill
Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) 1 of 3 - Windows XP SP2

[BillW50]

Post by Unknown
1) No I don't use other browsers. There is no need to, and I won't
clutter up my system with unneeded items. I am very happy with IE8.

Nice, although IE7 and IE8 is too slow for me. And IE6 is super speedy.

Post by Unknown
2) I am using Windows XP with SP3 and have 3 gigs of memory.
I am using (and only will use) Intel P4 at 3.2 GHz.

Sounds nice. How are you installing 3GBs? I use laptops and netbooks and
they either have one or two slots and I can't get 3GB from that. You
must have four slots, eh? All of mine have 2GB and I don't even use 1GB
of it.

Post by Unknown
Your systems should run faster than what you indicate. I suggest you
investigate the amount of programs you are loading and anything
running in the background.

I have:

Process Explorer
Explorer
Maxthon 1.5.6 (with 5 tabs opened) using IE6 engine
Windows Media Player v10
OE6 with OE-QuoteFix

In the tray I have:

OE-QuoteFix
Windows Wireless
Sticky Password
Process Explorer
Paragon CD emulator
BattStat v0.98
Speaker
Smart Type Assistant
PureText
Dimension 4 (time sync program)

Post by Unknown
What type and speed internet connection do you have? I use ATT's
slowest DSL connection and that is the speed determining item.

I have 900kb DSL service. Although slow by most standards, IE6 beating,
IE7, IE8, FireFox, and Opera shouldn't matter even on a super slow
dialup connection. One browser faster than another on the same
connection is what really matters.

[Unknown]

As a test, have you run msconfig and remove check from all items not needed
and tested?
Appears to me you are loading so muck in memory that virtual memory is in
constant use.
Using virtual memory takes a great deal of time reading and writing to
disk..

Post by BillW50

Post by Unknown
1) No I don't use other browsers. There is no need to, and I won't
clutter up my system with unneeded items. I am very happy with IE8.

Nice, although IE7 and IE8 is too slow for me. And IE6 is super speedy.

Post by Unknown
2) I am using Windows XP with SP3 and have 3 gigs of memory.
I am using (and only will use) Intel P4 at 3.2 GHz.

Sounds nice. How are you installing 3GBs? I use laptops and netbooks and
they either have one or two slots and I can't get 3GB from that. You must
have four slots, eh? All of mine have 2GB and I don't even use 1GB of it.

Post by Unknown
Your systems should run faster than what you indicate. I suggest you
investigate the amount of programs you are loading and anything
running in the background.

Process Explorer
Explorer
Maxthon 1.5.6 (with 5 tabs opened) using IE6 engine
Windows Media Player v10
OE6 with OE-QuoteFix
OE-QuoteFix
Windows Wireless
Sticky Password
Process Explorer
Paragon CD emulator
BattStat v0.98
Speaker
Smart Type Assistant
PureText
Dimension 4 (time sync program)

Post by Unknown
What type and speed internet connection do you have? I use ATT's
slowest DSL connection and that is the speed determining item.

I have 900kb DSL service. Although slow by most standards, IE6 beating,
IE7, IE8, FireFox, and Opera shouldn't matter even on a super slow dialup
connection. One browser faster than another on the same connection is what
really matters.
--
Bill
Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) 1 of 3 - Windows XP SP2

[Bill in Co]

Post by BillW50

Post by Randem
Any reason you are still on IE6 instead of IE8?

Well for me personally, I've used IE7 and IE8 for over a year and I
cannot take them anymore. Websites like titantv.com are just super slow
under IE7/8. Can't scroll or page for many seconds and it takes forever.
Even always slow Firefox beats loading webpages far faster than IE7/8
can.

I think there is something else going on here, as I hadn't noticed that with
IE8 (or IE7), and haven't heard of many such reports. It might be due to
the settings (maybe you need to customize the settings). You could also
bring up Task Manager and see if there are some other resource hogging apps
being loaded.

For me, the most noticeable difference in browsers has been with Firefox,
which *initially* takes noticeably longer to load, but otherwise works fine.
But I use IE8 for most work. And I'm only running a 1.6 GHz computer here,
with 1 GB of RAM. But I usually just single task, or minimally multitask,
when I'm on the computer (meaning - I don't run ten other apps in the
background, which can create such problems)

[BillW50]

Post by Bill in Co

Post by BillW50

Post by Randem
Any reason you are still on IE6 instead of IE8?

Well for me personally, I've used IE7 and IE8 for over a year and I
cannot take them anymore. Websites like titantv.com are just super
slow under IE7/8. Can't scroll or page for many seconds and it takes
forever. Even always slow Firefox beats loading webpages far faster
than IE7/8 can.

I think there is something else going on here, as I hadn't noticed
that with IE8 (or IE7), and haven't heard of many such reports. It
might be due to the settings (maybe you need to customize the
settings). You could also bring up Task Manager and see if there
are some other resource hogging apps being loaded.

I did and it is IE7 or IE8 hogging the CPU.

Post by Bill in Co
For me, the most noticeable difference in browsers has been with
Firefox, which *initially* takes noticeably longer to load, but
otherwise works fine.

Same here if you have IE7 or IE8 installed. Although even with Firefox
loaded, it is so slow compared to IE6. Pretty close to IE7 and IE8 with
most websites though.

Post by Bill in Co
But I use IE8 for most work. And I'm only running a 1.6 GHz computer
here, with 1 GB of RAM. But I usually just single task, or minimally
multitask, when I'm on the computer (meaning - I don't run ten other
apps in the background, which can create such problems)

1.6GHz what? I mean what kind of processor? I use 900Mhz (underclocked
to 633MHz), 1.5GB, and 1.7GB Celerons. And I use 2GB on my laptops and
netbooks here. But I don't even use 1GB of them. And I do use other
stuff, but they are totally just idling. Things like:

Process Explorer
Explorer
Maxthon 1.5.6 (with 5 tabs opened) using IE6 engine
Windows Media Player v10
OE6 with OE-QuoteFix

In the tray I have:

OE-QuoteFix
Windows Wireless
Sticky Password
Process Explorer
Paragon CD emulator
BattStat v0.98
Speaker
Smart Type Assistant
PureText
Dimension 4 (time sync program)

[Bill in Co]

Post by BillW50

Post by Bill in Co

Post by BillW50

Post by Randem
Any reason you are still on IE6 instead of IE8?

Well for me personally, I've used IE7 and IE8 for over a year and I
cannot take them anymore. Websites like titantv.com are just super
slow under IE7/8. Can't scroll or page for many seconds and it takes
forever. Even always slow Firefox beats loading webpages far faster
than IE7/8 can.

I think there is something else going on here, as I hadn't noticed
that with IE8 (or IE7), and haven't heard of many such reports. It
might be due to the settings (maybe you need to customize the
settings). You could also bring up Task Manager and see if there
are some other resource hogging apps being loaded.

I did and it is IE7 or IE8 hogging the CPU.

Post by Bill in Co
For me, the most noticeable difference in browsers has been with
Firefox, which *initially* takes noticeably longer to load, but
otherwise works fine.

Same here if you have IE7 or IE8 installed. Although even with Firefox
loaded, it is so slow compared to IE6. Pretty close to IE7 and IE8 with
most websites though.

Post by Bill in Co
But I use IE8 for most work. And I'm only running a 1.6 GHz computer
here, with 1 GB of RAM. But I usually just single task, or minimally
multitask, when I'm on the computer (meaning - I don't run ten other
apps in the background, which can create such problems)

1.6GHz what? I mean what kind of processor?

1.6 GHz Celeron. But is there really much practical difference between
that and a std Intel CPU, or an AMD CPU? What I had heard before is that
AMD CPU's could sometimes be a bit problematic for some apps or
customizations, but I can't recall now under what conditions.

Post by BillW50
I use 900Mhz (underclocked
to 633MHz), 1.5GB, and 1.7GB Celerons. And I use 2GB on my laptops and
netbooks here. But I don't even use 1GB of them. And I do use other
Process Explorer
Explorer
Maxthon 1.5.6 (with 5 tabs opened) using IE6 engine
Windows Media Player v10
OE6 with OE-QuoteFix
OE-QuoteFix
Windows Wireless
Sticky Password
Process Explorer
Paragon CD emulator
BattStat v0.98
Speaker
Smart Type Assistant
PureText
Dimension 4 (time sync program)

That doesn't sound like a lot, or anything really too excessive.
I also have Process Explorer and WMP10, but not running in the background (I
just bring them up, when needed), etc.

So I guess you've checked out all of these (selective disables and all that)
and found none of them to be the issue, and that for some reason IE8 just
runs slower on your system. To be fair, I haven't done a direct A/B
comparison test however, but I will tell you that if I noticed a really
significant difference, I think I would have seen it. I sure do notice the
diff when bringing up Firefox!

Oh, and I upgraded to XP-SP3 at one time as a matter of "convenience" (I was
having some occasional (and weird) svchost-related issues, and doing that
finally fixed that problem, which was driving me nuts in my debugging tests)

[BillW50]

Post by Bill in Co

Post by BillW50
1.6GHz what? I mean what kind of processor?

1.6 GHz Celeron. But is there really much practical difference
between that and a std Intel CPU, or an AMD CPU? What I had heard
before is that AMD CPU's could sometimes be a bit problematic for
some apps or customizations, but I can't recall now under what
conditions.

Well the story that I had heard was that early chipsets usually didn't
work well with AMD processors. And I could confirm that this was true in
my case. As I bought four ADM desktops back in 2001. And they were total
pieces a junk. You had to baby them just to make them work partly.

Although I heard this isn't the case anymore. As other manufactures have
learned how to make their products work with AMD processors. But since I
got burned badly once, I avoid AMD machines since. They could be fine
machines nowadays for all I know.

Well Celeron processors don't score well on benchmark tests. But they do
work well, just a bit slower than other types. I have ran high powered
graphic games like The Sims 2, The Sims 3, RealFlight 2 through 5, MS FS
2002, FS 2004, etc. And they are all playable and do better than what
the benchmark tests suggests that they would have. So I think they are
all right. Although true gamers might want something a bit more high
powered. But for most other users, Celerons probably would be fine.

Post by Bill in Co

Post by BillW50
I use 900Mhz (underclocked
to 633MHz), 1.5GB, and 1.7GB Celerons. And I use 2GB on my laptops
and netbooks here. But I don't even use 1GB of them. And I do use
Process Explorer
Explorer
Maxthon 1.5.6 (with 5 tabs opened) using IE6 engine
Windows Media Player v10
OE6 with OE-QuoteFix
OE-QuoteFix
Windows Wireless
Sticky Password
Process Explorer
Paragon CD emulator
BattStat v0.98
Speaker
Smart Type Assistant
PureText
Dimension 4 (time sync program)

That doesn't sound like a lot, or anything really too excessive.
I also have Process Explorer and WMP10, but not running in the
background (I just bring them up, when needed), etc.

Yeah the CPU usage is almost 5% or less under these conditions and this
is very acceptable. And WMP10 I usually have playing audio files and it
doesn't use hardly CPU either.

And as a side note: Process Explorer can't be running when you start The
Sims 2. It has to do with the copy protection and The Sims 2 I guess
refuses to run because it thinks you are trying to crack the copy
protection or something. Also I have to uninstall Paragon CD emulator
(closing it down isn't good enough) for playing The Sims as well.
Luckily it is very easy to uninstall and reinstall.

Post by Bill in Co
So I guess you've checked out all of these (selective disables and
all that) and found none of them to be the issue, and that for some
reason IE8 just runs slower on your system. To be fair, I haven't
done a direct A/B comparison test however, but I will tell you that
if I noticed a really significant difference, I think I would have
seen it. I sure do notice the diff when bringing up Firefox!

I have six laptops and four netbooks. So I can have side to side
comparisons and IE7 and IE8 are definitely slower. Without paying a lot
of attention, you might not notice the difference.

Post by Bill in Co
Oh, and I upgraded to XP-SP3 at one time as a matter of "convenience"
(I was having some occasional (and weird) svchost-related issues, and
doing that finally fixed that problem, which was driving me nuts in
my debugging tests)

Yes lots of hotfixes in SP3 for sure. And I used to do the same as well.
But now I am going the other way. As now I am going back to the earliest
version (usually what's on the recovery DVD). And then only installing
the hotfixes that actually fixes a problem I have. And I avoid hotfixes
that doesn't do anything for my systems. They seem to run faster and
more stable that way.

I do have one problem with my netbooks. That is the DPCs eat too much
CPU power at times. This slows them down and affects the bandwidth of my
WiFi as well. It sees to be coming too close to other computers that
cause this problem. AFAIK there is no software fix for this problem at
all.

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

...this happened to the same computer a few months back, and
after clearing out the trojan IE was doing the same thing it is now...
...I ended up formatting the hard
drive and reinstalling Windows...

What anti-virus application or security suite was installed before you did
the clean install and was your subscription current?

What anti-virus application or security suite is installed now and is your
subscription current? What anti-spyware applications (other than Defender)?
What third-party firewall (if any)?

Did a Norton or McAfee free-trial come preinstalled on the computer when you
bought it (and which would have been reinstalled, but invalid, when you
reinstalled Windows)?
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Client - since 2002

PC is running XP Pro, SP3. For a few reasons, it has to run XP so upgrading
to Windows 7 is not an option right now.
It recently got hit with that fake Windows Security Alert trojan, where
every time you go to open IE you get all these warnings instead fo the
requested page, and every time you go to launch a Malware or Anti-Virus scan
it blocks the executable.
I got that cleaned out fairly easily, but Internet Explorer (version 6, SP3)
won't load any pages. It always gives a "server not found/DNS error." If I
go to the command line and ping a site, say www.google.com, it works fine.
Only have problems when I try to use the browser. Outlook downloads email
with no problem.
I read somewhere about an IE with no plug-ins in the start menu (system
tools) but I do not have that. I tried disabling all the add-ins manually in
IE but get the same error. The security level is medium.
The thing is, this happened to the same computer a few months back, and
after clearing out the trojan IE was doing the same thing it is now. I tried
some things then, but no luck. I even tried reinstalling IE, and then
updating IE to a newer version with no luck. I ended up formatting the hard
drive and reinstalling Windows since the computer was overdue for that,
running slow because of glut and all. I do not want to do that again, so I'm
hoping to just find out what is wrong with IE.
Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

[CapCity]

Post by PA Bear [MS MVP]

...this happened to the same computer a few months back, and
after clearing out the trojan IE was doing the same thing it is now...
...I ended up formatting the hard
drive and reinstalling Windows...

What anti-virus application or security suite was installed before you did
the clean install and was your subscription current?

This time it was AVG and Ad-Aware. The previous time it was Trend and
Ad-Aware. All subscriptions current.

Post by PA Bear [MS MVP]
What anti-virus application or security suite is installed now and is your
subscription current? What anti-spyware applications (other than
Defender)? What third-party firewall (if any)?

AVG and Ad-Aware. The instructions I found for removign this mess had me use
Dr. Web as it has a random name for the executable which the trojan can not
detect and block. It worked, allowing Ad-Aware to run the scan and finish
the job. All current.

Firewall is the one that came with Windows.

Post by PA Bear [MS MVP]
Did a Norton or McAfee free-trial come preinstalled on the computer when
you bought it (and which would have been reinstalled, but invalid, when
you reinstalled Windows)?

No. And the reinstall did not put one there.

Post by PA Bear [MS MVP]
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Client - since 2002

PC is running XP Pro, SP3. For a few reasons, it has to run XP so upgrading
to Windows 7 is not an option right now.
It recently got hit with that fake Windows Security Alert trojan, where
every time you go to open IE you get all these warnings instead fo the
requested page, and every time you go to launch a Malware or Anti-Virus scan
it blocks the executable.
I got that cleaned out fairly easily, but Internet Explorer (version 6, SP3)
won't load any pages. It always gives a "server not found/DNS error." If I
go to the command line and ping a site, say www.google.com, it works fine.
Only have problems when I try to use the browser. Outlook downloads email
with no problem.
I read somewhere about an IE with no plug-ins in the start menu (system
tools) but I do not have that. I tried disabling all the add-ins manually in
IE but get the same error. The security level is medium.
The thing is, this happened to the same computer a few months back, and
after clearing out the trojan IE was doing the same thing it is now. I tried
some things then, but no luck. I even tried reinstalling IE, and then
updating IE to a newer version with no luck. I ended up formatting the hard
drive and reinstalling Windows since the computer was overdue for that,
running slow because of glut and all. I do not want to do that again, so I'm
hoping to just find out what is wrong with IE.
Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

How can I configure my Internet Explorer browser settings after I have
removed malicious software from my computer?:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/895339

If still no joy, you've got another hijackware infection on your hands.
See...

Cleaning a Compromised System
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc700813.aspx

Back-up any personal data (none of which should be considered 100%
trustworthy at this point) then format the HDD & do another clean install of
Windows. Please note that a Repair Install (AKA in-place upgrade) will NOT
fix this!

HOW TO do a clean install of WinXP: See
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html#steps and/or Method 1 in
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/978307

After the clean install, you will have the equivalent of a "new computer" so
take care of everything on the following page before otherwise connecting
the machine to the internet or a local network (i.e., other computers) and
before using a flash drive or SDCard that isn't brand-new or hasn't been
freshly formatted:

4 steps to help protect your new computer before you go online
http://www.microsoft.com/security/pypc.aspx

TIP: Next time, install the more reliable Microsoft Security Essentials
instead of AVG Free:
http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/default.aspx

Other helpful references include:

HOW TO get a computer running WinXP Gold (no Service Packs) fully patched
(after a clean install)
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsupdate/msg/3f5afa8ed33e121c

HOW TO get a computer running WinXP SP1(a) or SP2 fully patched (after a
clean install)
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/msg/a066ae41add7dd2b

Tip: After getting the computer fully-patched, download/install KB971029
manually: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971029

NB: Any Norton or McAfee free-trial that came preinstalled on the computer
when you bought it will be reinstalled (but invalid) when Windows is
reinstalled. You MUST uninstall the free-trial AND download/run the
appropriate removal tool BEFORE installing any updates, Windows Service
Packs or IE upgrades AND BEFORE installing your new anti-virus application
(which will require WinXP SP3 to be installed).

Norton Removal Tool
ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/removal_tools/Norton_Removal_Tool.exe

McAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool
http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe

Also see:

Risks & Benefits of P2P file sharing
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/data/downloadfileshare/filesharing.aspx
http://blogs.technet.com/mmpc/archive/2008/10/06/the-cost-of-free-software.aspx

Steps To Help Prevent Spyware
http://www.microsoft.com/security/spyware/prevent.aspx

Steps to Help Prevent Computer Worms
http://www.microsoft.com/security/worms/prevent.aspx

Avoid Rogue Security Software!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/antivirus/rogue.aspx

If you need additional assistance, please begin a new thread in this forum:
http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/xprepair/threads
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Client - since 2002

Post by CapCity

Post by PA Bear [MS MVP]

...this happened to the same computer a few months back, and
after clearing out the trojan IE was doing the same thing it is now...
...I ended up formatting the hard
drive and reinstalling Windows...

What anti-virus application or security suite was installed before you did
the clean install and was your subscription current?

This time it was AVG and Ad-Aware. The previous time it was Trend and
Ad-Aware. All subscriptions current.

Post by PA Bear [MS MVP]
What anti-virus application or security suite is installed now and is your
subscription current? What anti-spyware applications (other than
Defender)? What third-party firewall (if any)?

AVG and Ad-Aware. The instructions I found for removign this mess had me use
Dr. Web as it has a random name for the executable which the trojan can not
detect and block. It worked, allowing Ad-Aware to run the scan and finish
the job. All current.
Firewall is the one that came with Windows.

Post by PA Bear [MS MVP]
Did a Norton or McAfee free-trial come preinstalled on the computer when
you bought it (and which would have been reinstalled, but invalid, when
you reinstalled Windows)?

No. And the reinstall did not put one there.

Post by PA Bear [MS MVP]

PC is running XP Pro, SP3. For a few reasons, it has to run XP so upgrading
to Windows 7 is not an option right now.
It recently got hit with that fake Windows Security Alert trojan, where
every time you go to open IE you get all these warnings instead fo the
requested page, and every time you go to launch a Malware or Anti-Virus scan
it blocks the executable.
I got that cleaned out fairly easily, but Internet Explorer (version 6, SP3)
won't load any pages. It always gives a "server not found/DNS error." If I
go to the command line and ping a site, say www.google.com, it works fine.
Only have problems when I try to use the browser. Outlook downloads email
with no problem.
I read somewhere about an IE with no plug-ins in the start menu (system
tools) but I do not have that. I tried disabling all the add-ins
manually
in
IE but get the same error. The security level is medium.
The thing is, this happened to the same computer a few months back, and
after clearing out the trojan IE was doing the same thing it is now. I tried
some things then, but no luck. I even tried reinstalling IE, and then
updating IE to a newer version with no luck. I ended up formatting the hard
drive and reinstalling Windows since the computer was overdue for that,
running slow because of glut and all. I do not want to do that again, so I'm
hoping to just find out what is wrong with IE.
Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

[pjp]

So is MS Security Essentials a replacement for AVG, Avast etc.? I stopped
using AVG because it seemed such a hog every new version. Avast seems less
so but still annoying at times, e.g. mouse is ignored when opening IE for a
moment etc.

How is it "related" to MS Defender?

Post by PA Bear [MS MVP]
How can I configure my Internet Explorer browser settings after I have
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/895339
If still no joy, you've got another hijackware infection on your hands.
See...
Cleaning a Compromised System
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc700813.aspx
Back-up any personal data (none of which should be considered 100%
trustworthy at this point) then format the HDD & do another clean install
of Windows. Please note that a Repair Install (AKA in-place upgrade) will
NOT fix this!
HOW TO do a clean install of WinXP: See
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html#steps and/or Method 1 in
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/978307
After the clean install, you will have the equivalent of a "new computer"
so take care of everything on the following page before otherwise
connecting the machine to the internet or a local network (i.e., other
computers) and before using a flash drive or SDCard that isn't brand-new
4 steps to help protect your new computer before you go online
http://www.microsoft.com/security/pypc.aspx
TIP: Next time, install the more reliable Microsoft Security Essentials
http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/default.aspx
HOW TO get a computer running WinXP Gold (no Service Packs) fully patched
(after a clean install)
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsupdate/msg/3f5afa8ed33e121c
HOW TO get a computer running WinXP SP1(a) or SP2 fully patched (after a
clean install)
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/msg/a066ae41add7dd2b
Tip: After getting the computer fully-patched, download/install KB971029
manually: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971029
NB: Any Norton or McAfee free-trial that came preinstalled on the computer
when you bought it will be reinstalled (but invalid) when Windows is
reinstalled. You MUST uninstall the free-trial AND download/run the
appropriate removal tool BEFORE installing any updates, Windows Service
Packs or IE upgrades AND BEFORE installing your new anti-virus application
(which will require WinXP SP3 to be installed).
Norton Removal Tool
ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/removal_tools/Norton_Removal_Tool.exe
McAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool
http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe
Risks & Benefits of P2P file sharing
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/data/downloadfileshare/filesharing.aspx
http://blogs.technet.com/mmpc/archive/2008/10/06/the-cost-of-free-software.aspx
Steps To Help Prevent Spyware
http://www.microsoft.com/security/spyware/prevent.aspx
Steps to Help Prevent Computer Worms
http://www.microsoft.com/security/worms/prevent.aspx
Avoid Rogue Security Software!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/antivirus/rogue.aspx
If you need additional assistance, please begin a new thread in this
forum: http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/xprepair/threads
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Client - since 2002

Post by CapCity

Post by PA Bear [MS MVP]

...this happened to the same computer a few months back, and
after clearing out the trojan IE was doing the same thing it is now...
...I ended up formatting the hard
drive and reinstalling Windows...

What anti-virus application or security suite was installed before you did
the clean install and was your subscription current?

This time it was AVG and Ad-Aware. The previous time it was Trend and
Ad-Aware. All subscriptions current.

Post by PA Bear [MS MVP]
What anti-virus application or security suite is installed now and is your
subscription current? What anti-spyware applications (other than
Defender)? What third-party firewall (if any)?

AVG and Ad-Aware. The instructions I found for removign this mess had me use
Dr. Web as it has a random name for the executable which the trojan can not
detect and block. It worked, allowing Ad-Aware to run the scan and finish
the job. All current.
Firewall is the one that came with Windows.

Post by PA Bear [MS MVP]
Did a Norton or McAfee free-trial come preinstalled on the computer when
you bought it (and which would have been reinstalled, but invalid, when
you reinstalled Windows)?

No. And the reinstall did not put one there.

Post by PA Bear [MS MVP]

PC is running XP Pro, SP3. For a few reasons, it has to run XP so upgrading
to Windows 7 is not an option right now.
It recently got hit with that fake Windows Security Alert trojan, where
every time you go to open IE you get all these warnings instead fo the
requested page, and every time you go to launch a Malware or Anti-Virus scan
it blocks the executable.
I got that cleaned out fairly easily, but Internet Explorer (version 6, SP3)
won't load any pages. It always gives a "server not found/DNS error."
If
I
go to the command line and ping a site, say www.google.com, it works fine.
Only have problems when I try to use the browser. Outlook downloads email
with no problem.
I read somewhere about an IE with no plug-ins in the start menu (system
tools) but I do not have that. I tried disabling all the add-ins
manually
in
IE but get the same error. The security level is medium.
The thing is, this happened to the same computer a few months back, and
after clearing out the trojan IE was doing the same thing it is now. I tried
some things then, but no luck. I even tried reinstalling IE, and then
updating IE to a newer version with no luck. I ended up formatting the hard
drive and reinstalling Windows since the computer was overdue for that,
running slow because of glut and all. I do not want to do that again,
so
I'm
hoping to just find out what is wrong with IE.
Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

MSE's anti-spyware component is based on Defender "technologies." See
http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/msestart/thread/5309cb8d-02e1-40e8-974f-0dcedb9ab9fd

Post by pjp
So is MS Security Essentials a replacement for AVG, Avast etc.? I stopped
using AVG because it seemed such a hog every new version. Avast seems less
so but still annoying at times, e.g. mouse is ignored when opening IE for a
moment etc.
How is it "related" to MS Defender?

<SNIP HIJACKED THREAD>

Post by pjp

Post by PA Bear [MS MVP]
TIP: Next time, install the more reliable Microsoft Security Essentials
http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/default.aspx