I'm in need of some help with my wife's pc.
It is a Dell "3000" running Win XP and has IE 6 on it.

Here's the problem.
My wife doesn't install/install anything. Ever. However. . . this one time, she does.
She installed Yahoo Messenger (proper name ???) and AIM Messenger software.

My wife is currently using the pc for her online studies and has used the programs to 'chat' with her 'classmates'. Now, they are not using this software, so, she decides to un-install them.

The un-install appears to have gone well, except. . . . now, IE 6 takes FOREVER to load.

Here's some more 'info'.

We have Comcast cable internet.
Her pc is 'hardwired' to the wireless router. All of the other pcs in the house can access the internet (wireless) with NO issues. I can even use the CAT 5 cable (from my wife's pc) and access the 'net on two different laptops.

Also, the pc has PC-cillin anti-virus installed. No virus(es) found.
Ad-Aware anti-spyware found 115 instances of spyware, and removed them.
Just to be certain on the anti-virus, I downloaded and installed Avast Anti-virus. It found no virus(es) either.

I deleted all of the 'cookies' and that was no help, either.

Here is where the 'fun' begins.

What else can I do, short of 'System Recovery' or a re-format, to get IE 6 to load?

The pc is running fine EXCEPT for accessing the internet.

Thanks in advance.




Keith

 

There is a trojan out there that is getting into IE6. I had to roll back the clock on mine and then I upgraded to IE7. End of my problems. If you do download EI7 download it from Cnet.com. There is one out there that looks exactly like a ms website. Hope this helps.

Keith, Do you have spy bot search and destroy? If not it is a free download and works excellent.

 

I used to use Spy-Bot. I loved it.
The only problem is that PC-cillin and Spy-bot are not compatible with each other.
That's kinda why I downloaded Avast anti-virus.
I 'unloaded' PC-cillin and ran the Avast.

I might have to 'unload' it again and try Spy-Bot.

I know of that other site that 'mimics' MS. I mispelled the MS name last night and hit that site.
PC-cillin went 'crazy' with it's spyware warnings!!!! Strange, too. That 'other' site resembles MS site. I'll wager that a lot of people hit that site and download their stuff.


The 'funny' part of all of this is. . . my wife was 'blaming' Comcast for all of the troubles! She was ranting about "yanking this bleep - bleep - bleeping cable stuff out of the house".
When I showed her that her laptop and my laptop and the other desktop pcs in the house had NO issues. . . she just walked off. . . . and later returned and admitted that she had 'un-installed' a couple of programs.

The kids also use "Mom's PC" for their stuff, when 'Mom' isn't using it.
(I personally think that this is where the majority of spyware came from.)

 

System restore isn't such a bad thing. I'm talking about the windows feature that allows you to revert the PC back to before software changes were made. I didn't like it at first but it's helped me out in the past. You don't lose any files that you've made changes to or created since the restore point, just the software changes are reversed.

 

When was the last time you did a format on the system, or a clean install? If it was over 2 years, I would suggest doing another one now.

Backup your data (favorites, documents, pictures, etc), and then format. When you uninstall a program, it's still listed in the registry, and most times the folder is still there with some files in it.

Double click your My Computer.
Double click your C: drive.
Double click Program Files.

Under Program Files, these folders are mostly everything that's installed. Look for the programs she uninstalled (AIM, or YAHOO). They will be listed.

Even if you go into the registry (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE) it will also be listed there.

Think of uninstalling like changing your oil without chaing your oil filter. At first it won't matter, but a few thousand miles (programs) later you can see it slowing down the system.

I do a rebuild once a year on my systems. You would be surpised on how much faster they run afterwards. A format is very easy to do - just make sure you back up all your data first.

 

I'd go with Furball's idea. XP has the rollback feature. Roll back to before your wife uninstalled.

Start | Help
Undo changes with System Restore
Pick the date

HTH

 

Try this:

www.securitytango.com

I use it once a month on all my PCs, we never have problems.

 

The problem may be that the antivirus is trying to scan for IM viruses and there is no program installed.. Check to see if the Avast settings are set to scan for IM's and disable it.. I know Norton has this option not sure about Avast.

The other thing I would try is to reinstall AIM and see if the speed gets better.. If it does then just leave it installed and disable it from running automatically.. This will not hurt anything.

 

I'll try to cover all of the replies, with this one.
First of all. . . THANK YOU to everyone! I truly appreciate the responses.

furball:
I'm thinking that system restore is the way to go, for now.
I mean. . . what ELSE can happen?

one-wicked-element:
The pc is two years old.
I'm hoping that I don't have to re-format and do a clean install on this one, but, I've been there many times before (on other PCs).

rangerxlt02:
Thanks. It's looking like this is tonight's attempt.

chefbob:
I'll look at the link when I get home from work.

donjamer:
I don't quite follow you, here.
When you double-click on IE, it takes forever for the program to load. I was thinking that there might be a virus (or more) but, nothing is detected.
I'm thinking that IE 6 is corrupted, etc.


Thanks again, everyone. I'll check back later, after trying some of these things.


Keith

 

Keith.. Sorry I wasn't more clear...

What I meant was there is a setting in the antivirus program to scan for IM's
whether MSN, AIM, or Yahoo...

I have Norton and here is a screen shot of the settings page..

 

System restore hopefully will straighten her PC out. As you go back the dates in bold are restore points, it will list what actions occured on that date. Go back to before the IM's were downloaded and try there. If for some reason it wont let you restore to an earlier date try this:

Click START, RUN and then type in MSCONFIG in the box and hit enter. This is the Microsoft configuration utility. There will be four tabs on top of the box, clik on STARTUP. It will then open a box of all programs that load during boot up. You can uncheck any program that is not needed( yahoo IM, AOL IM, AIM). You are NOT deleting anything by doing this, just turning it off so it doesnt load during startup. My guess is IE6 is hanging trying to find one of the IM programs tha didnt delete properly. By turning them off in the MSCOFIG utility they wont get in the way.

Another thought is if the PC was connecting wireless before and now is hardwired make sure the wireless connection is disabled in your network connections and the ethernet connection is enabled. If its never been connected via the ethernet cable before run the network setup wizard also.

Good luck!

Brian

 

Update:

It seems that I won't have to do a system restore or re-format, etc. (Well, at least not at the moment!)

I called one of the guys from work in IT. He suggested to run a 'repair' on the Network Connections in Control Panel.

The 'data rate' (I hope that is right) was very slow, so, he suggested that I swap out the CAT 5 cable. Fortunately, I have a couple of (new) spares.
No change. Comcast loads, but, is verrrrrrrrrrrry slow.

So. . . he suggests eliminating the router (for now) and connecting the cable modem to the PC with the CAT 5 cable.

It works!!!!! Speed is better than ever!

He suggested calling Linksys (router mfg.) for help.
Router is out of warranty, so, they want $29.95 up front for support.
I didn't pay it. I guess I'm too cheap!

I will be heading to either Best Buy or Circuit City for a new router, tonight.
Price. . . $49.00.

Last item of note (for now). The router is verrrrrrrrry hot to the touch.
The only thing I can think of is the 'wired' portion of the router has some bad components, while the wireless portion is working fine. (????????? Possible?????)

 

They do get pretty warm. You need to make sure you have good airflo around it.
Out in the open/ not buried in a closet or the likes.

 

It sounds like her laptop wasnt configured properly for the router. The router should have software to run on each computer that will configuire it. You may want to give it a shot before buying a new router.

Brian

 

Brian,

The 2 laptops and the other 4 desktop PCs connecting via wireless are fine. Great signal and ability to access the 'net.

The problem has been with the desktop PC that is connected via the LAN (CAT 5) cable.
This PC is directly under the modem and router, which is sitting on the top of the computer desk (hutch) in my wife's 'office'.

Since my wife is doing school work on the laptop, I'll have to wait until tomorrow morning to give this new router 'a spin'.



Keith