Problem with IE 6 and XP

[Guest Lethargic]

Woo hoo. My first real problem with the new computer. I guess it's not really new anymore but this problem sure is.

 

For the past couple of weeks I have had trouble on the internet. At least I think it's only on the internet. I'm not 100% sure that other programs haven't been affected but this is the only one I've noticed really. My problem is that everytime I open Internet Explorer it locks up. It generally takes around 20-30 seconds to load and then when it does load it's locked up for a little while longer before I can do anything. I can't click on links or buttons or anything. Once it unlocks, it works, but every time I click a link and change to a different page it locks up all over again.

 

I've scanned for viruses, uninstalled recently installed programs that could've caused problems, deleted a lot of other unnecassary stuff I thought may have been slowing down the computer, deleted temporary internet files, cleared history, defragmented the drive, other crap. I then tried to reinstall IE 6. I ran the setup file but it didn't seem to do anything. It only ran for a few seconds and then told me to reboot. I rebooted and after the computer was back up I got a "Windows Has Recovered From A Serious Problem" message or something like that. After that it seemed to work fine for a while. But then it started doing it again. I've went through a bunch of stuff on Microsoft's troubleshooting sites and I've searched the web for tips. Found some stuff to try, none of it worked. I tried to contact Microsoft's tech support, but they told me since it was a OEM installation that I had to contact Gateway instead. So I've emailed them but it'll probably be a couple of days for a response. So does anybody here have any suggestions?

[Guest MrRant]

Try repairing IE through the add/remove in the control panel.

[Guest T®ITEC]

...So it's not just my dad's computer? Well. He's having the exact same problem you described.

 

Huh.

[Guest Lethargic]

Try repairing IE through the add/remove in the control panel.

Because IE 6 is embedded in XP installation there is no IE in the add/remove section.

 

Gateway just sent me a link to something that should fix it. Haven't checked it out yet, I'll let you know if it works.

[Guest T®ITEC]

So you'll tell me what to do as well? Kudos, man.

[Guest Leena]

Never buy from Gateway, they're a scam operation.

 

I don't know anything about XP... but maybe if IE doesn't work, couldn't you try Netscape?

[Guest Lethargic]

Gateway is just about the only place I'd ever recommend to buy from. In the years I've had computers from there I've had 2 problems. My other computer's CD-Rom drive screwed up. Not only did they replace it for free, they replaced it with a much faster DVD-Rom drive. And this is AFTER my warranty had ran out.

 

Now with this problem they got back to me within an hour with a list of stuff to try to fix it with. None of it worked so I gotta write them back. And if it's a hardware deal they've already said they will replace anything messed up.

 

If that's a scam I guess we have different definitions for the word.

 

Here's everything I tried tonight.

 

Disabled ALL programs running in the background. Was hoping it would work so then I could turn them back on one at a time to figured out which one was doing it. Didn't do anything. So it's none of that. It's no spyware or anything cause nothing else was running.

 

Checked through the errors in the event viewer program. Found a couple of errors in IE from when the stuff started but when I clicked the link to find out more info it just "we don't know."

 

Modified some performance options.

 

Fooled with the size of my swap file.

 

Ran disk cleanup and Check Disk.

 

Completely reinstalled Windows XP.

 

It still does it.

[Guest MrRant]

Have you downloaded all IE 6 updates?

[Guest Kingpk]

Never buy from Gateway, they're a scam operation.

I WHOLEHEARTEDLY disagree there. Gateway has really good customer service and when my first computer went on the fritz, they repaired it quickly and even upgraded the modem from a 28K to a 33.6K for no extra cost.

 

Plus, their commercials aren't full of annoying people.

[Guest Leena]

Gateway does have good customer service, but they blatantly scammed me on my 1st computer. I got a 450 mhz PII, and they make sure to give me a million papers authorizing that... and a couple months later, I'm wondering why I can't run certain programs. It seems they put a 300 mhz PII in there. Never got any money back for that, either.

 

Then the whole integrated video and sound card thing... where if one is busted, it's hell to figure out how to get the new card to work without problems. I had that problem, and Gateway helped none... unless I called their pay line which has me on hold for an hour.

 

I also think they're ridiculously expensive. $1500+ for a computer is robbery, when they can be built with better parts for $6-700.

[Guest Lethargic]

Ok, so I edited the registry and un-embedded IE out of XP and got rid of it. Did a normal re-install of the latest IE. Still does it.

 

I'm downloading shitty netscape now.

[Guest MrRant]

Ok, so I edited the registry and un-embedded IE out of XP and got rid of it. Did a normal re-install of the latest IE. Still does it.

 

I'm downloading shitty netscape now.

Go with Mozilla. http://www.mozilla.org . What Netscape is built on without all the shit from AOL.

[Guest SP-1]

So is this just a problem with Gateway computers? I'm running a VAIO P4 with XP and IE6 and I've never had this kind of problem. The biggest problem I've ever had is Kazaa making it lock up for some reason.

 

Strange. TRITEC, is your dad's computer a Gateway?

 

SP

[Guest I'm That Damn Zzzzz]

Internet Explorer may have got hijacked by spyware, its symptoms sound like it. Try Spybot Search and Destroy ( http://security.kolla.de/ ) and Ad-Aware ( http://www.lavasoftusa.com ) to kill them.

 

Ok, so I edited the registry and un-embedded IE out of XP and got rid of it.  Did a normal re-install of the latest IE.  Still does it.

 

I'm downloading shitty netscape now.

Opera is much better than Netscape and Internet Explorer.

[Guest Lethargic]

I think the spyware program fixed it. Those little bastards. I edited out all that stuff I could myself using regedit and msconfig and other ways but damn there was all kinds of shit on there. Of course I thought it was fixed a few days ago and it wasn't so I'll just wait a while and see.

[Guest T®ITEC]

Strange.  TRITEC, is your dad's computer a Gateway?

 

SP

No. Our computer is a mix of a whole bunch of junk. My brother put it toether... Normally it runs perfectly well, but it wouldn't be surprising if there was SpyWare on here. So, I'll download it and see if that works.

 

EDIT: I just used AdAware, and dayum, we had a lot of crap on there.. mostly from my parents and my sister-in-law. My brother and I know what we're doing as far as the internet... Grumble.

 

SpyBot confused me when I tried it on my PC, so if this works, I'm avoiding it. (Y)

[Guest I'm That Damn Zzzzz]

If you're interested, I wrote a bit about prevention here that should stop at least a few problems with Internet Explorer from happening in the future.

[Guest Leena]

I downloaded Opera, and it seems to be going rather slow. Oh well.

[Guest T®ITEC]

If you're interested, I wrote a bit about prevention here that should stop at least a few problems with Internet Explorer from happening in the future.

Thanks for linking to that. It's very helpful.

 

Now I have to rig up Dad's computer... I miss the days when we just had that Commodore 64.