I've been trying to fix a computer for a very stubborn client. IE is not loading any pages unless it is in Safe Mode. I am not at work now and won't be for a couple of days but I thought maybe you could point me in the right direction.

I've already run Ad-Aware (with the update from the seventh of April) and begun trying out HijackThis. IE is fully updated and so is Windows XP Home. Something must be loading up to stop IE from connecting. I can ping sites but can't load pages in IE.

I'd love to be able to fix this by telling her to use Firefox but she wouldn't like that answer.

I've reinstalled IE, ran Chkdsk /r from the Repair Console, and repaired Windows (the way where it looks like you're reinstalling). I've removed all the adware and viruses that McAfee (dat 4349 or 4350) could find. I've cleaned out the System Restore information because it had adware and/or viruses in there that would just reinstall itself after I finished scanning. The only things left in the Run section of the registry are the McAfee stuff (as far as I can remember). If you could try and think of anything I might be overlooking or any suggestions as to what I should try, it'd be much appreciated.

I've been looking all over the forums here and someone recommended Spysweeper. Is this worth looking into? If you'd like to see the HijackThis log, let me know and I can post it on Monday morning. Monday, I can also check my notes and see what viruses I have removed (Nachi?).

Thanks!

P.S. I am 90% sure this is Windows XP Home, but I was working on about six other computers the other day so it might be XP Pro.

There has been a couple more Adaware updates since.
Download & instal Spybot S&D from http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=download Update it B4 scanning.
After the scan is complete, have spybot fix everything marked RED.
On the page that first opens when you start Spybot there is an option to immunise, you should do this. In the immunise section there is also a link to download Spywareblaster. Download that & you can keep it updated by selecting the same link that you use to download it.

Download CWShredder from http://209.133.47.200/~merijn/files/CWShredder.exe & run it. Select the fix button & it will get rid of everything related to CoolWebSearch. Close ALL other programs including IE before running CWShredder.

Stay with these programs, they are free & better than spysweeper. If these fail (after running them in safe mode(not that you have to)) then post that HJT log.

I had the exact same trouble with a Dell machine running XP home with service pack 2. I could get a good ping, but IE would never be able to load a page unless I booted in safe mode. I tried every suggestion I could find. This included reparing the Winsock files, editing the registry, running a repair on win xp home, reinstalling TCP/IP, running anti-virus and anti-spyware software and diabling any fire-walls too. Finally I asked the client if they installed anything around the time this started happening. They said they thought it started happening around the time of their installation of Norton Virus software.

I decided to try something... I turned on system restore, took a snapshot, then uninstalled Norton and BOOM. IE was able to hit the internet again.

Try uninstalling Norton.

FYI: They also had Macafee firewall installed as well.

"Try uninstalling Norton."

I was extremely skeptical, but I tried this and it worked.

In my case it was a corporate version of Norton Symantic Antivirus.

I uninstalled Norton and then reinstalled it and suddenly IE works fine when I'm not in safe mode in Windows XP Professional.

The main symptoms I was having is IE would start "not responding" and lock up especially when the page had any scripting like Gmail.

But also, whenever I logged into my NTNET account, a little black command (cmd.exe) window would stay open for about 2 minutes before I could access the internet.

Thank you, thank you!