internet explorer"cannot find server"

[mattd]

i've had this problem for a bit now. whenever i open up IE it just will not detect an internet connection. it works on every other desktop on this computer but not mine. i've been using opera ever since it stopped working. i'm using windows XP. i have been to the microsoft website to try and find a solution but there's no help there, i'm just going around in circles. can anyone help?

[DMR]

it works on every other desktop on this computer but not mine.

Do you mean that IE is broken under your user account, but works with all other accounts on the system? If so, what happens if you create a new user account and try to use IE from there?

[mattd]

Do you mean that IE is broken under your user account, but works with all other accounts on the system? If so, what happens if you create a new user account and try to use IE from there?

it works, so i figure it must be something with my user settings.

[DMR]

Ok- a couple of quick things I'd try, given that it's only your current account that's having problems:

1. Log in as an administrator, create a new user account, log out of the administrator account, and:

a) log in to the new account and verify that all of your programs (including Internet Explorer, obviously) work properly. If they do:

b) Log out of that account, log back in under an administrator account, and copy the contents of your C:\Documents and Settings\Old_Username folder to your C:\Documents and Settings\New_Username folder (instructions for doing so are here). If you get prompts asking if you want to overwrite existing files/folders in the New_Username folder, click Yes.

c) Repeat step "a)".

If all seems to be well you can delete the old account, although I'd leave it in place for a while just in case.

[tfmurphhk]

DMR, thank you very much! I did as you suggested and created a new account and found that I could do all the things I could NOT do in my previous account.

I am now in the process of copying everything over to the new account... but this seems tedious at best.

What do you think is wrong with the OLD account and can it not be fixed rather than copy everything over?

Am I in danger of copying over the BAD stuff as well???

Thanks again

Tom

[tfmurphhk]

Well I finally found the solution to MY problem... not sure if it is the same with everyone.

I remembered that the last thing I did before installing SP2 was to download and install the new Google (beta) Desktop search.

I took a chance and removed it this morning.. and voila, everything was back to normal. I can now access IE, Yahoo, AIM etc. All things that stopped working (I thought) when I installed SP2.

Turns out the culprit was Google, or the Google interface to SP2 (funny, the Google Desktop did work before I installed SP2)

Guess I will now wait until Google is OUT of beta before I install again,

Tom

[DMR]

Good find; glad you got it sorted! :)

(Just FYI: My suggestion of creating a new user account was more of a test than anything else. User accounts do get corrupted sometimes, and it helps to know if a given problem is global, or just limited to one user account, as that narrows down the possibilities.)