Member Avatar for maryannet

I can log on to the internet but am unable to open the browser or pull up any web sites. I have no idea what the problem is... I have already ran the internet explorer repair tool and already determined that there are no proxy settings...are there any other suggestions? I would very much appreciate any and all ideas. Thanks.

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Dani AI

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Brief expert triage based on the symptom reported by and the diagnostic prompts from . When the browser shows activity (hourglass) but never opens, the usual culprits are corrupted Internet Explorer DLLs, a broken Winsock/TCP‑IP stack, or a third‑party extension/toolbar blocking UI creation. The following prioritized checks resolve most Win98-era cases without reinstalling the OS.

  1. Kill any hung browser process and try a no‑extension start:

    • Open Task Manager, end any iexplore.exe (or suspicious rundll32/browser helper) and then run IE with extensions disabled:
    iexplore -extoff

  2. Re-register core IE DLLs (run these from Start->Run or a command prompt):

    regsvr32 urlmon.dll
regsvr32 mshtml.dll
regsvr32 shdocvw.dll
regsvr32 browseui.dll
regsvr32 actxprxy.dll
regsvr32 jscript.dll
regsvr32 vbscript.dll

  3. Reset Winsock / TCP‑IP (common with dial‑up): remove and re‑add the TCP/IP component via Control Panel -> Network, reboot, then reconfigure the dial‑up connection. This clears corrupted socket entries without complex registry edits.

  4. Test in Safe Mode (F8 on boot) and with an alternate browser. If IE runs in Safe Mode or a different browser works, a shell extension or toolbar is likely responsible.

  5. If none of the above helps: back up important files and reinstall Internet Explorer (or extract IE components from the installer). Avoid registry edits without a backup.

Cautions: back up registry/important files before major changes. If further diagnostics are needed, collect what appears in Task Manager when attempting to start the browser, whether Safe Mode behaves differently, and any error dialogs or crash entries.

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Member Avatar for DMR

Some specifics would help us to narrow things it down most quickly:

1. What version of Windows are you using?

2. What type of Internet connection do you have (cable, DSL, dial-up, etc.)?

3. Does your computer connect directly to the Internet, or do you go through a router/hub/switch?

4. Give us some history as to when the problem started to occur. Did anything else else that might relate to the problem happen to the computer at about that time?

5. You said you can't even open the browser; what exactly happens when you try?

6. Have you scanned your system for virus/spyware/adware infections yet?

Member Avatar for maryannet

I am using windows 98-

yes I have scanned for viruses, spyware, adware, etc.

I have a dial-up connection that is direct to the internet

It has been happening for 4 or 5 days now and I have not installed any new software or haven't been to any new or unusual sites, nor have I received any suspicious or unusual e-mails.

When I try to open the browser after connecting to the internet, it gives me the hourglass as if it will open then nothing, it stays on the windows desktop.

Any suggestions or ideas???

Thank you very much for your help! ;)

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