Member Avatar for D_Lusted

Hi All,
I'm new to this forum so I hope I've put this in the right place ;)

Let me explain the situation....
The problem is with my girlfriend's PC, not mine.
She runs MSN Explorer as her Browser and Messenger as her Web Chat (As do I).
The problem was brought to my attention last night (21th Jan 2006) when I logged on to this PC wanting to check my emails etc....
Basically, I couldn't do anything with Explorer. Tried logging on a number of times with both my girlfriend's and myself's username and password, but nothing. Then I tried to log on to MSN Messenger, but an error message (80048883) saying that the service was temporarily unavailable, so I left it an hour or so. Tried again and still nothing, so I checked the service status and all was running fine.

Then I loaded IE to check my emails going through that, but got "Cannot connect", also got this message to some other secure sites, ie. Internet Banking.

I've downloaded Firefox (The Browser I use at home) and the web access seems fine now, but it's Messenger....I can't get on to that.... :(

What can I do? I would be sincerely thnkful to whoever is able to provide assistance to this matter.

Best Regards,

Duane Lusted :D

Sorry, forgot to add:-
Have erased all Temp files, Cookies, Temp Internet Files, Ran/Removed Spyware/Adware/Viruses.

Running WinXp Home SP2, using Win Firewall and have tried connecting when the firewall is off.

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Dani AI

Generated

Symptoms reported by — MSN Explorer/IE failing on HTTPS sites and Messenger returning error 80048883 while Firefox still works — point away from a server outage and toward a client-side problem: either a corrupted Winsock/SSL (Schannel/crypto) stack or interference from third-party security software. ’s idea (re-registering the crypto/IE DLLs) matches that diagnosis, and ’s follow-up confirms it can help. Running an unknown .bat from the web sometimes fixes the issue, but safer is to perform the same, explicit steps manually so the changes are understood and reversible.

Safe, practical checklist (do one step at a time; reboot after any fixes that complete successfully):

  • Verify system date/time and timezone (certificates fail if the clock is wrong).
  • Clear IE SSL state: Internet Options -> Content -> Clear SSL state.
  • Temporarily disable third-party antivirus/firewall and retest (Windows Firewall was already tried).
  • Reset Winsock and TCP/IP, then reboot. Example commands (run from an elevated command prompt on XP SP2): 
netsh winsock reset
netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt
  • Re-register common crypto/IE DLLs that affect HTTPS (run each command from an elevated prompt, then reboot): 
regsvr32 softpub.dll
regsvr32 wintrust.dll
regsvr32 initpki.dll
regsvr32 dssenh.dll
regsvr32 rsaenh.dll
regsvr32 gpkcsp.dll
regsvr32 sccbase.dll
regsvr32 slbcsp.dll
regsvr32 cryptdlg.dll
  • If available, run sfc /scannow to repair system files (Windows XP requires the original CD).

Extra checks and cautions: inspect proxy settings and the HOSTS file for unexpected entries, review Event Viewer (System/Application) for Schannel or network errors, and ensure root CA updates are present. If Firefox works while IE and Messenger fail, that confirms a Windows/IE crypto stack problem (Firefox uses its own SSL). Back up the system or create a restore point before making multiple changes.

Longer-term note: Windows XP/SP2 is very old and lacks modern TLS support; for secure banking or continued Messenger/Explorer use, upgrading to a maintained OS or using a current device/browser is strongly recommended.

Recommended Answers

All 3 Replies

Member Avatar for gemini4

Is no other security software installed on your computer like Norton or McAfee? From my experience they are the main culprits for Secure Websites issues. However sometimes the information for the actual dll's responsible for encrypting the connection becomes corrupted.

Here's something that you can do. Run this batch file: and click OK to all the messages that pop up.

I hope it works.

Member Avatar for UGA_Dawg

THANK YOU for this post!!!!! It solved my problem! What a miracle! I couldn't log on to Hotmail or MSN Messenger or MSN Explorer for a week. This fixed it fast!!!!

Is no other security software installed on your computer like Norton or McAfee? From my experience they are the main culprits for Secure Websites issues. However sometimes the information for the actual dll's responsible for encrypting the connection becomes corrupted.

Here's something that you can do. Run this batch file: and click OK to all the messages that pop up.

I hope it works.

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