BleepingComputer.com: IE7 Reinstall (long)

I'm running IE7 on XP Pro SP3, and use Trend PC-cillin 2007 behind a firewall router. I keep software fully patched/updated, and installed SP3 ~6 months ago. It was working just fine until about a month ago, when I started experiencing random problems in IE7: Pages sometimes don't load, sometimes they don't fully load, sometimes pictures won't load or they load incompletely. Same problems were experienced with Flash and WMP videos. I was not able to attribute this onset to any particular software update or other milestone.

First thought was spyware: Checked logs and ran: my AV, SuperAntiSpyware, BitDefender's online scan and Symantec's on-line scan. Nothing found.

I ran HiJackThis, and posted it to www.hijackthis.de (been using this site for a few years). Nothing sinister indicated.

Removed Java, WMP, Adobe plugins, etc. No help.

Have started IE7 without any add-ons. No change.

I read a few posts on other BC forums, and gather this IE7 problem is happening to others. The remedy appears to be an uninstall and re-install of IE7. In that I installed SP3 after IE7, SP3 will need to be unistalled prior to IE7.
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Questions:

Does anyone have any other ideas?

In that I will be spending some "quality time" with my computer, I was planning on uninstalling/reinstallaing my AV and some other utilities/applications to ensure everything is clean and fresh. Should I uninstall all of the XP updates too and start completely from scratch?

Does anyone have a recommeded order or list of applications I should pay particular attention to during this process?

Thanks!

Mike T

Oops... Just realized I should have posted this in the Web/Internet Applications forum. Can a moderator move this for me? Thanks!

To fix IE, you could try to go to add/remove programs and doing a "repair" of it, or just a clean uninstall/reinstall. If that doesn't work, you will need to wait for someone will more knowledge of this problem. If you would like to use a different browser, you could try Firefox which is safer than IE and is what I personally use.

I've attempted a repair, and performed several system restores using restore points well prior to the occurence. I'd like to try another browser, but this is a "family" computer. Our youngest is visually impaired, and we have screen reading software for her that doesn't support Firefox. I'm locked into it - for now anyway!

I've never had issues with it before...

Mike T

Hmm.....Firefox has many add ons that will increase text size with a click of a button. If you would like to see some of them, visit here

Understood about Firefox. However the screen reading software (JAWS for Windows v6.20) actually reads the text and vocalizes it (text to speech). There are newer versions out, but I don't have $900 to purchase v9.0. Ideally v6.20 should work in any browser, but based on the experiences of 2 familys that we know, JAWS with Firefox didn't perform as it should have. Firefox is NOT an option at this time.

Mike T

Oh, I understand. Do you know if it would work with the Opera browser?

I did some further searching and found a few text to speech add ons here.


I almost forgot, have you tried doing a system restore to the time before the problems started?

Also I found an interesting thing here.
Somewhere I remember reading that running winsockfix would help solve this issue. I personally wouldn't run it unless it was a last resort but if you would like to run it anyway, the link is here.

I'm not changing browsers. Period. I may roll back to IE6, but changing is not an option now. Yes I've performed several system restores that predate the probable occurence of the "bug" (see prior posts). My network connectivity also appears good (all other applications work). Looks like I'm uninstalling now... I'll let the forum know how it works out.

Mike T

You mean you are reformatting? Or Uninstalling IE?

As per MS's receommendations, I uninstalled XP SP3 and then uninstalled IE7. Essentially I am now running SP2 with IE6 - with everything fully patched. I have also uninstalled all media applications (iTunes, QT, Flash, Shockwave, Adobe Reader, Java, ad nauseum...). I plan on running this way for a few days and "checking the water" so to speak. I then plan on uninstalling and reinstalling TrendMicro, but am going to make sure I am completely bug free first.

So far the number of page loading problems is greatly reduced - though there are still some glitches. If it persists I may undertake a repair installation of XP before reinstalling anything.

Will keep you posted.

Mike T

That sounds like a pretty good plan. You might also want to reinstall things such as Itunes and quicktime in intervals just to make sure it isn't one of those programs that is causing the complications, even though it seems that SP3 + IE7 is what was the root of your problem.

You won't believe this... I think I found - and solved - the entire problem. In reviewing my HOSTS file, it was a mix of old SpyBot Search and Destroy entries and a bunch of garbage. It was dated 10/25/08, and there was a back-up file with the same date. The date/time coincided with a spyware/trojan catch by my AV.

I loaded a new HOSTS file from MVPS, and things are looking/loading spiffy so far - I may have just uninstalled everything for nothing!

The AV entry (PAK_GENERIC.001) noted that the quanantine failed - but I immediately purged my cache when it happened. I think I'm clean, but should probably be thorough.

Recommendations?

Mike T

Wow, I should have thought of that! I'm going to be beating myself up for missing that for a time I really do apologize for not suggesting that, I just passed over that whole idea when I was troubleshooting it. Grr.....

Congrats on self fixing your problem though If you need additional help, don't be afraid to ask!

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Where was the "PAK_Generic.001" located? If it was in temporary internet files, clearing cache should have removed it.

Yes - It was in the temporary internet files. I may run Bitdefender's online scanner again to verify I'm clean.

One good thing: With all of the extras stripped off, I'm running much faster! I plan on updating my video drivers and then reinstalling SP3. If everything goes smoothly, I may be back to normal at the end of the week. Planning on making frequent restore points too - just in case!

Mike T

Sounds good If you want to clear your temporary files quite thoroughly, I would recommend CCleaner, but be sure not to use the registry cleaner portion of it, just use the normal cleaner. And before you run it, go to Options -> Advanced -> un-check the box labled "only delete files older than 48 hours"

I hope everything goes smooth for you here on out, and again, if you need any more assistance, don't be afraid to ask

Making a lot of restore points is always a good thing.




*Important Edit
After some digging, I have found that "PAK_Generic.001" can be a serious infection. If it was only in your temporary files you are most likely safe. Still, a scan with a few Anti-virus online scanners wouldn't hurt. I'd recommend Kaspersky, F-Secure, and whatever AV you have installed on your computer.