BleepingComputer.com: IE takes long time to load

I have suddenly experienced a delay in opening my homepage (which is only Google). Once its loaded, I can go back out and in instantly - its just for the first time.

The rest of the system seems fine, just a delay in loading internet explorer. is there anything I can do?

I have scanned with Spywareblaster and Sybot and came back with nothing.

I have AVast and Zone Alarm firewall.

Hi Paulrenno,

Does it happen in more than one browser? In other words - both Internet Explorer and Firefox?
Have you emptied your temporary internet files in Windows Explorer under Documents&Settings/your user name/LocalSettings
Have you cleared your private data under Tools?
If you use bookmarks (Firefox) and favorites (Internet Explorer), have you tried deleting your history?
Have you emptied out your cookies folder?

Zllio

Thanks for your reply.

I have a little programme called internet cleaner which cleans out the temp files/cookies/ history as soon as i close IE.

It is strange, because once it has loaded, i can close IE down, and then go back on instantly. Its just that first instance.

My Dell machine does the same thing, and I use CleanUp to empty the temp/other files daily. It's a PITA because Malwarebytes takes at least a minute to open, as does SpyBot. I looked in Spybot the other day and it has over 22,000 sites listed as 'bad places'. Wonder if that's an issue? Anyone have an idea?

Paulrenno, on May 21 2009, 09:12 AM, said:

I have the same problem with IE8. It takes 15 sec to load. I have just given up on it and use Firefox instead. It works great.

Twin B, yours seems different. The other 2 posters are saying it is only with IE, yours is opening applications

On the Tools menu in Internet Explorer, click Internet Options, click the Connections tab, and then click LAN Settings.
Under Proxy server, make sure the Use a proxy server for your LAN check box is unchecked

Hi Garman. All of the boxes in the LAN settings are unchecked. Do you think I should start a new thread for my particular issue, or will you still reply to my posts in here? Thanks, Joe.

Do you have any little addons, toolbars etc for IE installed? a Hijackthis log will show which addons you have loading in ie. perhaps post one of those for us?

A Bleepingcomputer tutorial:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/how-to-use-hijackthis/

Sunildev.

i have experienced the same problem since i updated to IE8. i guess the new version is harder on the PC. there is a slew of new features to IE8 which probably slow down the initial startup of the browser.

SysBolt, I'm still using IE 6.0; without any add-on gadgets installed, Sunildev. Thanks for the Hijack-It idea sunildev, and excuse me for my caution but I see you joined BC two days ago, I was under the impression that only 'authorized' folks could reply to Hijack-It logs to help someone. I'm willing to post a log and get some help in trying to find the causes of my slow machine, that would be terrific to correct, but I don't want to do something unusual here since I'm relatively new and still feeling my way around. No offense meant, what's your reaction to this? Thanks.

Hi Twin-B,

Is your IE6 updated to serice pack 3?

Zllio

No Z, I don't SP3. I'm always hesitant to get Microsoft's newer fixes/products because I'm under the impression that, at best, they're still at the beta stage of development. Do ya think SP3 would be worthwhile, and maybe an update to IE7 or 8? I do feel a little like I'm living in the dark ages of 2007-'08.

This post has been edited by Twin B: 06 June 2009 - 01:37 PM

Hi Twin.B,

I was thinking there's an update for IE6 called SP3, but in looking at my own version information for IE6, it's more complicated than I can understand. It appears that when you install SP3 for your XP operating system, it makes changes to IE6 which it then refers to as SP3. When I think about this more closely, I recently did a reinstallation of the operating system and did not have any trouble getting IE 6 to load, either before or after collecting the updates for XP. What did take a huge amount of time was getting the microsoft website to load, however, that may have been a time-of-day problem rather than a browser problem. Have you run by the suggestions in the Am I Infected forum to make sure your computer is clean? If it's clean, then I would recommend creating a clean restore point and getting all your Windows updates. However, don't update Windows until you are sure your computer is free of malware. There are very few instances in which the updates cause problems. In general, if you've never updated your operating system, the updates website at microsoft (which you can go to manually through your Security Center by clicking on the option on the left to look for the newest windows updates) will request that you download the software that's needed to download the updates. Then it will install a few updates. Only after some initial installations, will it install SP3, which includes setting a restore point of its own. The Windows updates cause very few problems when installed on a clean computer and they enable your software to keep up with changes which might be behind the problems you're experiencing now.

In the process of updating Windows, your Internet Explorer will get some updates as well. You can also try IE7. IE7 has the advantage of using tab browsing. I use Firefox almost exclusively, but there are some things which require Internet Explorer, so it's good to have one that's working. If you don't have Firefox and want to use it, you can download it at the Mozilla download site. I don't like Firefox 3 as well as the versions of 2, but then that's because I don't like to change away from something that's working well.

If you decide to get your Windows updates, ask in the Am I Infected forum before you do that, how you should best determine that your computer is malware free.

Zllio

Thanks for your ideas Z. Yep, my machine is infected. Garmanma is holding my hand in my Am I Infected thread, leading me through the dark alleys of removing the nasties, but he thinks I may have more probs than just infections. So I'm not ready to add anything more at this point, but I'll use your comments for future action. Thanks. Joe.