unable to access internet with IE7

There are two users on this computer: Rebecca and Gary.
Under Rebecca, IE7 works fine. Under Gary, though, I get the message "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage ". When I click on "Diagnose connection problems" (an option under the 'cannot display the webpage' message), I get a whole page of info, most of which appears unremarkable except for the following:

HTTP, HTTPS, FTP connectivity (this is the first "box" on the page)

info HTTPS: Successfully connected to www.microsoft.com.
warn HTTP: Error 12029 connecting to www.microsoft.com: A connection with the server could not be established
info FTP (Passive): Successfully connected to ftp.microsoft.com.
warn HTTP: Error 12029 connecting to www.hotmail.com: A connection with the server could not be established
error Could not make an HTTP connection.
info Redirecting user to support call

HTTP, HTTPS, FTP connectivity (this is the last "box" on the page)

warn HTTP: Error 12029 connecting to www.microsoft.com: A connection with the server could not be established
warn HTTP: Error 12029 connecting to www.hotmail.com: A connection with the server could not be established
info FTP (Passive): Successfully connected to ftp.microsoft.com.
info HTTPS: Successfully connected to www.microsoft.com.
error Could not make an HTTP connection

Also, under "Network Diagnostics for Windows XP ", I get the message that
"Windows cannot connect to the Internet using HTTP, HTTPS, or FTP. This is probably caused by firewall settings on this computer.
Check the firewall settings for the HPPT port (80), HTTPS port (443) and FTP port (21). "

Yes, I am using ZA free as a firewall, but the settings are the same under both Gary and Rebecca, and as I mentioned before, IE7 works fine for me under Rebecca. Also, I tried turning off the ZA firewall, and IE7 still can't connect.
Any suggestions how I might be able to rectify this problem? It's not so much the idea of being able to use IE7 that drives me here, as the fact that Google Earth won't work under Gary (apparently because IE7 is unable to connect to the internet) - and he'd rather not have to log on under my name every time he wants to use Google Earth.
Thanks for any input!

 

You have a horked installation of IE 7.

From the Microsoft IE 7 Team, who wrote the application:
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/10/11/IE7-Installation-and-Anti_2D00_Malware-Applications.aspx

Or more directly, the terrific Sandi Hardemeir pre-installation notes:
http://www.ie-vista.com/known_issues.html#pre-install

Your posted system behavior is exactly what happens when there are Antivirus, firewall, or other "Guards" at work that effect key registry entries.

You likely installed IE 7 fine for your own account. The registry entries that were of importance to your username logon likely worked fine. But, the registry entries that were intended Machine-wide did not.

You do not get errors reported back to you in this instance. IE 7 just does not work for the non-installing user.

Prescription:

. Uninstall Zone Alarm. It cannot be disabled sufficiently to prevent this problem. See the terrific Sandi's notes linked above. You can reinstall it afterwards. The XP native firewall will protect you in the between times.

. If using any antivirus application, disable it from starting. You cannot depend on using the program itself to disable. Sandi has notes on how to do this using MSCONFIG;

. Do not use Windows Update. Download the IE 7 Image and install as described by Sandi above in Safe Mode with Networking as Administrator.

. Disable Windows Update service from running during this process. Re-enble when done.

Before doing the new installation, use Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, as Administrator in Safe Mode to remove the existing install.

Print out my second link above by Sandi, and treat it as a Bible. Your issue should then be resolved. If not, please post back.

Bill

 

I've uninstalled ZA, turned on XP's firewall, and am just about ready to follow the rest of the instructions - but I have one question left: somewhere in Sandi's instructions, I read that a defective IE7 installation should be uninstalled from the user account in which it was originally installed; you suggested doing it as Administrator in Safe Mode. Which would be your final recommendation?
Also, when I go to do the new installation, should I be logged on as Administrator in Safe Mode again, or can I do it logged on as Rebecca?
Thanks, Bill!

 

Follow Sandi's advice. There was an issue about using Add/Remove programs for IE 7 by other than the original installer username. I thought that it was fixed in IE 7 final, but it does not change things materially.

Logon as you.

 

I uninstalled IE7 (logged on as Rebecca). Rebooted the computer, as instructed, logged on as Rebecca again, and was presented with a DOS-looking window whose title bar said "C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe ". Nothing showed up within the window itself - just a blank black screen (that I associate with DOS, although maybe that's not the case).
Didn't know what to do with that, so I just clicked on the X in the upper corner and closed out the window. Then a little popup showed up entitled "Personalized settings" - in the popup, it said "Removing personalized settings for : IE7 Uninstall stub ". I watched the hourglass for about ten minutes (didn't sound like anything was going on inside the computer), then tried Ctrl-Alt-Del, and it said the program wasn't responding, so I clicked on "End task ". Rebooted again (through the task manager, as my windows screen was entirely blue after the "Personalized settings" popup was gone), and that time, Windows loaded fine.
I'm a tad concerned about the fact that I basically cut both those popups short - are they something I should be concerned about, or should I be good to reinstall?

 

I used System Restore to go back to before I'd uninstalled IE7, and then tried uninstalling it again. I got two "Copy Errors" that time (it couldn't find ieeula.chm and html.iec), but I was able to use "Search" to find the two items, and redirect the Copy errors to the right locations - after that, everything seemed to proceed smoothly. Rebooted x2, as instructed at Sandi's site. As long as I had all my antivirus/antispyware programs disabled, and ZA uninstalled, I went ahead and uninstalled Firefox as well (there was a glitch with that browser under Gary as well). Rebooted, reinstalled Firefox. Re-enabled my antivirus/antispyware programs. Rebooted, reinstalled ZA, rebooted. Felt good about having followed all instructions to a T - logged onto Gary's account, and ... doggone it if all the same problems aren't still there! I get the same "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage" message, and even the Firefox glitch is back!
Weirdly, Gary's IE icon still shows up all blue (as opposed to having the yellow 'halo' around it), even though the program looks like IE7 when it opens. Firefox, under Gary, looks "normal ". Under Rebecca, my Firefox toolbar has changed. Guess I'll go back to a system restore point from yesterday, and try it all over again tomorrow. I'm too bummed about having gone through this all for naught to work on it any more today.
Boo hiss!!! Any suggestions other than just doing it all over again?

 

I ran System Restore, going back to a system checkpoint yesterday. Had to uninstall and reinstall Firefox again, because it wouldn't run under either user any more, but now everything's cool. I think I'm going to just give up on IE7 - IE6 works fine under Gary, and for the number of times we actually use IE, I'm hoping version 6 will suffice...
Thanks for the help and the links!

 

System Restore is not an acceptable uninstaller for IE 7. Particularly given your issues. MS-MVP Bert Kinney, (the System Restore Guru) notes:

Control Panel, Add/Remove programs is the safest and best way to remove IE 7 and to ensure you revert without issue to IE 6. Microsoft offers two other alternative removal methods: call spuninst.exe directly, or use Recovery Console and the BATCH command with spuninst.txt: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/ie/Aa740486

Your specific issues are not typical for IE 7, hence my request to reinstall the application.

To some extent the HTTP and HTTPS authentication problems you are having would be mitigated by installing IE 7, and adding the patch for authentication issues that may occur: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/904942

As your second set of entries showed possible timing issues from flipping between secure and non-secure HTTP/HTTPS sites, I would have also had you install this patch: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928089

But in general, as Bert Kinney notes above, your use of System Restore is not a good approach to the reinstall. And if poor Sandi Hardemeir read this thread she would conniptions thinking that her installation notes even intimated such an approach!

Best New Year's Wishes,
Bill

 

I take full responsibility for my actions yesterday! I'd read both your and Sandi's suggestions, am quite sure I followed them precisely, and when things didn't work, I took matters into my own hands and fudged from there. Sandi's notes clearly didn't lead me down that route!

I read your quote about how System Restore cannot be used to reinstall uninstalled applications, but for whatever it's worth, once I'd restored to that system checkpoint from the previous day, IE7 seemed to work just as it had been working before. In other words, it still worked fine when I logged in as Rebecca, but not when I logged in as Gary.
At that point, I used the Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel to try to remove IE7 again. Obviously something wasn't quite right with that second attempted uninstallation, either, because I had to address those two "Copy Errors" in the process, but given that I was at least able to find the two files in question, and redirect the "copy error" to them, it still seemed like a "less bad" uninstallation than the first time around, when Windows came back at me with that "C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe" DOS screen and the "Removing personalized settings for : IE7 Uninstall stub" message that froze the computer.

I'd be willing to try it all again, if you think it's worth it, but IE6 is currently working fine for both users now, so superficially, at any rate, all appears to be well... What do you think?

 

I think you let sleeping dogs lie, at least for the moment.

Best Holiday Wishes.

 

Amen to that!
Happy new year to you!