IE won't run at all but Windows Explorer will....I don't get it.

When I click on any IE icon, be it a shortcut or the actual .exe file, all I get is an hourglass for a second or two then nothing. Nothing pops up, nothing happens in my task manager....nothing happens. But, I can use Windows explorer to browse the web just fine. I click on "My Computer" from the start menu, type in an internet address and away I go. Untill I click on a link that opens up another window, of course, then my computer kind of crashes for a few seconds and recovers just fine with the exception of not opening the other window. I've tried uninstalling IE from "Add/Remove Win. components" and then reinstalling it from a setup file I DL'ed from Microsoft. It tells me it's detected an earlier version of IE and can't con't. I've tried reinstalling it from the same "Add/Remove" option and I get the same problem.

I understand that IE and WE are kind of one in the same, that's why I don't get what's going on.

I've scanned with up to date versions of Spyware, Adaware, and Norton. My computer is clean of everything. The only things that I can remember installing recently are Norton virus/firewall and Win SP2. I've uninstalled all Norton to see if it caused a conflict but that didn't work iether. I've had no problems the 2 to 3 weeks prior to installing SP2. I'm running XP. Can anyone help, everyone I've talk to has no idea what to do.

 

asdfguy --You have not told us what version of Windows or IE you now have, but here is a reference that might help you repair IE for most present versions.
http://help.att.net/docs/howto/othe...ustomercontent=customer_browser&platform=none
If this just happened recently you could also try (in Win XP) a System Restore or in Win98 scanreg /restore, the latter from a Restart in MS-DOS mode.
If none of these help, please post back and tell us what OS and version of IE you are running.
You could also look at this
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=221863

 

I am running IE version 6.0.2900.2180. I am running Windows XP Pro with SP2 installed. As far as the links go that were posted, I can't use them. My computer won't follow a link. I've tried manually typing the URL but it won't load the page. I'm at a serious loss here. TIA for any help.

 

asdfguy--

So I thought you could access the web. (If you right click on a link|Copy Shortcut, you can then paste that into Windows Explorer.)
Have you tried a System Restore to a day before the problem started?
You can also uninstall SP2 from Control Panel|Add/Remove Programs. Look under WindowsXP Service Pack 2.

 

Repair IE

Johanna

 

asdfguy--Yes, any of the three IE Repair suggestions (mine or Johanna's) should work if the other ideas do not.

 

Can't uninstall IE in XP - that "remove components" feature is simply to enable 3rd party browsers.

This Nov. 3rd hotfix for IE may or may not resolve your problem - the symptoms don't exactly correspond http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;885932 Worth a shot, because your other recourse is to follow the procedures outlined by Jim and Johanna.

Regards - Charles

 

I appreciate everyones help, but so far none of this is working. I've even tried uninstalling SP2. I've also gone into the registry and (I'm assuming) changed a setting making it seem as though it wasn't installed. Again, I assume that's what I was doing. I was following instructions from one of those links above. I'm thinking about reinstalling windows over top of my existing installation. However, I've heard that this isn't always a good thing to do. Any other ideas would be great....thanks again.

 

I've been experiencing the exact same problems with Explorer on my machine for the last seceral days (I'm running Win98SE)... in addition, I've lost the ability to run Kazaa, and I can't perform a re-install. I ran adware, AVG, etc, and met with little success. About an hour ago I noticed a program called 'sais' running on my task manager. It's an advertising program from some outfit named 180 Solutions. I killed the program, and lo and behold, Explorer is up and running again! Following termination of the program, a 180 Solutions pop-up appeared warning me that some crucial component of their malicious software had malfunctioned, and would I like to re-install or uninstall? Uninstalling hasn't allowed me the ability to restore Kazaa, but at least my Explorer seems to be okay... hope this helps...

 

asdfguy--If marcmtl's idea does not help, another way to repair XP
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm

marcmtl--Have you run a spyware detector? AdAware should detect and allow you to delete 180Solutions and perhaps other spyware. However, you do have to install the latest version of AA and then update its reference files.
AdAware
http://www.lavasoft.de/support/download/
SpybotS&D
http://www.safer-networking.org/
I assume you have an antivirus program installed and updated.
P.S. Specific to 180Solutions
http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/nCase.html

 

I did run ad-aware 6.0 as soon as the trouble started, and it didn't seem to pick up 'sais'... and now when i try to re-run ad-aware, it reports an error when trying to load the reference file. I've tried to load a new reference file, but the download hangs at 5%... thank you for the tips, i will visit the sites you've suggested, and attempt to heal my ailing machine...

 

Ad-aware 6 is on it's way out and you are not the first person I've seen describe this issue in the past week or two.

What seems to work is to uninstall the app then download and install the latest version. Ad-aware SE Personal is the latest free version.

 

I to had the same problem and found sais in my task manager, searched for it in windows explorer and found it referenced to 180Solutions in the program files. Deleted this and all seems ok.