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Cleaning up
Internet Explorer
If your browser is
infected with Malware or just simply crashing, there are steps that you can
take to clean it up and give it a good chance of working. If it still does
not work, then you can repair or reinstall it.
Before you start down this path, make sure you
have run a Malware detector like Spybot,
scanned for viruses with something like Housecall
and have completed a log file from Hijackthis.
First, lets clear all the "Temporary Internet
Files" and any other temporary files.
Lets look at the Internet Explorer way, in Internet Explorer, Tools -
Internet Options - General - Delete Files (IE6) or simply Delete and select
items (IE7).
There is a tool called ATF cleaner that works
well and deletes more that just the Internet Explorer items. You can get it
from my "Tools in review" page. If this does
not work or you suspect the temporary files are not clearing, try this
script (Run the batch file first and
then the script).
Advanced:
If you are technical and know a bit about
computers, you can drop to a command prompt and type in
subst x: "%userprofile%l\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files"
Where x is a free drive letter on your
system. Now open this drive letter up in my computer and delete any
remaining temporary data. Quite often Outlook and other tools dump other
files here temporarily (like email attachments) and they might not get
cleaned up. This is a great way to make space and also a great way to remove
any Malware (or at least fine it). If you find Malware this way and can not
delete it, you might need to used Process explorer (from
my tools page) to terminate the process and then delete it. If that does
not work, boot into safe mode to kill it. If that does not work, try using
Bartpe.
Wind back time
If
things are still not working, you should try setting Internet Explorer back
to defaults.
This discussion is for IE6. The same things can be done in IE7 but the
buttons and sections are worded slightly different.
Please note that these instructions will not attempt to reset the colors,
fonts, languages, Accessibility and Temporary Internet Files location
options found in the General Tab and the dial-up connection settings found
in the Connections Tab or any other setting normally unrelated to Malware.
If the default button as
described for any or all of the options is grayed out, it just means that
the particular option is already set to its default state.
Open Internet Explorer. Click Tools in the menu and then Options to enter
the Internet Options window.
In the General Tab, in the Home page section, click Use Default to change
the home page to its default, MSN home. In the Temporary Internet Files
section click Delete Cookies and Delete Files -confirm Delete all offline
content in the popup-. In the History section the default number of days to
keep pages in history is 20 and click Clear History.
Still in the General tab, click Settings in the Temporary Internet Files
section. Checkmark Automatically in the Check for newer versions of stored
pages. Click OK to apply the changes.
The default Temporary Internet Folder folder is located in "C:\Documents and
Settings\user name\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files" and the default
Amount of disk space to use is 10% of your hard disk space.
Select the
Security Tab and click the Internet zone icon. On the Security level for
this zone section, click on the Default Level button. Follow this procedure
for all the other zones, normally there are Local Internet, Trusted Sites
and Restricted Sites.
Now click the Privacy tab and then click the Default tab.
The Pop-up Blocker is enabled by default and set to Medium, which blocks
most automatic pop-ups. It can be confirmed by clicking on the Settings tab.
Custom privacy settings file and restoring default privacy settings.
Advanced:
Take a look at this procedure,
How to Restore Default
Settings After Importing Custom Privacy Preferences. If you do not want
to meddle with the registry manually, use a registry file as outlined here
to restore default privacy settings.
Now select the Content tab and then click the AutoComplete button in the
Personal information section then click Clear Forms and Clear Passwords.
Click OK to exit.
Next select the Programs tab and then click Reset Web settings. You can also
opt to select Also reset my home page in the popup, if you have not reset
the home page in the General tab. Click Yes to apply the changes.
Now select the Advanced Tab and click Restore Defaults button. Finally click
the Apply button to save all the settings and OK to exit.
Some of the changes will need a restart to be applied.
Your IE6 installation has been restored to how
Microsoft intended.
Removing addins (IE7)
Sometimes addin's, toolbars and other nifty
tools download onto your system and make IE unstable. You can remove these
and test your system without them to see if you can recover system
stability.
Click Start -> All Programs -> Accessories ->
System Tools, and then click Internet Explorer (No Add-ons).
If your browser appears to be working properly in Internet Explorer (No
Add-ons) mode, continue with the following steps to help identify which
add-on may be causing the problems.
To isolate the specific browser add-on that is contributing to the issue,
you can use IE’s Manage Add-ons feature to pick specific add-ons to disable:
Click Tools -> Internet Options.
Click the Programs tab, then Manage add-ons.
Note: The Manage Add-ons option under Tools is disabled in No Add-ons mode
so you must go to Internet Options, Programs, Manage add-ons to manually
enable/disable add-ons.
Select an add-on in the Name list, and then click Disable.
Click OK, OK again, OK again and then close IE.
Restart IE normally and see if your problem is resolved.
If it is, you should uninstall the specific add-on via Control Panel’s
Add/Remove Programs or the applications own uninstaller.
If the problem persists, you will need to repeat steps 1-3 until you have
identified the specific add-on causing the problem.
Tip: Disable several add-on’s at once to speed up your process of
elimination.
In general, updating to the latest version of a toolbar or extension can
resolve most issues.
Here are a few known problematic addins.
Google Desktop: Google has fixed an issue that was known to cause IE7 to
crash when opening new tabs. The latest version is available without this
issue.
MSN 1.02 Toolbar: The MSN 1.02 toolbar crashes Internet Explorer 7. The
workaround is to disable the toolbar, using manage add-ons or, uninstall it.
Now download the latest version.
Microsoft Developer Toolbar: Older versions of the Microsoft Developer
Toolbar does not display correctly on systems running Internet Explorer 7,
and can cause hangs. Download the latest version.
The following is a list of known incompatible toolbars that can cause
crashes or hangs in IE.
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RoboForm Toolbar
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Cooxie Toolbar
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Diodia Download Toolbar
2.4.01
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AskJeeves Toolbar
4.0.1.1
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CitiBank’s Virtual Card
Number Generator
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Mojicon Dispenser 1.05
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Logos Toolbar
What to do it things still don't work
How to perform a repair
installation of Windows XP if Internet Explorer 7 is installed
How to uninstall Internet
Explorer 7
How to reinstall or repair
Internet Explorer in Windows XP (IE6 and IE7)
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