Maxd,

Do the following BEFORE updates are applied to avoid further propagation of a potential bug.

Sounds like a bug is hijacking home page. Download Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta from www.microsoft.com.  Install, update and scan. When scan completes. Remove all objects found.

MS AntiSpyware Beta has feature to restore all IE default settings. Use it. He can change home page back to whatever he likes once he gets IE working right.

Highly recommend Spyware Doctor download http://dl23.pctools.com/downloads/sdinstall.exe. This is free (not trial version) for personal use only. DO NOT install Registry Mechanic option.

Good idea to  download and run McAfee Stinger available from http://vil.nai.com/vil/averttools.asp.  This is designed to get latest and most vicious virus threats.

Tony

Message Edited by tgsmith on 12-14-2005 10:24 PM

Homepage hijacker is a posibility but I don't think likely. I've considered all the various malware and don't see how it fits the problem. His homepage is yahoo.com. He can access it (and any other URL) thru Start/Search/Internet. From there (yahoo) he can access any internal links but no external links/third-party.

I like your idea about MS AntiSpyware resetting; perhaps he can enter the windows update site from Search and install *just* the latest version.

He can't get any support from his isp cause he's using unsupported (DSL) wifi (Netgear). Gave him the Mozilla link so he's happy to at least have normal access but...

NIS is often the culprit; I downloaded it to see what loads, etc. Will continue to search and think. Additional possibilities gladly accepted.

Maxd,

This is an EWAG. If whatever he opened somehow or other corrupted his calendar or Personal Folder, this link might be a starting point towards problem resolution.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;321830

Also, another suggestion. Have you had him right-click on Start. Left click on Properties. Click on Customize. Change default e-mail to Outlook Express. Apply change and see what happens? Since IE/OE is integrated into SP2 it might be worth a try.

Will keep looking for possibilities.

Tony

 

Maxd,

I saw something a while ago about Outlook.  I'll check that out while you help him with the NIS possibility.

Tony

I majored in EWAG so I won't hold that against you. The MS link doesn't apply. Repairing IE/OE can't hurt and I will try that as well as your default email setting idea. I'm thinking the answer has to be something novel because of the search-only access ability. Don't spend too much time on this. Now that he has a browser I can send him links to TS utilities as well as more EWAG.

No problem.  I do this for a living.  Every problem I help someone solve helps me.

Yes.  That accessibilty through Search, but not from IE address bar puzzles me also.  If he has Outlook 2002, PLEASE have him upgrade to Office XP SP3.  Page after page on Microsoft regarding Outlook 2002 problems. MS builds a strong case for downloading Office XP SP3.

If he's using Windows XP SP2, he can reregister the Internet Explorer DLLs at the command prompt with iexplore /rereg.

If he's using Windows XP SP2, is on SBC (Dialup or DSL) and using Yahoo Customized Browser he should read this and download Yahoo patch for SP2:

http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=7431

Tony

Message Edited by tgsmith on 12-15-2005 02:22 AM

Maxd,

Here's something I found with Norton and similar problem.

http://www.cybertechhelp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33481

Read Thatbloke's suggestion that solved the problem.

A Suggestion from personal experience. Probably does not apply to this problem.  I use Cable (Road Runner) with non-supported Dlink Wireless Hub/Router.  Had similar problem.  Wife's computer had no problem. She  was cabled directly to same Dlink wireless hub/router.  I kept getting "page not found errors".  She had none.  Road Runner's Cisco routers located 1/4 mile from my house. Traced problem to DNS servers leased by Road Runner from Qwest.  I went to wife's computer. Opened Network Connections. Right clicked on her LAN connection.  Went to Status|Support|Details. Got IP addresses for Primary and Secondary DNS Servers. On my wireless LAN connection I mapped my IP at 192.168.0.10. Subnet at 255.255.255.0  Gateway at 192.168.0.1 (Dlink's default IP). Put DNS Primary at 24.25.5.50 and Secondary at 24.25.5.51. (Those l had found on my wife's connection).  No more "Page not Found" errors.  Apparently, Wireless IP did not dynamically connect to Qwest DNS within time allowed. Static values did.

Tony

 

Message Edited by tgsmith on 12-15-2005 12:43 AM

It ended up being NIS blocking IE. Thought we msconfig(ed) all the startups for it but was wrong. He just disabled it by right-clicking on the systray icon. Thanks.