IE7 Refuses to connect. MSN messenger AOL RDP WOW etc work fine. Help pleae

Problem has been killing me for 2 days now. I am working n a friends PC remotely. I live in the US he lives in the UK.

Initial problem was that IE along with anything that uses IE to connect will not connect. Outright refuses. I can see it resolving the DNS but the pages will not load.

Ping tests show I can resolve a DNS, everything pings perfectly (google etc).

I can connect through RDP. I can chat through MSN and take over through MSN. AOL works but IE7 refuses.

Steps taken so far:
UNinstalled mcaffe security center. twice for good measure and use misc tools to make sure it completely removed the firewall fearing that it was blocked unintentionally.

Checked the registry. Dont see anything left, used registry mechanic to be sure.

EDIT: AOL 9.0 jic anyone wants to know and no firewall installed with that version

Uninstalled IE7 n went back to 6, nada. Reinstalled IE7, nada.

Ran HJT and I dont see anything bad at all. Ran winsockfix tool for the heck of it. DIdnt work.

Turned of windows firewall. Set the router to DMZ the PC. Nope denied.

Something on this PC doesnt want IE7 to connect and I cant find it.

Any suggestions? I ran the windows diagnostic tool and it came back fine too :cry

 

Since re-installing IE7 didn't help, there doesn't seem to be much point in suggesting another browser, such as Mozilla-FireFox. However, if it's a broken DLL, you may find that a roll-back still may not be of use. You might need to run sfc /scannow. This is the utility that will scan the system files, looking for one with an incorrect checksum. It usually asks for the Windows Install CD.

 

Yeah I neglected to mention that this is media center. I have been thinking of attempting to install pro over it, but I dont think it will take.

I couldnt get the sfc/scannow command to open, I dont think its in MC. I could be wrong. Ran that before my post.

I did try firefox to no avail. What drives me crazy is that everything else connects though and its probably something incredibly stupid.

Ran avg spyware tool but nothing. Virus scans, nada. I am running out of options here.