IE Slow As A Snail and Links Don't Work! Please Help...

First, thank you for this great forum! You guys really know your stuff!!

I have followed all your instructions on READ ME FIRST thread.

For weeks now, my computer has been having major trouble with links. Most links in emails do not work and if they do they take forever to come up. Also, many links on websites do not work. Not only do they not work but my computer gets completely hung up for several seconds or several minutes! Sometimes when you click a link the page will go blank for several minutes then come back to the original page.

In addition, Internet Explorer is painfully slow opening up. I used to be able to zip around on this computer and now it's costing me hours of lost time and business.

After running Adaware, Spybot S&D and all the other spyware removal programs you suggested, only a couple of things came up like Claria which I removed.

I even updated my memory from 256K to 1 gig thinking that might be the problem.

Still no improvement.

Finally, I ran Hijackthis. I did read through your tutorial and it seems that first, it's not an exceptionally large log. Second, the 04 entries seem fairly harmless having checked them against recommended spyware lists. But I am unsure about the 08 and 016 entries.

What should I do now?

Signed,

Very frustrated....at your doorstep

Thanks a million in advance!

 

After doing ALL of the TUTORIAL if you still have a problem:

Make sure you have HijackThis 1.99 and follow the guidelines on where to install it and how to post a log as an attachment. This is all covered in the sticky thread NO HIJACK THIS LOG FILES BEFORE READING THIS: HJT Tutorial & LOG File Posting

Now post a HijackThis log as an attachment to your message (Do not post the log inline). All running programs should be closed, INCLUDING YOUR WEB BROWSER, e-mail. Close before running Hijack This!

To repeat: Do NOT run Hijack This from the Desktop, a temp folder, or a sub-folder of C:\Documents and Settings, or choose to run it directly from the downloaded ZIP file. Place it in its own folder for example C:\Program Files\HJT

 

Thanks for responding so quickly TheOldThug! Yes, I have been through the tutorial and I did run HijackThis from a folder in my Program Files.

Unfortunately, due to my link problem, the Manage Attachments link is not working for me. Is it possible I could email you my log file and attach it to the email? I would need an email address if that's o.k. I don't see any other way to get it to you.

I should point out a couple things in the log. You will see references to live365. That's an internet radio program I'm a paid member of and have been for some time. Those entries should be o.k. Entries for PBNext would be my online phone software package. I'm not sure about the R1 line that says 'Proxy Override.' And there were a couple of 08 entries and 016's I didn't recognize, but didn't want to delete them until I showed them to an expert.

One other thing that's fishy is the Instant Buzz entry. That was a little program I installed that rotates ads on your toolbar. I uninstalled the program but this extra button is still around. Ironically, all these problems started shortly after installing Instant Buzz! I should also mention that my computer's very slow in opening up My Computer and My Documents folders (I keep seeing the flashlight moving back and forth and finally the folders come up).

I really appreciate you taking the time to look at my log. I know how busy you are. Last question -- do you think spyware/malware is causing my links not to work? Perhaps you've come across that before. Thanks for your input once again.

 

Thanks Chaslang. I'm posting my log file here as per your instructions. As I explained, when I click on certain links (like the tab for Manage Attachments) the computer gets hung up and the new page never comes up.

Thanks for your help and I await your reply. By the way, I'm not sure why the log shows Internet Explorer as a running program because all browsers were CLOSED when I ran HijackThis. Here's the log:

Edit by chaslang: Inline log changed to attachment

 

Thanks for your continued help Chaslang.

I changed msconfig to normal startup. I remembered HP had asked me to change it to selective when I was having problems installing my new wireless HP printer.

Now for the log file entries you asked about...

The 04 PBNext entry is the online phone software I use to make long distance calls. That should be o.k.

The first 016 entry is from Adelphia, a big cable provider like Comcast. Adelphia is my ISP who provides my high speed cable connection. I didn't delete that entry unless you still think I should. I think this download had to do with online tech support.

I deleted the second entry you questioned.

I ran defrag about a week ago when I started following your READ ME FIRST instructions on this site. I just finished running the CHDSK but it looks like it didn't find any errors. The results flashed on the screen so fast I couldn't read them but it told me the volume was clean on the next screen before it rebooted.

And yes, I disabled Windows XP firewall sometime ago. I also disabled Norton's firewall since I'm using a Netgear wireless router.

After following these suggestions, I'm sorry to report I'm still having the same problems.

Here's a new log file which you'll have to convert to an attachment again since I can't use the manage attachments tab. By the way when I click on that tab or the [More] link under Smilies I get an icon in the bottom left corner of my screen on the gray bar -- a white sheet of paper with a yellow triangle exclamation point over it and next to that it says 'Error on Page.' Don't know if this helps any.

Thanks a lot and I sure hope we can get to the bottom of this. It sure is a mystery so far...

Edit by chaslang: Inline log changed to an attachment

 

I disabled Norton at the instruction of the Tech who came to install my wireless network. He said there would be conflicts if I ran both a software firewall and my router. I did notice such a conflict on my second computer. When Norton was on some sites would not work properly and many site features would be missing. When I turned Norton firewall off, the pages would come up normally. So I can try leaving Norton on and see what happens. I agree that it would add more protection.

I did not install the FSCBoss program. Should I delete it?

Regarding Task Manager, I just upgraded to 1 gig of memory and the system does not use anymore than 30% to 50% of memory at any given time. So it's not like all the memory's being used up. You were going to recommend some processes I could disable one at a time to see if they might be the culprit, but you didn't say which ones.

Explorer is really slow coming up. Once it's up, it's not as slow pulling up websites. I'm having a real problem because a lot of links on websites and in my emails won't work. When I click on the button or the link the computer gets hung up for several minutes. Any idea what can be causing that? It's starting to drive me nuts.

The other thing that's slow is when I click on Start and My Computer. It takes forever for those folders to come up so that's not an IE related issue but the same slowness. My computer was really fast in these areas up until a few short weeks ago. I can't figure out what happened to make it so slow. That's why I thought it was spyware of some kind - something that had invaded my computer. But you don't seem to think it is.

I will download Firefox and try it. I've been wanting to do that anyway. I'll let you know how that works.

I appreciate any other ideas you may come up with in the meantime. Thanks.

 

I am so sorry it took me this long to get back to you...
been swamped with work.

I just wanted to tell you that downloading the Firefox
browser fixed all my problems!!! I wish I had done it
sooner. Somehow Explorer must have gotten corrupted
(possibly when I downloaded that Instant Buzz toolbar)
and it went downhill from there.

Firefox was THE solution on this one and I'm sure deleting
the other 'questionable' programs helped too.

Thanks so much for your help. We appreciate all you do!!
You guys are true lifesavers.