Web browser closes shortly after I start it.

[Gallo_Pinto]

The other day i downloaded something from a site which is safe according to SiteAdviser. I scanned the download and it came back clean (AVG). But shortly after running the download (an installer for a plugin for iTunes) I noticed that my web browsers are messed up. Both Firefox and Opera will just close down abour 20 seconds after I open them, totally regadless of what website I'm at. Internet explorer seems okay at first, but occasionally it will freeze up. Could take 5 minutes, could take half an hour.

So if anyone has any idea, I would greatly appreciate any input. Thank You.

[bagggi]

1) uninstall both the browsers (remove everything, dont leave any of their folders)
2) run registry cleaner (try registry mechanic or tuneup utilities) both of them are good
3) run disk clean
4) install browsers again
5) check if everything is ok
6) post again


check in the task manager>processes- see if there is any strange exe file running against your user name and stop it

[Ghost_25inf]

does event viewer give you any information, can you use explorer "not IE" to view web pages? hit control alt delete and see what processes you have running in the back ground. then run msconfig and remove any thing that looks as if it shouldnt be there. Also dl ad-aware and spybot, update them and run them. Online virus scans can also help this situation, so try explorer and see if this will get you out to the net.

[Gallo_Pinto]

Thanks both of you for your prompt replies! I will do as baggi says. I did uninstall and reinstall but did not clean the reg entries.

ghost, I have not checked explorer, only IE, will do that. I ahve been watching for unexpected processes running, and I have laready checked the startup programs in msconfig. Thanks again both of you, I'll be back with the news

[.:front2back:.]

Have you tried uninstalling the program that you downloaded prior to all this happening..?

it seems that the program is conflicting with other programs, and therefore should be the problem..

[phunction]

Itunes comes with a whole bunch of adware stuff
Be carefull what you install during the installation.
Try to uninstall the program. Then install it again and read carefully what you install xtra ( if you want something xtra). I usually don't install the xtra's.

Maybe the add's which you could have installed can't be displayed because of the addblockers
maybe that conflicts with it.
Not sure but it could.

good luck with it.

-phunction

[nihil]

All good advice.

Please run your scans in safe mode you stand a better chance that way.

You don't say which operating system, but I will assume recent Windows, in which case try booting into safe mode with network support................... do you still have the problem?

Please don't try to connect to the Internet, until you have manually started your AV and firewall

[Gallo_Pinto]

yes nihil it's winXP SP1.
I have uninstalled iTunes and the plugin.
Sorry to keep you in suspense, but now I have another hurdle in my way before I can get to this problem. when I log in I see my wallpaper for maybvea second and then it logs me out. I may have to wipe the drive and re-install
I'm posting this form my linux OS, which I can also use to verify that, happily, all my data is still there.

many thanks to all who replied.

[ByTeWrangler]

Greeting's


Just an advise : I seriously think you should upgrade to SP2.

[Gallo_Pinto]

Hi again. Unfortunately problems quickly escalated, and I was totally unable to log on to my PC. I will be reformatting/reinstalling, so I guess we'll never know how to fix this problem. But many thanks to all who offered their advice.

I did try the option on the winXP CD to repair a current installation, and it did not help. I was also unable to log on in safe mode.