Internet Explorer 6 hanging at shutdown

[gringo50]

I've an older home built computer running Win98SE IE6 SP1. For the last longest ie goes online and navigates well. I can minimize to task bar and work in win. explorer or ms word or whatever. I can then go back on the internet and navigate as I please. When i"m finished and ready to close the page and shutdown, then the trouble starts.
I close out, select the start button. No response, hour glass appears and stays that way for a whole minute before I can proceed. This happens everytime I go online using ie.
Because of this, sometime back I installed Firefox and it works great, no problems. I prefer ie because Firefox has it's limitations.
I've searched the internet and many forums but not found any exact posts or entries as this.
Any of you still running Win98SE?

 

[Rick]

Does IE6 work okay using Internet Explorer (Safe Mode)?

If so, it may be an addon causing the issue.

Open IE6
Tools menu > Internet Options > Programs tab > Manage addons button

 

[gringo50]

Rick, I'm working with Win98SE, IE6SP1. There is no "manage addons" button as in XP.
I did start in safe mode and attempt to use ie to go online. Wouldn't on either browser.

 

[Tmagic650]

perform a reinstall of Windows 98SE. I'm sure this old system could use a clean reinstall

 

[Rick]

Rick, I'm working with Win98SE, IE6SP1. There is no "manage addons" button as in XP.
I did start in safe mode and attempt to use ie to go online. Wouldn't on either browser.

Ahh yes, early versions of IE6 didn't have that option. I guess it never creeped its way in the Windows 98 version.

My first concern is virus/spyware activity. However, if you think the problem lies within the program itself, do you have an option to remove IE6 from Add/Remove programs in control panel? It might be possible to get rid of IE6, which will downgrade it to a previous version. Then you can reinstall IE6 on your computer, which may or may not (probably not) solve it.

 

[gbhall]

I suspect you machine is choked with cached files.

Restart your machine in DOS and type the following, hitting [Enter] after each line:
C:\del C:\windows\tempor~1\content.ie5\index.dat
C:\del C:\windows\cookies\index.dat
C:\del C:\windows\history\history.ie5\index.dat

or it may be ie6 in your case. Internet cache will rebuild itself fine.

Also clear out everything you can in c:\windows\temp and recycle bin, then run chkdsk and defragment.

CCleaner will do all this for you if it still works (or you can find an older version that works).
In all cases, be careful not to loose any cookies if they are important to you.

 

[gringo50]

Rick, I have Avast antivirus, I've run Adaware, C Cleaner, SFC, ScanDisk, Chkdsk and defragged. Dumped cookies, Temp. internet files, History, TEMP files.
Tmagic, Reinstall is not an option. Only as a last resort. A one minute wait is not all that bad. Just giving it the ole college try.
GB, Started in Dos. Used ie5 and ie6. Checked for correct typing and spacing. When I hit <Enter>, it advised " Bad command". So I ran CCleaner.

 

[gbhall]

Sorry, I just cut those command lines without checking them. They assume the dos command del.com is at the root of C: That is never the case, not even in 98se. If you could first find it, the correct command could be for instance c:\windows\dos\del .....

Did cCleaner help?

 

[gringo50]

GB, I did run ccleaner earlier and it did remove lots of stuff, also showed 2 pages of registry issues. I opted to backup reg and fix them. After that comp. ran a little quirky and the original prob was still there, so I re-entered the reg keys. Thanks.

 

[Xecutor]

IE6 was the least secure browser I've ever worked with. When I had win98 on my old PC, just by removing IE6 and installing IE5, I completely eliminated spyware/malware activities and downloads on the comp.

Getting a good preventative antispyware program like Spywareblaster and Windows Defender can help keep you safer; but, again, this is IE6 so you experience problems even after that...

This is just an outside-topic opinion as an FYI

 

[Tmagic650]

All Windows operating systems prior to XP should no longer be used... XP will run on most computers now, but with all the XP updates since its original release, a 20GB hard drive won't cut it any longer. Those 500MHz CPUs will be Slooooooower too... XP SP3 will probably "kill" a Windows 98 SE computer

 

[gobbybobby]

I no old programs may not work on windows Xp+ but is there any need to still be using Win 98? U can use free software to run Win 98 In Windows Xp or vista, yea it sounds stupid but its great for running old computer games.

 

[gringo50]

Xecutor, I can't seem to find a download for Spywareblaster for Win98se

 

[Tmagic650]

"I can't seem to find a download for Spywareblaster for Win98se"...

This is something you should be used to by now... Software not available for Windows 98SE. Is a fresh install of Win98SE out of question for you?

 

[gringo50]

Tmagic, this is a long thread. If you've read all the post you would know that I'm not interested in changing os. I'm just trying to make this rascal work like it use too. No offense, I appreciate your interest. We have 4 or 5 comps. on our home network with xp home, pro and media edition. Just cranked this old one up to pass the time. It has a 1Ghz cpu and a 40 gig hd. and flys around the internet.

 

[Tmagic650]

Once more... can you do a fresh install of Win98SE?

 

[gringo50]

Tmagic, no problem. I have the system disk but I have no desire to at this time.

 

[Bobbye]

You have a very old system that you don't want to bother reinstalling. You have a working browser. It might not be your favorite browser, but it works.

Maybe you should just stick with Firefox.