Internet Explorer Problem

[rock15478]

Hi, all of a sudden whenever I open Internet Explorer and I try to go to a website it brings up C:\Windows\System32\shdoclc.dll/dnserror.htm in the status bar. I have scanned my computer and deleted ALL spyware using Spy Sweeper, Ad-Aware, Spybot, and Bazooka. ALL Spyware is gone. I have deleted all temporary internet files, all cookies, and I still get this message. I cannot go to any website. I have looked all around the internet for this answer but I can't find it. The only way I was even able to view this website to post on this forum was to go to a different computer in my house. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

By the way, the internet connection is still there as I am able to check email, log on to instant messenger, and the other computers on my network are all accessible as well.

 

[Rick]

That isn't a website, but a default error page displayed by Internet Explorer when no Internet connection can be detected.

If you can indeed still check your email and instant message, my first bet would be a damaged Winsock, which would affect only HTTP (webpage) traffic.

Here's more information on how to repair winsock:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=811259

More possibilities include settings and programs. Things such as wrong proxy server settings and improperly installed/uninstalled firewall or content filtering software can block web traffic.

If you don't have any of this software installed and don't know what a proxy server is, these things are much less likely though.

 

[Goalie]

Also, check to be sure you do not have a LMHOSTS file entry that is blocking websites.. this can cause DNS errors.

A third thing to check is under tools->connections->settings and lansettings that there are no proxy servers. If a spyware installed a proxy server, this setting may not have been removed when you remove it.

Also.. have you checked to see with another program that you can reach a website? If you can't check email with a program, and have other problems, this indicates a connection problem, if it's only IE that is having trouble, then this is an IE setting. If you need a surefire way, open up a command window (start->run-> cmd or command...) then run ping www.cnn.com (or some other site). If you get a response of any type, it's not your connection..

EDIT: I see above you mention the connection's fine. So this is IE specific. That excludes the LMHOSTS file most likely, and sounds more like a proxy server setting in the connections settings...

Let us know what you discover if anything, and what you try so we can help you further.

 

[rock15478]

Yeah, it was a proxy server setting. I have fixed the problem......Thanks for your help. One more thing though while I'm at it.....At the same time when this happened, for some reason I noticed notepad had a different icon next to it....so I clicked on notepad. It now opens Accessibilty Wizard instead of Notepad. This happened one other time and I simply just ran system restore. However, when I try to run system restore it says it can't be restored. Any ideas on this, and is this related to the problem I just fixed in any way (b/c both happened at the exact same time). Thanks

 

[StormBringer]

for the icon problem, if you have TweakUI installed, just use the option to repair icons and it should fix it, if not, just go here:
C:\Documents and Settings\Your User Name\Local Settings\Application Data\ and delete Iconcache.db
then reboot.

Note that you may need to "show hidden files" in order to see Iconcache.db

 

[rock15478]

I don't have TweakUI installed but I deleted Iconcache.db, rebooted, and the problem still continues (icon is wrong and it doesn't launch notepad). Any other ideas?

 

[sicarius]

Is this the target in notpads properties? %SystemRoot%\system32\notepad.exe? If it is not is should be. Sounds like you have changed the program that opens that icon (type file) to me.

 

[RealBlackStuff]

Right-click on the Notepad icon in your Start/Programs or wherever it is, select Properties/Shortcut
Look at the contents of Target and Start in, replace those with the path and proper name for Notepad.

 

[Eric Legge]

I don't use IE any more, because there is always something going wrong with it, and it's like a sieve security-wise.

I use Mozilla Firefox from http://www.mozilla.org/.

It's very fast, and feels fresh like a breath of fresh air.

Eric,
http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/