Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

I have been working on systems for well over 15 years. I consider my self a
highly skilled technician, and charge accordingly. I cannot figure this one
out...

A friend asked me to work on her lap top. I normally don't work for
individuals, as working for businesses makes me a lot more money, but she's a
friend, and seemed desperate. Now I understand why.

ISSUE: She's got a lot of them, but this is the main problem. In normal
mode, internet explorer will not display any web pages. However, if you try
to bring up any site (By IP, or URL) and let it sit there for 30 minutes, it
will eventually. Then, once it brings up a single page, you can browe. BUT
ONLY IF YOU ACTUALLY TYPE "HTTP://" AT THE START OF THE URL OR Click on a
link on the page it finally brings up. Now, to make matters worse, it does
not exhibit any of these problems in Safe Mode With Networking. In that
mode, everything works perfect. I can browse with no lag what so ever, I
can do just about anything.

Opening My Computer takes an eternity as well, and most of the time will not
work, except in safe mode!

To throw a kink into the mix, the machine also exhibits a few other odd
problems. First, I can't install a McAfee Antivirus Corporate edition on
the machine. It just stalls out at the "preparing to install" step. I was
able to install things like TweakXp4, Adobe Acrobat, and Windows XP SP2.
McAfee Antivirus Corporate edition 7.1 will not install! Anything using the
Windows Installer service simply hangs, and does not install.

Other behaviors of note. SOMETIMES, not always, when you go into internet
options, and hit the connections tab, the system will hang. Sometimes
opening my computer hangs.

Here are some of the things I have already done.

Since this seemed at first to be a routing issue of some kind, I tried the
standard networking tests. IN ANY MODE, the machine can ping ANYTHING. I
can do an NSLOOKUP from dos, and resolve any URL. I can ping based on IP or
URL with no isues. But, I still blew out TCP/IP with the NETSH Int IP reset
logfile.txt command as well as with a winsock repair utility. LIke I said,
connectivity works with no problem, it seems to be something else.

I have turned off EVERY autostart on this machine.
Disabled sytstem restore
This is Windows XP home. I installed XP SP2, and when that did not solve the
issue, I installed Windows XP PRO /SP2.
Ran Spybot S&D like 5 times (In normal mode, and safe mode)
Ran Antivirus (MCafee online scan, and trend micro online scan) Several
times.
Ran Microsoft Antispyware. 3x now.
Ran McAfee Antispyware. Several times, found a couple things, nothing
horendous.
Ran Hijack this, and yanked out everything that should not be there (YEs,
there were some issues, but I don't believe this to be a spyware/virus issue
at this point!) Ran it several times, normal mode and safe mode.
Did a disk defrag (Yeah, waste of time on this issue, but it needed it).
Ran scan disk, no errors.
Reinstalled Windows XP SP2 AGAIN.
In safe mode, I uninstalled stuff like Wild Tangent and all the games
associated with it.
I was starting to think it was a memory issue, so I swapped out the memoy
and this did nothing. The problem remained unaffected.
Ran windows Update (Once I was able to get a page loaded!) but windows
update just hangs once it begins the downloads and downloads nothing at all.

Ran SFC /Scannow
Extracted rundll32.exe to the windows\system32 folder as I found like 12
copies of that file (10 in prefetcher, and 2 elsewhere)
At times this system is very slow. But there is pleanty of space on the
drive.
In the device manager there was entry that was failing, an infrared port.
I have uninstalled and reinstalled it. Nothing else shows up in the device
manager as problematic.
I have reset internet explorer settings to defaults, but something keeps
resetting the "restricted sites" zone.
I have cleared out the windows\temp folder and temporary internet explorer
files.

Normally, I would simply just blow out the OS, format the drive, and
reinstall everything. However, there are a few things on this system that
cannot be reinstalled as the original media cannot be located. So, I am
willing to entertain ANY suggestions. Be it as stupid and small sounding,
to anything just short of drive format/reinstall. (I know I may still have
to do that, but I really want to figure this one out.)

The system is an HP Pavilions ze5000 with 256 megs ran, 30 gig HD, windows
XP PRO w/SP2. It's a P4, it uses a corelogic chipset. Anybody know where
I can get a drive update for that chipset. The HP web site, as usual is a
complete waste of time. If there is a way to give extra points on a
question, I would. I don't want to just format the drive, I would like to
beat this problem, and I see formatting as a sign of giving up!!!!

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

Can't install McAfee; must type "HTTP://" and restricted zone are reset.
Seems suspiciously like spyware/trojan symptoms to me.

In the start it and walk away category, try a few free on line AV scans
- (In no particular order)
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan/licence.php
http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/ols.shtml
http://www.kaspersky.com/scanforvirus
http://us.mcafee.com/default.asp?cid=10529
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/activescan.asp
http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/home.asp
http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

In the time consuming, nitpik each item category -
Use Sysinternals Process Explorer
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/ [...] cexp.shtml
to identify the executable of each process along with associated dlls.
(The full file path is important. Right click on items and select google.)

HTH
--
Bob Dietz

Magnus13 wrote:
> I have been working on systems for well over 15 years. I consider my self a
> highly skilled technician, and charge accordingly. I cannot figure this one
> out...
>
> A friend asked me to work on her lap top. I normally don't work for
> individuals, as working for businesses makes me a lot more money, but she's a
> friend, and seemed desperate. Now I understand why.
>
> ISSUE: She's got a lot of them, but this is the main problem. In normal
> mode, internet explorer will not display any web pages. However, if you try
> to bring up any site (By IP, or URL) and let it sit there for 30 minutes, it
> will eventually. Then, once it brings up a single page, you can browe. BUT
> ONLY IF YOU ACTUALLY TYPE "HTTP://" AT THE START OF THE URL OR Click on a
> link on the page it finally brings up. Now, to make matters worse, it does
> not exhibit any of these problems in Safe Mode With Networking. In that
> mode, everything works perfect. I can browse with no lag what so ever, I
> can do just about anything.
>
> Opening My Computer takes an eternity as well, and most of the time will not
> work, except in safe mode!
>
> To throw a kink into the mix, the machine also exhibits a few other odd
> problems. First, I can't install a McAfee Antivirus Corporate edition on
> the machine. It just stalls out at the "preparing to install" step. I was
> able to install things like TweakXp4, Adobe Acrobat, and Windows XP SP2.
> McAfee Antivirus Corporate edition 7.1 will not install! Anything using the
> Windows Installer service simply hangs, and does not install.
>
> Other behaviors of note. SOMETIMES, not always, when you go into internet
> options, and hit the connections tab, the system will hang. Sometimes
> opening my computer hangs.
>
> Here are some of the things I have already done.
>
> Since this seemed at first to be a routing issue of some kind, I tried the
> standard networking tests. IN ANY MODE, the machine can ping ANYTHING. I
> can do an NSLOOKUP from dos, and resolve any URL. I can ping based on IP or
> URL with no isues. But, I still blew out TCP/IP with the NETSH Int IP reset
> logfile.txt command as well as with a winsock repair utility. LIke I said,
> connectivity works with no problem, it seems to be something else.
>
> I have turned off EVERY autostart on this machine.
> Disabled sytstem restore
> This is Windows XP home. I installed XP SP2, and when that did not solve the
> issue, I installed Windows XP PRO /SP2.
> Ran Spybot S&D like 5 times (In normal mode, and safe mode)
> Ran Antivirus (MCafee online scan, and trend micro online scan) Several
> times.
> Ran Microsoft Antispyware. 3x now.
> Ran McAfee Antispyware. Several times, found a couple things, nothing
> horendous.
> Ran Hijack this, and yanked out everything that should not be there (YEs,
> there were some issues, but I don't believe this to be a spyware/virus issue
> at this point!) Ran it several times, normal mode and safe mode.
> Did a disk defrag (Yeah, waste of time on this issue, but it needed it).
> Ran scan disk, no errors.
> Reinstalled Windows XP SP2 AGAIN.
> In safe mode, I uninstalled stuff like Wild Tangent and all the games
> associated with it.
> I was starting to think it was a memory issue, so I swapped out the memoy
> and this did nothing. The problem remained unaffected.
> Ran windows Update (Once I was able to get a page loaded!) but windows
> update just hangs once it begins the downloads and downloads nothing at all.
>
> Ran SFC /Scannow
> Extracted rundll32.exe to the windows\system32 folder as I found like 12
> copies of that file (10 in prefetcher, and 2 elsewhere)
> At times this system is very slow. But there is pleanty of space on the
> drive.
> In the device manager there was entry that was failing, an infrared port.
> I have uninstalled and reinstalled it. Nothing else shows up in the device
> manager as problematic.
> I have reset internet explorer settings to defaults, but something keeps
> resetting the "restricted sites" zone.
> I have cleared out the windows\temp folder and temporary internet explorer
> files.
>
> Normally, I would simply just blow out the OS, format the drive, and
> reinstall everything. However, there are a few things on this system that
> cannot be reinstalled as the original media cannot be located. So, I am
> willing to entertain ANY suggestions. Be it as stupid and small sounding,
> to anything just short of drive format/reinstall. (I know I may still have
> to do that, but I really want to figure this one out.)
>
> The system is an HP Pavilions ze5000 with 256 megs ran, 30 gig HD, windows
> XP PRO w/SP2. It's a P4, it uses a corelogic chipset. Anybody know where
> I can get a drive update for that chipset. The HP web site, as usual is a
> complete waste of time. If there is a way to give extra points on a
> question, I would. I don't want to just format the drive, I would like to
> beat this problem, and I see formatting as a sign of giving up!!!!

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

Hello bob. Well, I've tried about 8 different anti-spyware apps, as well as
several antivirus apps. I do not believe it to be either of these sources.
Some component of windows is simply "hozed beyond belief".

Any other suggestions.

"Bob Dietz" wrote:

> Can't install McAfee; must type "HTTP://" and restricted zone are reset.
> Seems suspiciously like spyware/trojan symptoms to me.
>
> In the start it and walk away category, try a few free on line AV scans
> - (In no particular order)
> http://www.bitdefender.com/scan/licence.php
> http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/ols.shtml
> http://www.kaspersky.com/scanforvirus
> http://us.mcafee.com/default.asp?cid=10529
> http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/activescan.asp
> http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/home.asp
> http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/
> http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
>
> In the time consuming, nitpik each item category -
> Use Sysinternals Process Explorer
> http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/ [...] cexp.shtml
> to identify the executable of each process along with associated dlls.
> (The full file path is important. Right click on items and select google.)
>
> HTH
> --
> Bob Dietz
>
> Magnus13 wrote:
> > I have been working on systems for well over 15 years. I consider my self a
> > highly skilled technician, and charge accordingly. I cannot figure this one
> > out...
> >
> > A friend asked me to work on her lap top. I normally don't work for
> > individuals, as working for businesses makes me a lot more money, but she's a
> > friend, and seemed desperate. Now I understand why.
> >
> > ISSUE: She's got a lot of them, but this is the main problem. In normal
> > mode, internet explorer will not display any web pages. However, if you try
> > to bring up any site (By IP, or URL) and let it sit there for 30 minutes, it
> > will eventually. Then, once it brings up a single page, you can browe. BUT
> > ONLY IF YOU ACTUALLY TYPE "HTTP://" AT THE START OF THE URL OR Click on a
> > link on the page it finally brings up. Now, to make matters worse, it does
> > not exhibit any of these problems in Safe Mode With Networking. In that
> > mode, everything works perfect. I can browse with no lag what so ever, I
> > can do just about anything.
> >
> > Opening My Computer takes an eternity as well, and most of the time will not
> > work, except in safe mode!
> >
> > To throw a kink into the mix, the machine also exhibits a few other odd
> > problems. First, I can't install a McAfee Antivirus Corporate edition on
> > the machine. It just stalls out at the "preparing to install" step. I was
> > able to install things like TweakXp4, Adobe Acrobat, and Windows XP SP2.
> > McAfee Antivirus Corporate edition 7.1 will not install! Anything using the
> > Windows Installer service simply hangs, and does not install.
> >
> > Other behaviors of note. SOMETIMES, not always, when you go into internet
> > options, and hit the connections tab, the system will hang. Sometimes
> > opening my computer hangs.
> >
> > Here are some of the things I have already done.
> >
> > Since this seemed at first to be a routing issue of some kind, I tried the
> > standard networking tests. IN ANY MODE, the machine can ping ANYTHING. I
> > can do an NSLOOKUP from dos, and resolve any URL. I can ping based on IP or
> > URL with no isues. But, I still blew out TCP/IP with the NETSH Int IP reset
> > logfile.txt command as well as with a winsock repair utility. LIke I said,
> > connectivity works with no problem, it seems to be something else.
> >
> > I have turned off EVERY autostart on this machine.
> > Disabled sytstem restore
> > This is Windows XP home. I installed XP SP2, and when that did not solve the
> > issue, I installed Windows XP PRO /SP2.
> > Ran Spybot S&D like 5 times (In normal mode, and safe mode)
> > Ran Antivirus (MCafee online scan, and trend micro online scan) Several
> > times.
> > Ran Microsoft Antispyware. 3x now.
> > Ran McAfee Antispyware. Several times, found a couple things, nothing
> > horendous.
> > Ran Hijack this, and yanked out everything that should not be there (YEs,
> > there were some issues, but I don't believe this to be a spyware/virus issue
> > at this point!) Ran it several times, normal mode and safe mode.
> > Did a disk defrag (Yeah, waste of time on this issue, but it needed it).
> > Ran scan disk, no errors.
> > Reinstalled Windows XP SP2 AGAIN.
> > In safe mode, I uninstalled stuff like Wild Tangent and all the games
> > associated with it.
> > I was starting to think it was a memory issue, so I swapped out the memoy
> > and this did nothing. The problem remained unaffected.
> > Ran windows Update (Once I was able to get a page loaded!) but windows
> > update just hangs once it begins the downloads and downloads nothing at all.
> >
> > Ran SFC /Scannow
> > Extracted rundll32.exe to the windows\system32 folder as I found like 12
> > copies of that file (10 in prefetcher, and 2 elsewhere)
> > At times this system is very slow. But there is pleanty of space on the
> > drive.
> > In the device manager there was entry that was failing, an infrared port.
> > I have uninstalled and reinstalled it. Nothing else shows up in the device
> > manager as problematic.
> > I have reset internet explorer settings to defaults, but something keeps
> > resetting the "restricted sites" zone.
> > I have cleared out the windows\temp folder and temporary internet explorer
> > files.
> >
> > Normally, I would simply just blow out the OS, format the drive, and
> > reinstall everything. However, there are a few things on this system that
> > cannot be reinstalled as the original media cannot be located. So, I am
> > willing to entertain ANY suggestions. Be it as stupid and small sounding,
> > to anything just short of drive format/reinstall. (I know I may still have
> > to do that, but I really want to figure this one out.)
> >
> > The system is an HP Pavilions ze5000 with 256 megs ran, 30 gig HD, windows
> > XP PRO w/SP2. It's a P4, it uses a corelogic chipset. Anybody know where
> > I can get a drive update for that chipset. The HP web site, as usual is a
> > complete waste of time. If there is a way to give extra points on a
> > question, I would. I don't want to just format the drive, I would like to
> > beat this problem, and I see formatting as a sign of giving up!!!!
>

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

I should also point out that the windows installer service is causing me a
lot of headache in trying to resolve this issue, as it is even preventing me
from uninstalling some applications from the system (Office, Adobe Acrobat,
etc). I have run the XP SP2 patch for the windows installer service, as
well as the fix to cleanup the installer service. I have verified that it
is running, and have even re-installed it. (Via reinstalling SP2 3 times
now and reinstalling the OS twice!)


"Bob Dietz" wrote:

> Can't install McAfee; must type "HTTP://" and restricted zone are reset.
> Seems suspiciously like spyware/trojan symptoms to me.
>
> In the start it and walk away category, try a few free on line AV scans
> - (In no particular order)
> http://www.bitdefender.com/scan/licence.php
> http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/ols.shtml
> http://www.kaspersky.com/scanforvirus
> http://us.mcafee.com/default.asp?cid=10529
> http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/activescan.asp
> http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/home.asp
> http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/
> http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
>
> In the time consuming, nitpik each item category -
> Use Sysinternals Process Explorer
> http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/ [...] cexp.shtml
> to identify the executable of each process along with associated dlls.
> (The full file path is important. Right click on items and select google.)
>
> HTH
> --
> Bob Dietz
>
> Magnus13 wrote:
> > I have been working on systems for well over 15 years. I consider my self a
> > highly skilled technician, and charge accordingly. I cannot figure this one
> > out...
> >
> > A friend asked me to work on her lap top. I normally don't work for
> > individuals, as working for businesses makes me a lot more money, but she's a
> > friend, and seemed desperate. Now I understand why.
> >
> > ISSUE: She's got a lot of them, but this is the main problem. In normal
> > mode, internet explorer will not display any web pages. However, if you try
> > to bring up any site (By IP, or URL) and let it sit there for 30 minutes, it
> > will eventually. Then, once it brings up a single page, you can browe. BUT
> > ONLY IF YOU ACTUALLY TYPE "HTTP://" AT THE START OF THE URL OR Click on a
> > link on the page it finally brings up. Now, to make matters worse, it does
> > not exhibit any of these problems in Safe Mode With Networking. In that
> > mode, everything works perfect. I can browse with no lag what so ever, I
> > can do just about anything.
> >
> > Opening My Computer takes an eternity as well, and most of the time will not
> > work, except in safe mode!
> >
> > To throw a kink into the mix, the machine also exhibits a few other odd
> > problems. First, I can't install a McAfee Antivirus Corporate edition on
> > the machine. It just stalls out at the "preparing to install" step. I was
> > able to install things like TweakXp4, Adobe Acrobat, and Windows XP SP2.
> > McAfee Antivirus Corporate edition 7.1 will not install! Anything using the
> > Windows Installer service simply hangs, and does not install.
> >
> > Other behaviors of note. SOMETIMES, not always, when you go into internet
> > options, and hit the connections tab, the system will hang. Sometimes
> > opening my computer hangs.
> >
> > Here are some of the things I have already done.
> >
> > Since this seemed at first to be a routing issue of some kind, I tried the
> > standard networking tests. IN ANY MODE, the machine can ping ANYTHING. I
> > can do an NSLOOKUP from dos, and resolve any URL. I can ping based on IP or
> > URL with no isues. But, I still blew out TCP/IP with the NETSH Int IP reset
> > logfile.txt command as well as with a winsock repair utility. LIke I said,
> > connectivity works with no problem, it seems to be something else.
> >
> > I have turned off EVERY autostart on this machine.
> > Disabled sytstem restore
> > This is Windows XP home. I installed XP SP2, and when that did not solve the
> > issue, I installed Windows XP PRO /SP2.
> > Ran Spybot S&D like 5 times (In normal mode, and safe mode)
> > Ran Antivirus (MCafee online scan, and trend micro online scan) Several
> > times.
> > Ran Microsoft Antispyware. 3x now.
> > Ran McAfee Antispyware. Several times, found a couple things, nothing
> > horendous.
> > Ran Hijack this, and yanked out everything that should not be there (YEs,
> > there were some issues, but I don't believe this to be a spyware/virus issue
> > at this point!) Ran it several times, normal mode and safe mode.
> > Did a disk defrag (Yeah, waste of time on this issue, but it needed it).
> > Ran scan disk, no errors.
> > Reinstalled Windows XP SP2 AGAIN.
> > In safe mode, I uninstalled stuff like Wild Tangent and all the games
> > associated with it.
> > I was starting to think it was a memory issue, so I swapped out the memoy
> > and this did nothing. The problem remained unaffected.
> > Ran windows Update (Once I was able to get a page loaded!) but windows
> > update just hangs once it begins the downloads and downloads nothing at all.
> >
> > Ran SFC /Scannow
> > Extracted rundll32.exe to the windows\system32 folder as I found like 12
> > copies of that file (10 in prefetcher, and 2 elsewhere)
> > At times this system is very slow. But there is pleanty of space on the
> > drive.
> > In the device manager there was entry that was failing, an infrared port.
> > I have uninstalled and reinstalled it. Nothing else shows up in the device
> > manager as problematic.
> > I have reset internet explorer settings to defaults, but something keeps
> > resetting the "restricted sites" zone.
> > I have cleared out the windows\temp folder and temporary internet explorer
> > files.
> >
> > Normally, I would simply just blow out the OS, format the drive, and
> > reinstall everything. However, there are a few things on this system that
> > cannot be reinstalled as the original media cannot be located. So, I am
> > willing to entertain ANY suggestions. Be it as stupid and small sounding,
> > to anything just short of drive format/reinstall. (I know I may still have
> > to do that, but I really want to figure this one out.)
> >
> > The system is an HP Pavilions ze5000 with 256 megs ran, 30 gig HD, windows
> > XP PRO w/SP2. It's a P4, it uses a corelogic chipset. Anybody know where
> > I can get a drive update for that chipset. The HP web site, as usual is a
> > complete waste of time. If there is a way to give extra points on a
> > question, I would. I don't want to just format the drive, I would like to
> > beat this problem, and I see formatting as a sign of giving up!!!!
>

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

Sorry, no fresh ideas here.

--
Bob Dietz

Magnus13 wrote:
> Hello bob. Well, I've tried about 8 different anti-spyware apps, as well as
> several antivirus apps. I do not believe it to be either of these sources.
> Some component of windows is simply "hozed beyond belief".
>
> Any other suggestions.
>
> "Bob Dietz" wrote:
>
>
>>Can't install McAfee; must type "HTTP://" and restricted zone are reset.
>>Seems suspiciously like spyware/trojan symptoms to me.
>>
>>In the start it and walk away category, try a few free on line AV scans
>>- (In no particular order)
>>http://www.bitdefender.com/scan/licence.php
>>http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/ols.shtml
>>http://www.kaspersky.com/scanforvirus
>>http://us.mcafee.com/default.asp?cid=10529
>>http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/activescan.asp
>>http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/home.asp
>>http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/
>>http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
>>
>>In the time consuming, nitpik each item category -
>>Use Sysinternals Process Explorer
>>http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/procexp.shtml
>>to identify the executable of each process along with associated dlls.
>>(The full file path is important. Right click on items and select google.)
>>
>>HTH
>>--
>>Bob Dietz
>>
>>Magnus13 wrote:
>>
>>>I have been working on systems for well over 15 years. I consider my self a
>>>highly skilled technician, and charge accordingly. I cannot figure this one
>>>out...
>>>
>>>A friend asked me to work on her lap top. I normally don't work for
>>>individuals, as working for businesses makes me a lot more money, but she's a
>>>friend, and seemed desperate. Now I understand why.
>>>
>>>ISSUE: She's got a lot of them, but this is the main problem. In normal
>>>mode, internet explorer will not display any web pages. However, if you try
>>>to bring up any site (By IP, or URL) and let it sit there for 30 minutes, it
>>>will eventually. Then, once it brings up a single page, you can browe. BUT
>>>ONLY IF YOU ACTUALLY TYPE "HTTP://" AT THE START OF THE URL OR Click on a
>>>link on the page it finally brings up. Now, to make matters worse, it does
>>>not exhibit any of these problems in Safe Mode With Networking. In that
>>>mode, everything works perfect. I can browse with no lag what so ever, I
>>>can do just about anything.
>>>
>>>Opening My Computer takes an eternity as well, and most of the time will not
>>>work, except in safe mode!
>>>
>>>To throw a kink into the mix, the machine also exhibits a few other odd
>>>problems. First, I can't install a McAfee Antivirus Corporate edition on
>>>the machine. It just stalls out at the "preparing to install" step. I was
>>>able to install things like TweakXp4, Adobe Acrobat, and Windows XP SP2.
>>>McAfee Antivirus Corporate edition 7.1 will not install! Anything using the
>>>Windows Installer service simply hangs, and does not install.
>>>
>>>Other behaviors of note. SOMETIMES, not always, when you go into internet
>>>options, and hit the connections tab, the system will hang. Sometimes
>>>opening my computer hangs.
>>>
>>>Here are some of the things I have already done.
>>>
>>>Since this seemed at first to be a routing issue of some kind, I tried the
>>>standard networking tests. IN ANY MODE, the machine can ping ANYTHING. I
>>>can do an NSLOOKUP from dos, and resolve any URL. I can ping based on IP or
>>>URL with no isues. But, I still blew out TCP/IP with the NETSH Int IP reset
>>>logfile.txt command as well as with a winsock repair utility. LIke I said,
>>>connectivity works with no problem, it seems to be something else.
>>>
>>>I have turned off EVERY autostart on this machine.
>>>Disabled sytstem restore
>>>This is Windows XP home. I installed XP SP2, and when that did not solve the
>>>issue, I installed Windows XP PRO /SP2.
>>>Ran Spybot S&D like 5 times (In normal mode, and safe mode)
>>>Ran Antivirus (MCafee online scan, and trend micro online scan) Several
>>>times.
>>>Ran Microsoft Antispyware. 3x now.
>>>Ran McAfee Antispyware. Several times, found a couple things, nothing
>>>horendous.
>>>Ran Hijack this, and yanked out everything that should not be there (YEs,
>>>there were some issues, but I don't believe this to be a spyware/virus issue
>>>at this point!) Ran it several times, normal mode and safe mode.
>>>Did a disk defrag (Yeah, waste of time on this issue, but it needed it).
>>>Ran scan disk, no errors.
>>>Reinstalled Windows XP SP2 AGAIN.
>>>In safe mode, I uninstalled stuff like Wild Tangent and all the games
>>>associated with it.
>>>I was starting to think it was a memory issue, so I swapped out the memoy
>>>and this did nothing. The problem remained unaffected.
>>>Ran windows Update (Once I was able to get a page loaded!) but windows
>>>update just hangs once it begins the downloads and downloads nothing at all.
>>>
>>>Ran SFC /Scannow
>>>Extracted rundll32.exe to the windows\system32 folder as I found like 12
>>>copies of that file (10 in prefetcher, and 2 elsewhere)
>>>At times this system is very slow. But there is pleanty of space on the
>>>drive.
>>>In the device manager there was entry that was failing, an infrared port.
>>>I have uninstalled and reinstalled it. Nothing else shows up in the device
>>>manager as problematic.
>>>I have reset internet explorer settings to defaults, but something keeps
>>>resetting the "restricted sites" zone.
>>>I have cleared out the windows\temp folder and temporary internet explorer
>>>files.
>>>
>>>Normally, I would simply just blow out the OS, format the drive, and
>>>reinstall everything. However, there are a few things on this system that
>>>cannot be reinstalled as the original media cannot be located. So, I am
>>>willing to entertain ANY suggestions. Be it as stupid and small sounding,
>>>to anything just short of drive format/reinstall. (I know I may still have
>>>to do that, but I really want to figure this one out.)
>>>
>>>The system is an HP Pavilions ze5000 with 256 megs ran, 30 gig HD, windows
>>>XP PRO w/SP2. It's a P4, it uses a corelogic chipset. Anybody know where
>>>I can get a drive update for that chipset. The HP web site, as usual is a
>>>complete waste of time. If there is a way to give extra points on a
>>>question, I would. I don't want to just format the drive, I would like to
>>>beat this problem, and I see formatting as a sign of giving up!!!!
>>

I had the same problem.
It was due to a failed installation of Microsoft Live OneCare!

try installing a trial version of zonealarm internet security as i have found both mcaffee and norton\symantec to be rubbish at picking stuff up. zone alarm will run in safe mode.Get it to do a full check of the pc. may take a few hours but has helped in the past.