IE 7 and OE 6 balking on boot up

[DingusQ]

I get this problem occasionally when I boot up my computer in the morning (HP xw4400 workstation, Windows XP pro). I'm connected to the internet via a cable modem and a linksys wrt54g router. Sometimes IE 7 and OE 6 refuse to function. It's not a modem or router issue, because other computers on my network can connect properly. It's got something to do with IE and OE, but it seems more likely there's something going on in the operating system than that both these apps would fail on their own. Any ideas how I could troubleshoot this problem?

DingusQ

 

[outlookman]

Does IE7 work in safe mode? What other programs are running in the background? Use msconfig to disable all start up items and see if that helps. What errors (if any) are in your event logs?

 

[smah]

Please explain in greater detail about the problem. Why do you think that it's limited to IE & OE? Is network connectivity still available on this machine when it happens? Does ping & name resolution work?

 

[linney]

Anything showing up in the Event Viewer?

Can IE7 open up the Settings page of the Router? Does rebooting the Router help?

Have you tried IE7 without Add-ons?

Can you communicate via Safe Mode with Networking?

Clearing out Temporary Internet Files and other temp files may help.

WinXP Connectivity Issues
faq779-4625

Run the System File Checker program from the Run Box by typing.....Sfc /Scannow in it and have your XP CD handy.

 

[DingusQ]

It's not a problem that shows up every day, just occasionally. The first thing I do when it happens is reboot the router as that goes down a couple times a week. But the router was up yesterday (I could get on line with another computer in the network). Usually I just reboot the problem computer and it starts working, but not yesterday. So I powered it down, booted a third time, then checked ipconfig, did a ping, and it appeared I was connected. Then when I opened OE it was working. What I should have done is sent the ping when I knew there was something wrong with IE and OE, not after I rebooted the second time. The only problem in the event viewer was the following:

The following boot-start or system-start driver(s) failed to load: i8042prt

But that happens every morning, whatever it is.
I ran the disk cleanup utility only a few days ago. Thanks for all your responses. I'll post again if it happens again (it didn't happen today April 7).

DingusQ

 

[smah]

Try this when it happens again.

 

[linney]

i804prt message.

"usually generated by computers connected to a faulty KVM (keyboard, monitor, mouse) switch. If no KVM switch is used and if the keyboard is behaving normally, no action is needed. To avoid this message, try increasing the value of ResendInterations in the Registry key Current Control Set\\Services\\i804prt\\parameters. Or, try using a different keyboard".
More info "Device Driver Entries, PART 2--Mouse/Keyboard Driver"

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/102989/en-us

The above is from searching on

http://www.eventid.net/events.asp

 

[DingusQ]

This prolem occurred again this morning. I was able to do a ping, so I know the computer was connected. I couldn't check the router because IE wouldn't load completely. That's the problem: IE and OE don't load right. (And maybe other programs don't load right, I don't know, since the first thing I do in the morning is check my email; next time I'll check to see if other apps are failing to load.) I couldn't check it under safe mode because that would have meant a reboot, which often fixes the problem, so connecting in safe mode wouldn't tell me anything. I don't see any messages in the event viewer.

DingusQ

 

[linney]

WinXP Connectivity Issues
faq779-4625

Removing adware & spyware
faq608-4650


Do you have this problem with only one particular user, what about if you logon as another user?

811151 - How to copy data from a corrupted user profile to a new profile

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811151&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

Some general things to try.

See if System Restore will get you back to a restore point before your problem first appeared.


Try running ChkDsk to check your drive for errors. Right-click your Drive icon/ Properties/ Tools/ Error Checking. Select both boxes.

Run the System File Checker program from the Run Box by typing.....Sfc /Scannow in it and have your XP CD handy.

HOW TO: Verify Unsigned Device Drivers in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q308/5/14.asp

You could try repairing windows by running it over itself. You will lose all your windows updates but your files will be untouched.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP (Q315341)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q315/3/41.asp

 

[DingusQ]

I'm not ignoring this thread, nor has the problem disappeared. I have tried something I hope is a fix, but I want to wait to explain what I think has been going on.

DingusQ

 

[linney]

Fingers crossed, do let us know the outcome, one way or the other.

 

[DingusQ]

I was thinking this might have something to do with upgrading WMP 9 (which came on the computer) to WMP 11. Because in addition to IE and OE not functioning, WMP was being flakey. I could open the program and play a music file, but the controls would freeze up, the status bar would be stuck on "Opening media..." and the progress bar would just sit there. OE, IE, and WMP are the only programs I can think of that are not cooperating in this situation. This seems to happen every 12 days or so. So I rolled WMP 11 back. But that was not the problem. This morning I got the same freeze up with OE and IE, and WMP 9 was malfunctioning just as WMP 11 had! Event viewer does not show any unusual problems. Still stumped. Will run the system file checker.

DingusQ