Serious Slowdown/Lock-up with IE 6.0

[Tom Jensen]

I recently noticed a slowdown when browsing with IE 6.0. I downloaded SpyWare Doctor online and used it to scan for SpyWare. It claims to have found lots.

However, now my browsing has become a nightmare. After boot-up, I can browse for 10-15 minutes, but then essentially IE 6.0 locks up. When I click a button to go to another page, it just locks up. When I try to close IE 6.0, it sometimes locks up. When I open a new window to re-start browsing, it never quite loads. I get a crude external window, but the inside never fills in. I finally (after several minutes of waiting), click to try to close the browser window, and the whole thing locks up. I am not even sure if this message will get through things have gotten so bad.

While I am browsing (or attempting to do so), the machine gets slower than molasses in January.

What do I need to do to fix this? Any help will be truly appreciated.

My system:
Celeron 1.80 GHz
240M RAM
Windows XP Home 2002, SP 2
IE 6.0

[Tom Jensen]

BTW, I went to Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs to try to uninstall IE 6.0. It is not in the list of programs.

[glc]

Uninstall SP2, then do a complete virus and spyware cleanup using multiple programs and verify you are clean with HijackThis (refer to the sticky thread in the Security forum for guidelines to post your log). If you try to install SP2 on a system that's not clean, the odds are you will have nothing but hassles such as you are having. Once you are clean, then you can consider re-installing SP2.

[Mesaeus]

Oh, and for spyware removal, stick to the free and excellent Adaware and Spybot.

[Tom Jensen]

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, I go to Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs. There is no IE 6.0 listed. How else can I uninstall?

[glc]

I'm not telling you to uninstall IE - I'm saying uninstall XP Service Pack 2.

[Tom Jensen]

OK. I found that my Internet connection was intermittently going away. I spoke with my ISP and they assured me that my cable modem has been in contiuous contact for 23 hours. So I went to DOS and di ipconfig /renew, and it was OK. The tech on the phone told me that my system had not renewed every few minutes as it should automatically do.

I uninstalled SP2. Then I did a full SpyWare scan using Spyware Doctor, then a FULL virus scan (all night) using Norton. I had previously done a scan, so I only found one "at risk" file that I had to manuallly delete. I have finally run HijackThis, and below is the log:

Logfile of HijackThis v1.98.2
Scan saved at 3:47:27 AM, on 10/12/2004
Platform: Windows XP SP1 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP1 (6.00.2800.1106)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\STOPzilla!\szntsvc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccSetMgr.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccEvtMgr.exe
C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\Program Files\Logitech\Video\LogiTray.exe
C:\Program Files\Canon\BJPV\TVMon.exe
C:\Program Files\STOPzilla!\Stopzilla.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccApp.exe
C:\Program Files\Logitech\Desktop Messenger\8876480\Program\BackWeb-8876480.exe
C:\Program Files\Spyware Doctor\spydoctor.exe
C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\navapsvc.exe
C:\Program Files\BigFix\BigFix.exe
C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\SAVScan.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\slserv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\OSA.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\System32\LVComS.exe
C:\Program Files\Logitech\Video\LowLight.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\Office\OUTLOOK.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\System32\wuauclt.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\Office\OUTLOOK.EXE
C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\OPScan.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\Hansen\Local Settings\Temp\Temporary Directory 1 for hijackthis.zip\HijackThis.exe

O2 - BHO: MultimppObj Class - {002EB272-2590-4693-B166-FBD5D9B6FEA6} - (no file)
O2 - BHO: AcroIEHlprObj Class - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 5.0\Reader\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.ocx
O2 - BHO: NAV Helper - {BDF3E430-B101-42AD-A544-FADC6B084872} - C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\NavShExt.dll
O2 - BHO: STOPzilla Browser Helper Object - {E3215F20-3212-11D6-9F8B-00D0B743919D} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\SZIEBHO.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {FDD3B846-8D59-4ffb-8758-209B6AD74ACC} - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Money\System\mnyviewer.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Easy-WebPrint - {327C2873-E90D-4c37-AA9D-10AC9BABA46C} - C:\Program Files\Canon\Easy-WebPrint\Toolband.dll
O3 - Toolbar: (no name) - {2CDE1A7D-A478-4291-BF31-E1B4C16F92EB} - (no file)
O3 - Toolbar: &Radio - {8E718888-423F-11D2-876E-00A0C9082467} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\msdxm.ocx
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SysMonXP] C:\WINDOWS\SysMonXP.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe" -atboottime
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [LogitechVideoRepair] C:\Program Files\Logitech\Video\ISStart.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [LogitechVideoTray] C:\Program Files\Logitech\Video\LogiTray.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Alogserv] C:\Program Files\McAfee\McAfee VirusScan\alogserv.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [BJPD HID Control] C:\Program Files\Canon\BJPV\TVMon.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [CMESys] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\CMEII\CMESys.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [KernelFaultCheck] %systemroot%\system32\dumprep 0 -k
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [RealTray] C:\Program Files\Real\RealPlayer\RealPlay.exe SYSTEMBOOTHIDEPLAYER
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TkBellExe] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe" -osboot
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [STOPzilla] "C:\Program Files\STOPzilla!\Stopzilla.exe" /autorun
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ccApp] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccApp.exe"
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [LDM] C:\Program Files\Logitech\Desktop Messenger\8876480\Program\BackWeb-8876480.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [msnmsgr] "C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger\msnmsgr.exe" /background
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MSMSGS] "C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe" /background
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Spyware Doctor] "C:\Program Files\Spyware Doctor\spydoctor.exe" /Q
O4 - Startup: Office Startup.lnk = C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\OSA.EXE
O4 - Startup: PowerReg Scheduler.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Adobe Gamma Loader.exe.lnk = C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Calibration\Adobe Gamma Loader.exe
O4 - Global Startup: BigFix.lnk = C:\Program Files\BigFix\BigFix.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Date Manager.lnk = C:\Program Files\Date Manager\DateManager.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Logitech Desktop Messenger.lnk = C:\Program Files\Logitech\Desktop Messenger\8876480\Program\LDMConf.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Microsoft Office.lnk = C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\OSA9.EXE
O8 - Extra context menu item: Easy-WebPrint Add To Print List - res://C:\Program Files\Canon\Easy-WebPrint\Resource.dll/RC_AddToList.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Easy-WebPrint High Speed Print - res://C:\Program Files\Canon\Easy-WebPrint\Resource.dll/RC_HSPrint.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Easy-WebPrint Preview - res://C:\Program Files\Canon\Easy-WebPrint\Resource.dll/RC_Preview.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Easy-WebPrint Print - res://C:\Program Files\Canon\Easy-WebPrint\Resource.dll/RC_Print.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Web Savings - file://C:\Program Files\WebSavingsfromEbates\System\Temp\ebateswebsavings_script0.htm
O9 - Extra button: Real.com - {CD67F990-D8E9-11d2-98FE-00C0F0318AFE} - (no file)
O9 - Extra button: MoneySide - {E023F504-0C5A-4750-A1E7-A9046DEA8A21} - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Money\System\mnyviewer.dll
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\MSMSGS.EXE
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\MSMSGS.EXE
O12 - Plugin for .spop: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\Plugins\NPDocBox.dll
O16 - DPF: Yahoo! Chat 1.3 - http://jcs.chat.dcn.yahoo.com/c174/chat.cab
O16 - DPF: {02BED220-FBC7-4392-93A2-3A50B056F78E} - http://down.plaxo.com/down/release/instub.cab
O16 - DPF: {1000026A-8230-4DD4-BE4F-6889D1E74167} - http://download.abetterinternet.com/...05/stoppop.cab
O16 - DPF: {10000273-8230-4DD4-BE4F-6889D1E74167} - http://download.abetterinternet.com/...8105/turbo.cab
O16 - DPF: {2B323CD9-50E3-11D3-9466-00A0C9700498} (Yahoo! Audio Conferencing) - http://us.chat1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com...45/yacscom.cab
O16 - DPF: {7D1E9C49-BD6A-11D3-87A8-009027A35D73} (Yahoo! Audio UI1) - http://chat.yahoo.com/cab/yacsui.cab
O16 - DPF: {CA034DCC-A580-4333-B52F-15F98C42E04C} (Downloader Class) - http://www.stopzilla.com/_download/A...ler/dwnldr.cab

What do you think? Anything on here I should remove?

Thanks again for all of the help!

[rjfvillarosa]

One thing I noticed in your list was "datemanager", this application is spyware created by the Gator Corporation, here are two links to sites with information on it.
http://www.liutilities.com/products/...y/datemanager/

http://www.2-spyware.com/remove-datemanager.html

Also when you visited the "betterinternet" site did you download the atomic clock feature? this feature although quite clever can be a massive drain on system resources, it is constantly changing your computers internal clock to within a few seconds. I had this on one of my machines once and it slowed it down to a crawl.

[dave computer]

just use mozilla works great if you cant fix it

[Tom Jensen]

Thanks to everyone for the help and advice. It appears to be working well now.

I went through all the steps outlined above, but it really seemed to clear up when I uninstalled Windows XP SP 2. This apparently was the culprit.

The good news is that I have a much cleaner and well-protected PC. I saw a segment on NBC News tonight about Spyware, etc., and boy did it strike a chord!

So, I hope this helps anyone experiencing similar issues. Whatever you do, be careful out there!