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Using Windows XP with a Belkin N300 router. About 9 days ago I installed IE8, which seemed to be running ok, but the next day I was notified that MalwareBytes had quarantined Trojan.Pirminay. I removed this trojan and used CCleaner to clean the registry. Since then, I have been unable to access the web in a normal fashion. I have to click on an icon on the desktop, wait 5-7 seconds, and then close the window. If I do this 5 times in succession (using the same icon) the page will open on the 5th attempt - always the 5th attempt.

I have changed many router settings and then restored the default settings, have changed many MS and web settings, and then restored the default settings, have dropped many add-ons, plug-ins, and accelerators, switched to NTFS, and downloaded numerous fixes, all to no avail.

One lingering thought is that I may have deleted some important files with the reg cleaner. Should I do a re-install of IE8?

Thank you for the reply. This action did not solve the problem. I was hoping that the fact that the connection was always made on the 5th attempt would ring a bell for someone. What changes after four failed attempts?

Thanks Hermitt. I have been to those sites and used/applied the fixes, with the exception of the "DelDomain," which I just ran and received the "succeeded" message. I do have 311 bookmarks, but that has never slowed the operation down in the past. Thinking that my options now are to install Chrome or return to IE7.

Yes, I will have to decide to make a change, or live with the 45+ seconds it takes to access the web. (Once online it is no problem to open new windows.) I believe that MB did a great job protecting the system, in that I was unable to locate any bad files in the registry when following instructions. However, they don't call them "hidden" for nothing. Thank you all.

Highsierra, one other option you could try to delete all the remnants of that trojan...
http://www.onlinepcsavior.com/.....l-removal/

I agree with warlock, a system reinstall might be your best option to resolve this.

Jim

Let us know how it turns out and what you decided to do.

Went back to IE7 and it was worse. With IE8 I can surf the web normally once I go through my little routine to access the web initially. I run MB and AVG, both in realtime. I recall that after I installed IE8 about 9 days ago, I also installed an ad-blocker, which prompted me to link my hosts file to (?) and I agreed. Problem there?

This is much like the frustration I feel when I'm troubleshooting my daily driver, only I'm not getting greasy and running back and forth to the parts store.

I ran the SAS program and it found a few cookies that I picked up since my last reboot. The "adblocker" which I mentioned is actually HOSTSMAN. I did not configure the hosts lists, so it may have blocked Earthlink and some other pages (CNN) I use to access the web. I uninstalled the program on the same day as it was installed, when I had trouble getting online. When the trouble continued, I focused my attention on the recently (one day) installed IE8. In order to run several MS fixes I installed .Net Framework from 2.0 SP2 -3.5 SP1. Would it be OK to dump these?

Problem solved. I contacted the author of the Hostman software and he kindly directed me to a MS fix which reset the Hosts file. Thank all of you for your replies.

"How can I reset the Hosts file back to the default?"

http://support.microsoft.com/k.....orMeAlways

This article helps you reset the Hosts file back to the default.

To have us reset the Hosts file back to the default for you, go to the "Fix it for me" section. To reset the Hosts file back to the default yourself, go to the "Let me fix it myself" section.

To reset the Hosts file back to the default automatically, click the Fix it button or link, click Run in the File Download dialog box, and then follow the steps in the Fix it wizard.

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