The following sites won't open on her pc:
this applies to both IE6 (or may have been 7, can't remember now) and also Firefox.
and also MSN messenger won't either.
all other sites work, including those for antivirus programs (i've seen pc's that get diverted to localhost when accessing spyware/virus removal sites), and i'm assuming stuff like yahoo msgr probably would, too.
first thing i did was have her wipe the hosts file clean as that was my first instinct.
then, using this amazingly groovy site www.webex.com (uses a java applet and works through firewalls, etc. it's really good for anyone who gets bored fixing stuff over the phone), i've been remotely accessing the pc from here and trying this and that, including installing SP2 (she had SP1), spybot, and running virus scans etc but nothing comes up.
it's a compaq, and i had her do the recovery. first time she did it it was non-destructive and didn't fix anything. second time was the full destructive recovery including formatting, but still the problem persisted.
silly compaq doesn't hide the recovery partition, and i haven't really looked around in there but if it's a file-based install (i think it is, no imaging involved, as it doesn't use ghost/etc), then there's a chance that if this were a virus it could fiddle with the recovery files themselves (of course it couldn't if they were drive images)
a mate of hers gave a proper windows CD and installing with that (including full format of the C drive) didn't sort it out either. she's with NTL (connects over ethernet) and i'm baffled as to what could be going on. i didn't have her format the recovery partition in case it is clean and hence would mean subsequent reinstalls would be a big hassle with driver setup etc.
so we have a fresh install of windows that is still doing it. over the phone, i had her check the system properties and it said Win XP Version 2002 and no mentions of service packs which freaked me out alot (and also means it was installed with access to the internet and no firewall turned on).
she went on a forum and the best answer she got was to install Linux, the gits
this applies to both IE6 (or may have been 7, can't remember now) and also Firefox.
and also MSN messenger won't either.
all other sites work, including those for antivirus programs (i've seen pc's that get diverted to localhost when accessing spyware/virus removal sites), and i'm assuming stuff like yahoo msgr probably would, too.
first thing i did was have her wipe the hosts file clean as that was my first instinct.
then, using this amazingly groovy site www.webex.com (uses a java applet and works through firewalls, etc. it's really good for anyone who gets bored fixing stuff over the phone), i've been remotely accessing the pc from here and trying this and that, including installing SP2 (she had SP1), spybot, and running virus scans etc but nothing comes up.
it's a compaq, and i had her do the recovery. first time she did it it was non-destructive and didn't fix anything. second time was the full destructive recovery including formatting, but still the problem persisted.
silly compaq doesn't hide the recovery partition, and i haven't really looked around in there but if it's a file-based install (i think it is, no imaging involved, as it doesn't use ghost/etc), then there's a chance that if this were a virus it could fiddle with the recovery files themselves (of course it couldn't if they were drive images)
a mate of hers gave a proper windows CD and installing with that (including full format of the C drive) didn't sort it out either. she's with NTL (connects over ethernet) and i'm baffled as to what could be going on. i didn't have her format the recovery partition in case it is clean and hence would mean subsequent reinstalls would be a big hassle with driver setup etc.
so we have a fresh install of windows that is still doing it. over the phone, i had her check the system properties and it said Win XP Version 2002 and no mentions of service packs which freaked me out alot (and also means it was installed with access to the internet and no firewall turned on).
she went on a forum and the best answer she got was to install Linux, the gits
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