Could be caused by a virus, spyware, adware, add-on toolbars gone bad, bad browser plugins, a rootkit, corrupted Internet Explorer installation, or all of the above.
Your first course of action should be to try logging into a different account to see if IE is working properly from that account. Then, scan for and remove any viruses or other types of malware. You may have to reboot into safe mode to accomplish this.
I have links to all kinds of free anti-malware programs in the right sidebar of
my blog. There are also links to spyware removal help forums just below the list of programs.
If your system is not infected you may be able to restore your system to an earlier state using System Restore. If this fails to fix the problem you can try running System File Checker. You will need your Windows XP CD in the CD drive to do this.
SFC Usage (Must be run from an Administrator level account).
Assuming your Windows XP (same service pack as currently installed) is in drive D, do the following:
Exit the Windows XP splash screen that appears when you insert the CD.
Go to Start > Run and type in: CMD
A DOS Windows will open. At the blinking command prompt type this:
SFC /SCANNOW
Press ENTER
The Windows Files Protection Utility will appear and start checking for corrupted system files. You may be prompted to identify the location of the XP CD several times. Acknowledge that they are on drive (D) each time, until the SFC has completed it's repairs, then reboot and try running Windows Updates.
Let me know if this works.
------------------
Bob "Wiz" Feinberg
Moderator of the SGF Computers Forum
<small>Visit my Wiztunes Steel Guitar website at:
http://www.wiztunes.com/
or my computer troubleshooting website:
Wizcrafts Computer Services,
or my
Webmaster Services webpage.
Get Firefox Here.
Learn about current
computer virus and security threats here.
Read
Wiz's Blog for security news and update notices.
My FAQs.</small><font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Wiz Feinberg on 24 October 2006 at 09:33 AM.]</p></FONT>