Thanks, folks, I'll pass these suggestions on to her. She lives more than 100 miles from the nearest "computer shop" and is trying to fix the problem with her nephew's help. It has them both stumped. Yes, ever since she installed Microsoft.NET framework 2.0, service pack 2 security update for Windows Vista Service pack she can no longer search for anything (using any search engineÂGoogle, Yahoo, Mozilla). An index page will come up but none of the links/sites will open. She canÂt X-out of that screen. She has to hit Alt/ctl/delete and restart task manager; the whole system closes down and she has to log back on. She can open her bookmarks, but canÂt go anywhere from them. She has a Compaq Presario computer. Windows Vista home basic. She has run McAfeeÂs virtual technician and security scans. They said everything was fine. It isnÂt. She has shut down and restarted her computer several times. Nothing seems to work.

If you are using only malwarebytes and NO antivirus program you definitely need to install an antivirus program, the 2 are not the same at all. AVAST is an excellent free antivirus program, I have it on all of my windows machines. I also have malwarebytes malware scanner on all of them which I update and run the scan weekly. Please do not confuse the issue they are very different programs and do very different tasks. You need Both an AV and malware removal programs. Now clairdo you can not remove IE it is built into windows you will have one version of IE on the pc it may be 6,7 or 8. You should have the latest version of IE8 if you do not then you can go get it and install it, It is not possible to remove all versions of IE. You can use firefox and IE at the same time or you can choose some other browser like Opera or Chrome, you can have all of them at once. I would remove the browser defender and what ever program it is associated with, then once your browser is working properly you could consider if you want to re install that other program. It sounds like it is part of sypware doctor, remove that from add remove programs and see if your browsers work. it looks like from their website that it is an extension to firefox and IE this is how they suggest removing it Q. What if I don�t want to use the toolbar? A. Disabling the toolbar will also remove your ability to view search safety mark-ups and threat notification. Depending on what browser you use, you can easily remove the toolbar in a few steps. Mozilla Firefox Select Tools/Add Ons/Extensions then select �disable�. Internet Explorer Right click on the PC Tools icon in the navigation bar, select Settings and then check to remove the Browser Defender Toolbar. Please Note: PC Tools Browser Guard & Browser Guard BHO will remain defaulted to �enabled� and will to continue to protect you from web related exploits. Frequently asked questions there is more info on it there. open your IE browser and click on about IE to see what version it is.

poohbear please follow up, for additional clean up measures. note Drive C: : 232.88 Gb Total Space : 44.83 Gb Free Space : 19.25% Space Free : Partition Type: NTFS You're running out of free space! Windows needs 20% or more to run efficently. Please run OTL again. Under the Custom Scans/Fixes box at the bottom paste in the following text between the stars ********************************************************* :otl FF - prefs.js..extensions.enabledAddons: download_YouTube_ghribi@gmail.com:1.0.0 @Alternate Data Stream - 182 bytes -> C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\TEMP:408F95E5 @Alternate Data Stream - 122 bytes -> C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\TEMP:C8B8CEBD @Alternate Data Stream - 121 bytes -> C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\TEMP:C31F31E6 :Files ipconfig /flushdns /c :commands [CreateRestorePoint] [emptytemp] [purity] ************************************************************ Then click the Run Fix button at the top Let the program run unhindered, reboot the PC when it is done Open OTL again and click the Quick Scan button. Post the log it produces in your next reply. Post that directly to the forum.

I just typed the word "search" into the current engine, and this thread did not turn up on the first page of results. I also knew a basic no-earlier-than date, and that the original post contained the terms "garden*" (didn't know if it was "gardenweb" or "garden web"), and that one of the followup posts contained "google". I couldn't recall the posters name, but if available, I would have entered "gw*" in the field for original posters name. How about: 1. Search by title (any phrase or blank, wildcard would be helpful, ands and ors within the search) and 2. Search by individual post content (any phrase or blank,wildcard would be helpful, ands and ors within the search) and 3. Search by entire thread content. and 4. Search by thread originator (any phrase or blank, meaning it may not be the posters exact, complete name) and 5. Search by contributor (any phrase or blank, meaning it may not be the posters exact, complete name) 6. Return results by mm/dd/yy hh:mm of original post or time of last contribution by anyone or time of last contribution by above-searched contributor and 7. Choose recently started posts first or reverse or 8. Instead of sorting by post origination date, sort by contribution date. 9. Return titles only or return text like today Is it possible to search posts older than a certain date? I am not sure, because I do not have patience for the current search, but I believe that posts older than a certain date are unavailable?