# IE gets stuck on "connecting..."



## Morganza (Feb 28, 2009)

I've had this exact same problem on 3 computers, using Vista and XP, on different routers. Here's what happens:

I open IE7 and the page never loads. The tab says "connecting...". It will stay like this forever if I dont do anything. It never will go to a "page not found' page or anything. It just keeps "connecting". If I close the browser and reopen it, usually it will connect immediately! Sometimes it takes a third time of closing/opening the browser to get it to connect, but usually the second time will do it. 

I can use "IE with no addons" and it works fine, connecting immediately. I've gone in and manually disabled all addons, however and this doesn't seem to help. I went to "manage addons" and selected "all add-ons" and disabled all _EXCEPT_ those from Microsoft Corporation, Shockwave Flash Object, and Sun Java Platform SE Binary and Java Plug-in 1.6.0--11. The two Java addons are the only two that are still enabled but "not verified" I've left these enabled for now for some reason. Maybe I'll disable them also and see what happens. 

Firefox works perfectly every time. I'm using if as default for now, but I do need IE for some things and would prefer to just use it for everything.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.


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## Rollin_Again (Sep 4, 2003)

Have you cleared your temp files folder recently? I would start off by doing this and then setting IE to check for newer versions on "Every Visit to Page"

TOOLS >> INTERNET OPTIONS >> Then click DELETE under browsing history and delete all temp files.

Then click the SETTINGS button under browsing history and set IE to check for never versions of the page "On Every Visit"

Close and reopen the browser and try again.

Regards,
Rollin


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## Body&Spirit (Aug 27, 2005)

I'm no expert on this, but have you tried a direct connection? That is without a router?

B.


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## Morganza (Feb 28, 2009)

Well, I cleared the Temp Files but the "Settings" were already set to "Every time I visit the webpage". I closed the browser but still have the same symptoms. In fact, I've discovered that when I open a browser that gets stuck on "connecting..." I can leave it open and I can open a second browser instance and it will connect immediately while the first continues to try to connect until I close it.

I did notice that after rebooting the computer, the problem seemed to deminish, but it later returned to its frequent behavior. I may experiment with that some more.

I've not tried bypassing the router yet, but I will soon.


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## LRaybould (Mar 3, 2009)

Dear Morganza

Im experiencing all the issues like you with IE7 not responding on start up.

Have you managed to find a solution?
If so, can you let me know?

Kind regards


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## Morganza (Feb 28, 2009)

LRaybould said:


> Dear Morganza
> 
> Im experiencing all the issues like you with IE7 not responding on start up.
> 
> ...


When I started rebooting daily that seemed to help alot. It still happens, but not nearly as much. I'm thinking about starting to turn on some "add ons" again and continue to reboot at least daily and see what happens.

Do you let your computer run for days without restart or do you shut it down daily?

If I discover anything new regarding this, I'll be sure to post it here. I don't consider this issue to be completely resolved until it stops completely and I can turn on the "add-ons". Apparently, the add-ons are not part of this problem, though.

M


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## LRaybould (Mar 3, 2009)

Dear Morganza

Thanks for your reply

I shut my machine down daily, and have been experiencing this problem every day now for the last 3 weeks.

Hopefully, there will be a fix soon in the next Windows update

I just want to let you know that you are not alone with this issue.

Kind regards


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## Morganza (Feb 28, 2009)

LRaybould said:


> Dear Morganza
> 
> Thanks for your reply
> 
> ...


LRay, are you by any chance using AVG security suite? I am, eventhough it does not seem to help when I disable it. The problem persists.

I'm just looking for any common thread that may lead to a solution. I have this problem on three different computers. One is XP on a satellite modem, the other two are XP and Vista on a Cox cable modem. Since I set up all of them, I'm thinking it has to do with something I've done on all three computers, such as installing AVG or something. It really did make a difference when I started rebooting everyday, but it still happens enough to be annoying, so I'm still casting around for a solution.

I've read about a lot of other connection issues with IE but none with these exact symptoms until now. It's really weird when I open a browser instance and while it tries to connect I can open another one and it connects instantly. The first will try to connect until I close it. Weird.


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## LRaybould (Mar 3, 2009)

Dear Morganza

Thanks for your reply

I do have AVG (Free edition) installed on my machine which is running XP home (SP3). I have also tried disabling AVG to see if it is the culprit, but like yours has made no effect. I have no other anti-virus/anti-spy ware programs running, just AVG.

Kind regards


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## Ian Firth (Mar 7, 2009)

I had the same problem after installing some software which changed the .NET Framework. I have now installed .NET Framework 3.5 and the problem seems to have disappeared...........for now anyway.


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## Morganza (Feb 28, 2009)

Ian Firth said:


> I had the same problem after installing some software which changed the .NET Framework. I have now installed .NET Framework 3.5 and the problem seems to have disappeared...........for now anyway.


Thanks for the info. I'm adding that to my troubleshooting "toolkit" for this event. I'm still holding the AVG suspect too. These security suites are so entrenched in the OS that they can still sometimes cause problems, even when disabled. I'm going to check on the .net versions on all three computers and update them, then watch and wait.


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## LRaybould (Mar 3, 2009)

Hi Ian

I to have .NET Framework 3.5 (SP1) on my machine, but I still encounter this problem

Kind regards


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## niknah (Mar 8, 2009)

Me too,

Vista 64bit SP1, AVG

The interesting thing is that my browser starts up fine in 64 bit mode and in no addons mode(-extoff option)

Just not in normal 32bit mode.

Sits there with "connecting...", and my home page is the about:blank page so it really shouldn't need to connect anywhere!

My addons are...
AUDIO_MPEGURL Moniker Class
Free Threaded XML DOM Document
Windows Media Player
X509 Enrollment WebClassFactory
XML DOM Document
XML DOM Document 6.0
XSL Template

...All addons are from Microsoft.


The problem doesn't go away when I restart.


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## niknah (Mar 8, 2009)

Ok, I've found the problem.
Install AVG, IE is stuck
Uninstall AVG, IE works again

Doesn't work after I disabled it, I had to uninstall it to get IE working again.

I'm moving to Avast, I've had various problems with avg in the past, the updates kepted on telling me to reboot when it didn't need to, the updates wiping out the entire program, full computer scans that didn't pick up viruses, etc.
And who knows what other problems it has caused in the past, because I don't go around uninstalling AVG everytime I have a problem to see if it was the cause.


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## Morganza (Feb 28, 2009)

niknah said:


> Ok, I've found the problem.
> Install AVG, IE is stuck
> Uninstall AVG, IE works again
> 
> Doesn't work after I disabled it, I had to uninstall it to get IE working again.


AVG has been my #1 suspect from the beginning. I have a 3 pack license and 2 single licenses that are fairly new, or I'd ditch them too. I guess I'll ride it out for awhile and see what happens. Their user interface is somewhat tedious anyway. I may communicate some of my concerns with the AVG folks and see what they say. The computer which I'm using right now hasn't misbehaved in a few days though. I investigated the .net framework as a possible suspect and found that I don't have ANY .net installed on this computer. I can't get to the other computers right now, but I've been told that one of the others is working better these days too. Maybe the problem will just go away. That would be OK too.


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## navel_gazer (Sep 16, 2007)

Hello. I too have the exact same problem with IE7 'connecting' and have has it for about 3 - 4 weeks now. Not a show stopper but it is certainly annoying. I don't have AVG, I have a version of AV offered by my ISP that is essentially F-Secure. I've had both runnig togther for about a year now and never had this problem until recently. 

I'll keep an eye on this thread and certainly post anything that I find out. Seems to be a common problem.


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## Ian Firth (Mar 7, 2009)

Oh Well. One day later and the problem is back. rebooting prevents it for a while. I too am running AVG Free. I will be trying the same as you guys to see how much further into this I can get


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## cool6887 (Mar 18, 2005)

I've got the same issues with my IE7. i have norton internet security 2009, win xp service pack 3, downloaded the .net 3.5. what is the issue? is there anything with the firewall? any help would be awesome. where's the experts on this?


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## Morganza (Feb 28, 2009)

To confuse this issue more, I'm reporting that these events have all but stopped on all three of my computers without my doing anything. It just stopped. If I thought that this was the end of it, I'd be pretty happy about that. I'll be very surprised if this goes away permanently for me.


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## keno-ken (Jan 18, 2009)

I too have the same issue as all of the above. Have unstalled AVG and reinstalled but made no difference. The problem seems to have coincided with that Google Toolbar update from Toolbar 3 to Toolbar 4 a little while back. You know, the one that didnt give us a choice. No "Remind me later" and no way of closing it off. So I updated to Toolbar 5 without unstalling Toolbar 4. Havent had a problem since. IE7 open first time every time. Have also disabled Sun Java addons which speeds things up considerably. PC seems to work quite well without it.


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## Morganza (Feb 28, 2009)

keno-ken said:


> The problem seems to have coincided with that Google Toolbar update from Toolbar 3 to Toolbar 4 a little while back. So I updated to Toolbar 5 without unstalling Toolbar 4. Havent had a problem since.


This is very encouraging. I'm running version 5 now, which may explain why the issue has disappeared for me. 
This issue may be close to being "solved." I hope so. Thanks.


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## keno-ken (Jan 18, 2009)

You could also try disabling SSVHelper class Addon. I have been experimenting with Enable and Disable Addons and my PC seems to work quite well without SSVHelper class and Sun Java Addons enabled, and stop/start when opening browser has all but disappeared.


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## LRaybould (Mar 3, 2009)

Are you still having problems with Internet Explorer with AVG?
I have upgraded to IE8 and AVG 8.5 and still encounter this problem

Thanks


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## keno-ken (Jan 18, 2009)

Occasionally. Not that often anymore. When it does happen, I just do a reboot and alls well. Think I'll leave well enuff alone for now. Got another issue I'm working on at the moment. I'll catch up.


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## gllund (Aug 21, 2005)

This is what I had to do to get IE8 working properly for me. It may work for you. Shaw Secure is my provider's antivirus.

·	Deleted all Java Updates, then installed latest version.
·	Deleted all free Anti-virus & Malware except Shaw Secure.
·	Changed Shaw Secure Firewall to Windows Firewall temporarily.
·	Disabled Shaw Secure and only used Windows Defender & Windows Firewall during Upgrade.

Gord


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## keno-ken (Jan 18, 2009)

Seems a bit extreme. Didnt have to do anything when I upgraded from IE6 to IE7.


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## TheHelms (Apr 6, 2009)

I solved this problem on a computer I support. It is a WinXP SP3 machine with IE7 and NIS2009. After going through the normal step of deleting Temporary Internet Files without any change, I removed the Viewpoint Toolbar and the Google Toolbar (I don't know what version --- she wasn't using it anyway, but it was loaded).

That resolved the problem. I didn't need to remove or disable anything else, Java, add-ons, etc.

Based on recent posts, it looks like the Google Toolbar was the culprit.


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## cool6887 (Mar 18, 2005)

I see I have the viewpoint media player. Is that the same thing? Why do I have a viewpoint media player? Is it necessary for something?


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## gllund (Aug 21, 2005)

I didn't have any Toolbars to delete. But I did delete Temporary Internet Files without any change. I'm just glad that IE8 works a lot better now. It's funny that IE8 Beta didn't have these problems before I installed the final version. Anyway, I glad it worked out for you. I use Firefox most the time but have been using IE8 more now that it's working better.


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## keno-ken (Jan 18, 2009)

Take a look in here. Should answer any questions or issues you might have. http://www.viewpoint.com/installer/v4/html/vmp_faq.html


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## cool6887 (Mar 18, 2005)

hmm why is aol usually a prime suspect? thanks for the info ken.. btw.. love the icon!


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## keno-ken (Jan 18, 2009)

Glad I could help. Got my Avatar from a site called Febble Minds 
http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=feebleminds&meta=&aq=1s&oq=febble Some really cool stuff in there and they are all free.


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## blearning4ever (Apr 23, 2009)

This thread was a huge help to me.

My IE7 was getting stuck trying to connect too. I also use AVG. After reading the comments, have been successful with IE by running AVG update when IE stops.


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## laPrairie (Apr 29, 2009)

I just posted it a fix that worked for me under another thread. I attached it below. Try it out and good luck!
----------------
Wow! After browsing thru various threads from early 2007 to date, I know I am not a lone. Good news is I just fixed the problem on my 3 systems (didn't do on the 4th one, but it should work too), and hope this works for you too. But here is a bit background of my problems:
1) newly switched from Cable to DSL service;
2) All my 4 PCs access web thru my wireless router which is attached to the DSL modem (which is also a wireless router but wireless feature turned off, since I don't want to waste time to replace my router).
3) all my computers won't access certain websites;
4) my notework CAN access these sites but ONLY thru my ATT client service (like the VPN), which gets me into the intranet system at work. After I close the ATT client service, it may still work for a little while and then gets slower and slower to final death in ~10min to a few hrs.

After failed and frustrated from trying all I could, I spent two hours today reading thru many threads over two years period with ~100 postings, I saw various techniques and tricks suggested and worked for some but not others. Armed with this vast info, I tried one thing and it worked like a charm. I repeated on 3 systems and was an instant fix and repeated on each system with no problem. Hopefully this is a permanent fix!

I am no computer techie, don't really understand too much, but the problem seems to be related to the DNS server address. I had manually created the IP address and DNS server address. Change both of them to Obtain them automatically, the dead websites came to life instantly! If this isnn't clear to you, try this: Properties (right click) on your Wireless Network Connect then select TCP/IP & Properties and then under the General tab, check Obtain IP and DNS server on auto. After you do this, you may lose wireless connection. Just refresh it and try your blocked websites.
Good luck everybody!


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