I wonder if you could all help me out here,

I've had this problem for a while, and while i didnt notice it much at first, it is now driving me up the wall.

On some websites, Internet Explorer can take at least a minute to load up a page, on my 512k DSL modem!

A few websites that take forever to load include Freewebs (viewing sites that people have made, and creating a website), These forums , and MSN (when viewing member profiles), amongst many others.

Numerous times i have scanned for spyware, but even with no adware components im still experiencing this problem. It tends to get worse as i use the internet. The strange thing is though, some sites load perfectly fine (e.g. Google, Shoutcast, Amazon, Ebay etc.) and my download speeds run at maximum efficency (normally 50kb/s).

Could this be because of extreme web traffic making the page take forever or is this a problem with my browser.

Thanks very much,
Frankiedaman

Are you using a router of any type?
Checked for ad/spyware?


Either way, I'd suggest:

Empty the browsers cache (tools, internetoptions, general tab, temp internet files..."remove files" button) and set the cache to 50 (tools, internetoptions, general tab...where you clear the cache you'll also see a button "settings", you can set it there)

If webpages still won't load fast it has to do with the amount of ppl viewing that site at the same moment as you do.

Thanks for the advice Blade & Sunshine.

I ran another scan for spyware, and surprisingly it found more than i expected. but even with those removed it made no difference whatsoever.

I have just cleared out my internet cache and set the max limit to 50mb. Let's hope it has an effect on performance.

It's weird, because once the page starts to load, halfway through the modem will just stop for about 10 seconds, as if it just "goes to sleep", and continue to load up the page again.

I'm on AOL and i also tried loading the sites in the AOL browser, but the problem still occurs. What browser is AOL based on, is it Internet Explorer?

If it is, then maybe switching to Firefox will make a difference, or will it? Let me know

Thanks again

I knoew I had this problem with installing SP2...

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Originally posted by Fraisie
I knoew I had this problem with installing SP2...

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Originally posted by Leif
So how did you fix it? Uninstall SP2 or what??

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Mine is doing that as well. The same sites as well I also have no spyware. I do have dodgy SP2.

bahhh humbug! (getting my christmas spirit up )

don't trust MS's Service Packs, they don't improve anything and just messes up your comp (from many ppl at least)

and blade is right, IE sux, get "firefox" instead - the best browser in the world

I had a few similar problems when I upgraded to XP Service Pack 2.

In order to solve my problem, I had to uninstall SP2, reboot, uninstall IE6, reboot, reinstall SP2, reboot, reinstall IE6.

I realise that's a lot of messing around and it wasn't for quite the same problems that you are having...but if you run out of options perhaps this method would be worth a try...if you have a while.

Good luck.

Last night, as a last resort i installed SP2 to see if it fixed the problem, and believe or not, it did, the sites load up like they used to .

Perhaps it's because it sent my browser back to factory settings, anyhow, it worked!

The only problem is now getting AOL to work with Windows XP SP2. ¬_¬

THIS is gonna be hard, seeing as the patch they provide doesnt install properly on my pc. ¬_¬

If that doesnt work, i think im going to have to remove SP2. Just incase i have to do that, does anyone know how to uninstall SP2?

Thanks very much,
Frankiedaman.

I'm not sure, but maybe you should upgrade aol to 9.0 if you haven't already have, I'm sure you can get it somewhere, and it will be compatible with SP2 if its one of their newer updates..

I have AOL 9 already though. The patch which makes it compatible with SP2 they provide fails to install.

First of all, anyone who told you to get Firefox is smart.  IE sucks.  You were surprised about the amount of spyware you had when you ran a scan?  Why?  IE is like the lead provided to spyware(not really but they couldn't block the crappiest spyware ever).  Firefox is much faster, blocks most spyware and pretty well all ads.

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I'm not sure, but maybe you should upgrade aol to 9.0 if you haven't already have, I'm sure you can get it somewhere, and it will be compatible with SP2 if its one of their newer updates..[/qutote]

Or here's some even better advise:  DITCH AOL COMPLETELY!  Pfft, worse ISP ever!

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Adware/spyware and other things like that can make the installation of SP2 corrupt! Make sure you have removed all traces of such things before you upgrade to SP2. In fact, always make sure your PC is in tip-top shape before upgrading to any SP...

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Originally posted by frankiedaman
Perhaps it's because it sent my browser back to factory settings, anyhow, it worked!

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Originally posted by frankiedaman
The only problem is now getting AOL to work with Windows XP SP2. ¬_¬
THIS is gonna be hard, seeing as the patch they provide doesnt install properly on my pc. ¬_¬

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Originally posted by gnownoskcid
don't trust MS's Service Packs, they don't improve anything and just messes up your comp

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Originally posted by blade
I think she meant that it happened to her WHILE she was installing SP2 (the installer pauseing or w/e).

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Originally posted by frankiedaman
If that doesnt work, i think im going to have to remove SP2. Just incase i have to do that, does anyone know how to uninstall SP2?

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Originally posted by ABC123
First of all, anyone who told you to get Firefox is smart.  IE sucks.  You were surprised about the amount of spyware you had when you ran a scan?  Why?  IE is like the lead provided to spyware(not really but they couldn't block the crappiest spyware ever).

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Cookie, 10% of a hell lot is still a hell lot! I must agree though that with a little tweaking IE can be made to be a much more decent browser. But still, Opera and Firefox are clearly superior.

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Originally posted by PlusFan
Cookie, 10% of a hell lot is still a hell lot! I must agree though that with a little tweaking IE can be made to be a much more decent browser. But still, Opera and Firefox are clearly superior.

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But did she get the spyware from Firefox?

Blah at this thread turning into (yet another) IE vs Firefox thread. You can get spyware through any browser..it all depends on how its used and the common sense of the user as Cookie already stated (i dare you to click every popup you see in Firefox and then tell me again you didn't get any spyware...oohh yeah don't forget to visit some dodgy sites...porn/cracks etc.). Also there's plenty of other IE based browsersoftware wich will let you configure things more than you can in IE.

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Originally posted by Sunshine
Blah at this thread turning into a IE vs Firefox thread.

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When I first started using Firefox, I wondered if it really did stop alot of spyware like people said.  So I decided to use Internet Explorer for a week.  Then Firefox for a week and after each week I would use Adaware and Spybot S&D.  The first week I used Firefox, scanned and found like 3 spyware things.  The second week I used IE, scanned and found around 20 spyware things.  Online, I basicly only play games, go to some forums, and browse for some software to enhance crappy Windows*COUGH*Use Linux*COUGH*.  I didn't click any of the ads, I never do.  IE could *maybe* be a half-decent internet browser if I put some work into enhancing it.  But the fact is, even without enhancing Firefox with plugins, it's way better than IE could ever be.

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Originally posted by blade

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Originally posted by Leif
So how did you fix it? Uninstall SP2 or what??

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I think she meant that it happened to her WHILE she was installing SP2 (the installer pauseing or w/e). Either way, I dojn't like  Dodgy SP2

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Originally posted by Fraisie
No, actually it happened when SP2 was all installed. I had to uninstall it. After a few weeks, I formated my hd and reinstalled everything from scratch, and then SP2 worked better... bleh !

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I fixed my problem now, i just uninstalled SP2, and all is back to normal. SP2, aggrivated my McAfee Internet Security because of Windows Security Center, gave me connection problems with AOL (i could never get that patch after, i even contacted AOL - as lousy as their help service was, and even Microsoft about it), not to mention, it hogged a lot of CPU too and made my PC even slower again to load up and do things. The only benefit i found was that Windows Movie Maker was working again, but this wasn't really a good reason for me to keep it, so i just removed it.  Just goes to prove that sometimes, older can be better

You've clearly convinced me also that Firefox rules compared to IE. So i'm going to get that definetly!

I'm a bit new to this Firefox business though, can it block popups etc. that IE can't. Does it cope with Flash and ActiveX Applets OK? Any other things it can do which IE can't?

Thanks again

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Originally posted by blade
Well b4 I turned off Windows Security Center it would constantly badger me about my firewall ( ) and also, after SP2 - I can't view anything in WMP10 in full screen .

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Originally posted by frankiedaman
and made my PC even slower again to load up and do things.

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Originally posted by frankiedaman
Just goes to prove that sometimes, older can be better

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Originally posted by frankiedaman
I'm a bit new to this Firefox business though, can it block popups etc. that IE can't. Does it cope with Flash and ActiveX Applets OK? Any other things it can do which IE can't?

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