Windows 7: Problem with programs accessing internet

I recently built a computer and did a clean install of Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit. I am having several problems with IE8:

1) I am having problems with links in other programs accessing the internet (e.g. clicking on photos posted in google earth to enlarge in an html page or clicking on links in a program's help tab to pullup the program's site). Half the time I just see the little circle showing the computer is thinking and then nothing and the rest of the time I receive an error stating "There was a problem sending the command to the program". I've checked that IE8 is the default program and that htmls are associated properly and have also tried turning off my firewall (McAffee security suite from AT&T). I've also reset IE default settings which were never changed to begin with.

2) The second problem which may or may not be related is I switched to using the 32bit IE because of the flashplayer issues with the 64bit. When I double-click on the 32bit icon I would get the little circle thinking and then nothing. IE would only start if I right clicked and hit "run as administrator". When I did this I would get the UAC warning asking me if I want to let IE make changes to my computer. If I select yes the program opens. To avoid right-clicking every time I changed the properties of the shortcut to open as administrator. (by the way, double clicking the IE 64bit icon works without the above problems).

I've been searching forums for hours with no answers. Sorry for the long post, any advice?

It sounds like you're having issues with permissions on your computer. The reason you couldn't open IE and the reason the programs couldn't open it are probably the same. I would go to the root directory of IE and take ownership of the .exe. Hopefully that'll help. If it doesn't, try disabling UAC to see if that fixes it. If you don't want to keep UAC disabled, switch to Firefox?

Lost connection and double posted due to FF error, see below for more.

Some of these solutions are zany, others seem to make sense. I'm giving them all to you because I don't know what exactly will fix your problem. Solution 1 is my solution, I believe that your permissions are bungled and this is causing IE8 not to open unless done by an administrator. The rest of the solutions are quoted from external sources, use that at your own risk.

Solution #1:

Take ownership of these files:
"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe"
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe"
OR
Right click those same files and force to run as administrator.

Solution #2:

Uninstall/Upgrade System Mechanics 8

Solution #3:

Uninstall/Reinstall IE8
Start > Control Panel > Program & Features > Turn Windows Features on or off > Untick IE8 > OK
Restart
Start > Control Panel > Program & Features > Turn Windows Features on or off > Tick IE8 > OK
Restart
Check to see if it worked.

Solution #4:

Download and run CCleaner

Solution #5:

Quote:

try going to Control Panel, Internet Options, Advanced and hit reset, go thru the windows, Close any browser that opens. reopen IE, close. now try to open a link in your email.

Solution #6: Not Recommended

Quote:

So here is my solution, copy "My Documents", "Favorites", and "Desktop" from the C:documents and Settings\<username> folder to a temp folder on a external drive. Then delete the user account and the user from C:documents and Settings\

When you logon again it will create a new profile. Copy the files back to their original location

Thanks again for your reply. Running System Mechanics fixed the problem, of course it was the last thing I tried!

According to sources, you shouldn't have a problem w/ SM 9, it's just 8 that bungles things.

Just FYI, I never had SM 8 on my computer. Something else must have bungled things up. SM 9.5 is what I used to fix the problem.