We have a 2008 R2 server that we are using as an application host server. A couple of weeks ago, IE 8 stopped opening pages. The machine can ping out and respond to pings, can download Windows updates and program updates, and the FTP program that was already installed works fine too. I've gone through everything I can find on this. I've also tried installing Firefox just to see and it can't browse either. Running the 64-bit and the "no add-ons" versions also gets the same result.

Hi Marc,When you say IE 8 stopped opening pages, can you please eloborate and give us the information like a) error message when you open webpages b) can you check the behavior in safe mode with networking ?can you open intranet web sites ? Please have a thorough scan of your OS for virus , worms, trojans etc... I do not recommend repairing ie8 because , i dont see any issues with the dll's

Hi Marc, How are things going? I have not heard back from you in a few days and wanted to check on the status of the issue. Please let me know how things turned out. Tim Quan - MSFT

Sorry Tim, I've been moving to a new apartment this weekend. I'll remote in to work tomorrow and take some screen shots for you.There are no viruses, erc. it's clean.I'll see if I can start it in safemode with networking and see what happens.I'll also try some local sites and see what I get.Thanks,Marc

Well, interestingly, the /// problem seems to have self-resolved, however the browsing issue is still there.Again, this is specific to this particular virtual machine - the rest of the network is fine. Also, this mahcine DID work correctly a few weeks ago, but no changes have been made to it (that I know of) other than regular Windows Updates.http://marcmedina.com/Microsoft/ie_error1.jpghttp://marcmedina.com/Microsoft/windowsupdates.jpg

I have heard of this sympton ("///" in the browser) on Windows 7, and the apparent culprit was the removal of an antivirus program. The problem was fixed remotely by Dell support, so I don't know what they did. I'll try to get more information from the person that reported this, but they may not know what was done either. Richard MuellerMVP ADSI

Hi, I suggest resetting IE to test the result: Click Start, type inetcpl.cpl and press Enter. On the Advanced tab, click the Reset button and click OK. Restart IE. What's the result?Tim Quan - MSFT

Hi Tim,I've already tried that before posting the first time - still nothing.Marc

Hi, What’s the result in Safe Mode with networking? You have not told us the result. Or please try a Clean Boot to test the result: 1. Click the Start Button type "msconfig" (without quotation marks) in the Start Search box, and then press Enter. Note: If prompted, please click Continue on the User Account Control (UAC) window. 2. Click the "Services" tab, check the "Hide All Microsoft Services" box and click "Disable All" (if it is not gray). 3. Click the "Startup" tab, click "Disable All" and click "OK". Then, restart the computer. When the "System Configuration Utility" window appears, please check the "Don't show this message or launch the System Configuration Utility when Windows starts" box and click OK. Please test this issue in the Clean Boot environment, if the issue disappears in the Clean Boot environment, we can use a 50/50 approach to quickly narrow down which entry is causing the issue. Tim Quan - MSFT

Hi,The above suggestions would definitely be a good troubleshooting pointers provided by all of us. If not , the quickest way is to a) revert back the snapshot ( if you have taken one ) b) backup and delete the VM and recreate it ,which you are going to save lot of time in troublehsooting.If you want to perform rca then we will further troubleshoot.

Tim, I can try this on Sunday and I'll let you know what happens.

Well, today I copied off the VHD, then deleted the machine and built a fresh one. everything works again, but this is not what I would call a "good solution".Tim, I'd be willing to give you a copy of the VHD for troubleshooting. Only problem is that it's 29 gigs. Let me know if you're interested.thanks,Marc