I’m generally loathe to cross-post, but I should’ve posted my question here in the first place…
http://www.avast.com/forum/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=1673
Hope someone has seen this issue before. I’ve burned up my patience rations on it.
On a lighter note, love what I’ve read of the forum so far. Seems like I stumbled across a winner in Avast. ;D
shutterbug,
I will try to help you here under this post since it may confuse the other thread. Ok?
You seem to have lost track of what changes you made to your system configuration, so we might have to backtrack a little to straighten things out. DO NOT rush to reformat. It might not solve anything.
Firstly, I have used Proxomitron in the past but no longer. I would suggest that we do things step by step to eliminate.
Shut down Proxo and try to access the internet…
BE RIGHT BACK!
This thread sounds great. Oh I never rush into a reformat. It’s just rare that I run into a difficult obstacle and I don’t have the patience I did in my younger years.
Good suggestion, but no luck. Current settings:
Connected via dialup @ 40Kbps (that time) through a local provider.
Proxomitron and ZoneAlarm are both turned off. IE6 is set to not use any proxy. Net connection showed a light on a connect attempt to Google, but returned a 404 error.
Browser then closed, and opened Outlook Express. Verified that mail settings are the same as the working settings from several days back. Attempted to connect to my mail server and got the mail equivalent of a 404 error. No Socket Found.
One thing I remembered may also affect all this. About a week ago AVG cleaned off the Internet Optimizer virus except for the restore sector. I turned that off also and AdAware found its entries in the registry, so the virus is gone, but I don’t know what it may have done to my connection settings somewhere obscure. That’s why I looked up Avast in the first place. 
And at the moment Avast is still uninstalled, with AVG serving as my virus protection.
shutterbug,
Ok. Thanks for the info. Um, a virus huh! All right, lets try this one.
Shut down your System Restore and run a full system anti-virus check.
Lets make sure the Restore directory is clean.
Then, “uncheck” the System Restore disable box. We want System Restore running once checked. If we do not enable it again, and restart the system, we could loose resotre points that we may need to fix this mess.
Also, I need to know what happens when you try to surf the web?
What error messge if any do you get? Do you see the one that tells you to check your browser settings?
Next, I want you to go into Internet Options and set both Security and Privacy back to Default settings.
Under Programs tab: Make sure OE is listed as the email client.
Is the box checked next to “IE should check…”? Uncheck it if so.
Now the biggie, the Connections tab.
Your ISP connection should be listed as Default. Check Settings. Uncheck any box on this page.
Below that, your Username should simply be: “prefix @ isp.com” or similar and naturally, your password ********
If your using XP, then check ADVANCED and disable the XP firewall.
Let me know how we are doing. I try not to let the post get too lenghty if others are following our attempts.
Its very early in the morning here and my pillow is calling. ;D Nite.
techie
Ok. I’m back for one last question.
Go into System Restore and see if we have a date prior to when this mess started.
Nite
Shut down your System Restore and run a full system anti-virus check.Did that. I should've said that I made sure the virus is clean. Its just that it may have left settings screwed up in the process.
what happens when you try to surf the web?IE pauses for about a minute until it times out, then I get the standard, generic Error 404. "Page could not be found [...] Press Refresh or try again later [...] Could not connect to the server or DNS error". I have M$'s search engine turned off. I can't stand how M$ takes over whatever people let them get away with, so I trim them back whenever possible. Long story short, I've already turned off System Restore and then turned it on again.
Internet Options and set both Security and Privacy back to Default settingsUmph. Well, that's good logic, so okay. :P
Is the box checked next to "IE should check..."?Unchecked.
the Connections tabI only have one ISP listed, and it's the correct one set as default. Settings are set as you suggested.
If your using XPI am, and ICF has been disabled in the Computer Manager since I installed it. It's a half-rate firewall, and M$ product at that. I'd rather have something I can trust. :)
I try not to let the post get too lengthyGood idea. If one of our steps fixes things it'll be easier to see exactly which did the job.
Let me know how we are doingIt isn't fixed yet. Both the browser and the mail are still giving the same errors, but at least we've ruled out a lot.
Go into System Restore and see if we have a date prior to when this mess started.Unfortunately, none are available thanks to the steps required to clear the Optimizer virus.
I know it can be frustrating troubleshooting someone else’s system sometimes, but it’s appreciated. And since I’ve done this for other people before, I won’t do anything in between steps without posting it here. Hopefully some of this will trigger a memory of my own to help fix it. Anyway, even though we haven’t solved it yet, thanks for giving it a try.
I probably won’t be able to log on again today, but I’ll call my ISP and make sure they haven’t done something asinine like block my other system’s access.
shuttterbug,
Thank your for your patience. Sometimes these problems are not easy to solve. Gee Whiz, we have tried a lot already, but I will continue.
I do not think that your ISP has done anything to upset the balance so to speak. I still believe that the problem lies within your system.
Unfortunately, in removing the virus, your also had to give up the restore points.
Ok, so we will go forward without them. I need to do some research on the virus you had. It may give us a clue as to what might have been corrupted. As soon as I have something postive, I will post and also IM you. It might take a day or so. Ok?
techie
Shutterbug, please, try to choose between one of the antivirus applications.
I suggest a clean uninstall of AVG, so we can help you to deal with avast! ;D
The posts are too long and it’s becoming difficult to me to figure out what is happening right now… 
Shutterbug, unfortunatelly or not, I posted some posible solutions for Outlook connection at your previous post (here).
Hope something help
Technical,
Unfortunately, shutterbug got caught in cross-posting so it is hard to follow, that is why I am trying to keep the posts short and right here so we can follow through.
I still believe that shutterbugs problem does not lie in Outlook Express only because he has surfing problems as well. I think that if we can figure out why his system won’t allow browsing, we will find the cure for the OE as well.
shutterbug,
I did not forget about you. Busy weekend ahead, but I will try to do the research I promised.
You can take a look at the Windows Event Viewer logs in the Control Panel Administrative tools to see if anything shows up there as to why you do not connect. Check the System and Application sections first, then look into the Antivirus section. The yellow flags are important, but the red flags are the ones we need to check out. If you double click on them, an explanation will be given AND a Microsoft Support reference. Lets see what you find here. Look for any notation that indicates a failure to connect, or a blocked application. Review any MS reference provided for a solution. If you are in doubt, provide me with the MS link and I will review it.
techie
Thanks techie. But, I suggest shutterbug solve the 2 antivirus application installed in his system… I make a shot that ZoneAlarm disabled could be blocking the connection. I have a proxy and it works with ZA (I don´t know much about Proxomitron, but proxies could be disabled without further trouble). Please, see Windows events like Techie suggested and try a little bit more the ZA configuration. Note, there is a new version: 4.5.530.000 (maybe a reinstall/update could help, in my system everything ok with this update, execpt the ZoneLabs now make ‘automatic updates’ the only default possibility to run ZA).
Thanks for the posts guys. It isn’t too confusing to me with the cross-posts, and I think they’ll all be in this thread now anyway.
Since I’ve already uninstalled Avant during my troubleshooting attempts I didn’t want to reinstall it until I was sure the connection settings were no longer fouled up. I think Avant’s proxy handling would only introduce more variables into the issue. And since Avant is uninstalled I wanted to leave AVG going so I have some virus protection until this is finished. When all this is said & done I will definitely be using Avant and removing AVG, but for now I just want to fix the connection issue.
I won’t worry about slow posts. We all have lives that don’t revolve around this forum, and this is a busy time of year.
I don’t think the issue is ZA. I’ve been taking it down before I make connection attempts, and it doesn’t use a proxy. I’ll take a look at my logs and let you know what I see asap (system is at the other end of the house).
Thanks again for your diligence.
shutterbug,
You may find not only this article interesting, but go to the Symantec link provided and insure that YOUR removal was complete. Apparently, the Internet Optimizer virus (which isn’t really a virus but Spy/Adware gets into the registry as well.
Symantec seems to have provided excellent instructions on removal.
Once you are assured that you have removed all traces of “virus”, then I think we need to discuss reinstalling IE6, and even contemplate a reformat. I know that it is a lot of work, but I am afraid that whatever file/s were corrupted or changed by the IOV, may not be isolated.
Ok, here is the article:
A new ruse similar to Friend Greetings is being circulated via email and Instant Messenger. Engineered by Avenue Media NV of Curacao, this latest trick invites recipients to visit a website to view free video clips - one of which is allegedly a film clip of Bill Gates being hit in the face with a custard pie. Recipients who click the link provided in the email or Instant Message will be invited to install an application dubbed “Internet Optimizer” (IO). As part of the installation process, users must agree to the End User License Agreement (EULA). The EULA gives Avenue Media permission to send similar messages to all of their email and Instant Messenger contacts. In addition, agreeing to the EULA gives Avenue Media the right to remote access, including the ability to update or install new programs. Though not a virus, these programs are often referred to as Internet parasites and fall into the category of Spyware and Adware.
And, here is the link
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/adware.netoptimizer.html
Since the IOV could have installed programs on your computer, you need to look in the Programs directory for apps that you did not install and then the Registry keys for any software that is unfamiliar to you.
Lastly, (if you haven’t done so by now) run an Adware/Spyware removal program such as Adaware6 or Spybot. Let’s clean the putter out real good! 
techie101
shutterbug,
A “forum friend” mentioned something which might bear out some fruit…check your TCP/IP settings. This would indeed cause a problem connecting to internet sites.
If you are not sure of what they were or should be, let me know and we can compare what I have.
techie
Thanks for the attempts everyone, but these are all things I’ve already tried, several times in some cases. I’m going to reformat, so no need to worry more about this issue.
Thanks again for your attempts.
sorry you have to reformat. make backups of all important stuff first***. by the way nice signature