Revisit Windows Update. After the ' Can not display message ' appears,
close IE. Now go to Start > Run > type in

%windir$\windowsupdate.log

Click OK or press Enter
Copy and paste the last 50 or so lines of the log into your reply, please.

MowGreen [MVP 2003-2008]
===============
*-343-* FDNY
Never Forgotten
===============



GnarlyCar wrote:

> Hello all,
> This one's got me stymied...
> My Mom just bought a brand new Dell desktop with XP Pro on it. Not
> refurbed, but brand-new. She took delivery and got it powered up on
> Wednesday, got her DSL installed on Friday, and didn't touch a thing until I
> called her Saturday morning. I walked her through installing AIM Pro, using
> which I then shared and controlled her desktop for the purpose of configuring
> everything and giving her a computer tutorial.
>
> At work, the first thing I do when I start a newly delivered machine is hit
> Windows Updates to ensure everything's at its latest. I did this with Mom's
> machine and IE opened and crunched for a while before showing me a Page
> Cannot Be Displayed error. It's running IE6, so I know now that it
> definitely needs some updates.
>
> Checked all IE options and found nothing out of place, but reset all
> defaults just to be sure, no go.
>
> Downloaded and installed Firefox, tried http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
> through brand new installation, no go.
>
> Tried www.microsoft.com via Firefox, no go.
>
> Same story for support.microsoft.com. The machine seems to stumble on
> anything that has "microsoft" in the URL.
>
> I checked all those sites on my own machine and they all opened just fine in
> both Firefox and IE7.
>
> Spoke with her ISP, they said they're not blocking anything microsoft, and
> that they "recommend running Windows Updates to all their customers". Cool,
> man...
>
> Downloaded and installed IE7 to Mom's machine via MajorGeeks.com. Still no
> go.
>
> Disconnected desktop sharing and closed AIM Pro, walked Mom through Start >
> Windows Update, still no go, same result.
>
> Dell.com, CNN.com, AIM.com, aimpro download site, and numerous other sites
> all work fine. It only hangs at things with "microsoft" in the URL.
>
> HijackThis shows nothing out of place, aside from standard Dell bloatware,
> through which I've never had a problem when working with work machines.
>
> Installed WhatsRunning, disabled everything bloat from startup, rebooted,
> still no go.
>
> Installed Avast Home antivirus, scan shows nothing.
>
> Less than 10 files created in Windows\System and System32 folders since Mom
> powered it up, and they all check out fine.
>
> Standard frequency of reboots included throughout these steps. I haven't
> tried anything in Safe Mode yet, as the machine's 600 miles away from me.
> Mom's an absolute beginner with computers, and I haven't worked up the
> courage for that phone call yet. Have not yet contacted Dell either, as I
> was hoping to find something I may have forgotten after searching the web.
> Found nothing even close.
>
> I'm hoping someone here can think of anything I may have forgotten.
>
> Thanks in advance,