Problem with IE

dapto1

My family's having a problem with their PC (using Vista) . When they open Internet Explorer (I know, I know) the homepage comes up fine. But when you type in an address, it either comes up as:

-"Address not valid" with "http:///" in the address bar
or
-"Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage"

Can't take a screenshot as I obviously can't email it from that computer and don't have a memory stick.

I've run a virus scan with Avira (can't get MSE running on it for some reason) and Malwarebytes but nothing's come up.

Thanks in advance, any ideas/help would be much appreciated!

Alanstrainor

What version of IE is it?
What homepage is it?

Jagle

have you tried another browser pure quick just to make sure its IE and not something else?

RGDATA!

your post isn't 100% clear as to whether you are connected or not to the internet ('homepage loads' sounds like you are - 'obviously can't email from that computer' sounds like you're not)

assuming you are online and your connection isn't the problem a quick workaround is to use the search box in the top right of the browser.

if your default search provider is Google, typing a URL into the search box should throw up a link to that page in the search results. it's definitely more of a pain in the ass than typing straight into the address bar, but it's actually how a lot of people do it by default anyway.

as to what's caused this in the first place - i would guess malware or just shyteware (some pointless toolbar installed at some point)

firefox and google chrome are only a few clicks away

dapto1

Cheers for the posts, but got it sorted.

This post from another forum cleared it right up:

Check the internet settings
in IE>tools>internet options>connection tab>lan settings>untick everything in there
check no proxies are being used etc


I unchecked the box under "proxy" and it works grand now.