billericayman

I have a big problem with Internet Explorer 7 which is hanging as it opens. The window opens and it says connecting but that is where it stops. I can only close the window by using task manager to exit. I also have a problem with Outlook which is not displaying emails containing HTML. I guess they are both connected problems. Firefox runs fine and I know everyone says I should use Firefox, but some things need IE. I have disabled all add ons and tried starting from System Tools (no add ons). Same problem. I have run checks on spyware etc. This problem happened after a security upload from Microsoft last Saturday. I have tried to do a system restore but although it seems that the restore is going well I get a message at the end to say it cannot do the restore and nothing has been changed. I have tried this with all the available system restore point with no success. I have also tried to run System File CHecker (sfc /scannow) but this does not recognise my Windows XP disk, I guess because it is an early XP disk and I have Service Pack 3 installed. I need help because I don't know where to go next.