Thanks. I've done as you suggested but my browser still does not work. Will I have to uninstal it? Problem is, if I do that, I don't have a copy on disc to re-install.

Do you know the purpose of these programs and did they exist before your problems? You may want to try and end any running programs for the following to see if that helps:
C:\Program Files\SmartM\BlueOpal
C:\Program Files\Idigicon



Can you even PING a website at the command prompt (Start>Run>CMD):

Try entering the following at the command prompt,
PING www.google.com

C:\WINDOWS\Profiles\_vop\Desktop>ping www.google.com

Pinging www.l.google.com [64.233.161.104] with 32 bytes of data:

Here are several additional steps you can try:

• You could try to 'Add/Remove Programs' for 'Internet Explorer' - and select the 'Repair Internet Explorer' option and see if that solves your issues.
  
  
• Try running IEFix - General purpose fix for Internet Explorer:
  http://windowsxp.mvps.org/IEFIX.htm
  
  
• Another fix strategy possibility is:
  How to Fix a Broken Internet Connection
  http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1838953,00.asp
  
  The easiest way to fix a broken connection chain is to use a freeware utility called LSPFix.exe (182KB):
  http://cexx.org/lspfix.htm
  
  LSPFIX tutorial here:
  http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/ind...showtutorial=59
  
  If you just want to fix a broken chain, and the problem DLL has already been removed for some other reasons, you can just click the Finish button, designated by the green box in Figure 1. LSP-Fix will automatically fix the LSP chain and hopefully restore connectivity back to the network.

Hi, sorry it's been quiet for a while but I lost my email, too but that's OK now. Blue Opal is a USB hub/bluetooth programme and Indigicon is a spyware killer (installed to try and cleanse my system). Everything seems to work OK except for IE6 - OE is fine automatic updates for the various programmes on my computer function normally. The only programme which is having problems, apart from IE6 is my antivirus software (Bullguard). Thanks for the fix links in your previous reply but as I can't access the internet on my PC, how do I install the fixes?