Twice in the last week I have been called in to fix a computer that would not "browse" the Internet.  The browser of choice was internet Explorer (one was 6 the other 7), and while the home page would launch when the browser would start, they could not then type in another URL and have the browser connect.

But it was not 100%.  In other words, type in a second URL, and it would not connect.  Type in a 3rd and it woudl.  4th, would not, 5th would, etc.

I checked for all kinds of bugs (using Symantec for standard bugs and Malwarebytes for the sneaky ones) and none were found.  So I started killing processes and ripping out Add ons in IE.  And it started working great!  Every URL would pop up.  So I started putting the URLs back in one at a time, and stumbled when it came to Google Toolbar.

Fortunately neither user was enamored with the Google Toolbar (they just wanted to make sure they could get to Google).

I personally do not like those tool bars and never install them on my PC.  And it is the first things I take off when my wife starts complaining about "slowing computer" on hers as well.  But I guess some people like it as it does seem popular (I know you can get it from installing just about any freeware these days if you do not uncheck the box during installation).  And in days past, I have seen some that have 3 or 4 of those irritating things (Google, Yahoo, AOL, and MSN).

I was just wondering if anyone else had seen this on computers they have worked on.  There is no error associated with the problem. The page just never loads.