[CB1020]

I have a frustrating situation with a brand new machine-2 months old. Can someone please help me diagnose its problem and find a solution? I’m out of tricks.

Around 11/16/2009 the browser (I use Fire Fox, always updated) would stop displaying content at some point in the day. Just white pages with the target URL in the address bar and page tab.

At first this happened once a day, then twice, then every 3 hours, then every 3-4 searches.

To regain the browser function I have to re-start…not just close and re-open the browser.

When FFox is down, so is IE.

I also began having trouble with email newsletters from Mediapost about the same time, so I thought it was something to do with Outlook 2007 or their emails. Ran Outlook in safe mode. No change. Created a rule to quarantine their emails to a folder. No change. Closed the preview pane. No change.

I downloaded and ran: Malwarebytes, Spybot Search and Destroy, Superantispyware, AdAware. ATF temp file cleaner. A couple of them found ad tracking cookies…but I get Advertising industry newsletters so of course they and their web pages are loaded with tracking cookies. No Malware.

All clean. No Change.

If I open only Firefox after a re-start, I can browse for hours without issue.

If I then open Excel or Word, or eventually both, I can still browse without issue.

If I open Outlook First, alone, or last in the stack, the browser will fail to display within 4 searches. (Except today when it was opened last and I stopped counting searches before the browser failed.)

I am at a loss about where else to look. It’s feeling like re-install Outlook or suspect the AT&T Router. But if I accuse their router, I have to be able to prove it or the never-ending finger pointing to the system or software will ensue. Again…the browser has retrieved the url, it just can’t display the content.

And one more clue…one of our websites has a wallpaper under the page content. When the browser is hosed, the wallpaper will load, but not the content on top of it.

Stumped! What to do next?
Thanks for help with this issue!

OS= Windows XP SP3
Software = Office 2007, Browser Firefox always updated
Antivirus: BitDefender.
Additional Malware and Adware scanners are not running real time--reserved for manual routines.
New Machine GOBS of Ram (technical term for 4 GB DDR3 2x2)

[kiwiguy]

Look for add-ins in your browser and disable them one by one.

[CB1020]

Thanks KiwiGuy, I appreciate your help.
I'll start back here again.
When the issues began I had only 2 add-ons to FFx, something for MS Office-Netscape (which I disabled and never missed) and Adobe reader (which I left on because it's used so frequently.) Since I've been searching for solutions I've accumulated quite a few more, so I disabled everything.

Restarted. Opened Outlook 2007 (my target of suspicion, since FF has no issues by itself) and Firefox. Online search failed on the second search.

[CB1020]

And here's another clue...maybe:

When the browser won't load any ordinary SERP, it will still load secure (https) pages.

I can click the stored link to my bank, log in, and roam around making searches and seeing results. Just cant get any http urls to display. This is what leads me to suspect the DSL router...something about ports, but that's as far as my understanding goes.

So the browser breaks when Outlook 2007 is open and it only breaks for http urls, not for https addresses. All browser add-ons are still disabled.

Still Stumped.

[CB1020]

Finally solved!
Turns out that BitDefender AntiVirus loaded an updated in early November which caused all the problems. They sent out a solution just yesterday, Dec 7.