Possible registry problem - XP - IE7

[Molaker]

I use ccleaner frequently and have never noted any problems with the registry cleaner function requiring recall of the deleted keys. Consequently, I've gotten rather complacent about backing up the entries before blowing them away. I have XP Pro - SP3 with IE7. I currently have ccleaner v.2.15.815 installed. I do not recall when I installed this version the 1st time, but is wasn't more than a week or so ago. About that time I noted a problem with IE7 upon initial opening of the application. It would find the DNS but then display "connecting to xxx.xxx.xxx" (ip) in the lower left corner and would just hang there - forever. No error message, nothing. Closing the window and reopening, sometimes several times, it would eventually open normally. It was driving me nuts and I could find no cure. So, I wiped my HDD and reinstalled XP Pro - back up to SP3. I currently have very few apps reinstalled. I was just in that process when I got to ccleaner. I reinstalled v2.15.815 and ran it. Like a dummy, I did not save the registry items to be cleaned. Almost immediately after running ccleaner, IE7 started doing the same thing again. So, I'm not sure ccleaner caused it, but it looks kinda suspicious. If I have to reinstall XP, I'll try reloading ccleaner v2.15.815 and see if it happens again - only next time I'll save the data first.

 

I'm pretty sure the problem is not related to my small network as I have 2 other systems, one is XP Home & the other is XP Pro. Both have IE7 and neither have the problem. If I can prove or disprove ccleaner's contribution to this problem, I'll report back.

 

Update: I managed to find a System Restore point that was just prior to installing and running CCleaner. Restoring to that point seems to have fixed the IE7 problem, however, I won't be comfortable with it until I get many more IE7 starts under my belt. I might be willing to do some more experimenting for Piriform if requested, but for now I think I'll leave well enough alone.

 

Update of the Update: Call off the dogs. I found an unrelated piece of software causing the problem. The tie to CCleaner appears to be coincidental. Sorry for the false alarm.