IE8 and Restricted sites problem

I just upgraded to IE8 on Vista Ultimate 32-bit. With SpywareBlaster enabled, I can't go to www.zdnet.com, if I go there IE crashes. This only happens when Restricted Sites is enabled. The domains that SpywareBlaster and Spybot have in common are fine, there are roughly 1200. If I roll back to IE7, its fine. I've tried running with addons disabled, still crashes, I've cleared my cache, still chrashes, I've reset IE, still crashes. The only way that I can get to zdnet on IE 8 is to disable Restricted Sites in SpywareBlaster. Does anyone else know of a solution or have had this problem?

P.S.: I've installed IE 8 on two other Vista machines and an XP one, with SpywareBlaster, and they are all fine.

 

No solution, it is a "feature" (MS doesn't do bugs) in IE8 RTM.

If there are too many sites in the restricted zone of Internet Explorer, then IE8 RTM can get into a re-reading loop, take 100% of cpu time and even crash.

This is a known problem, acknowledged by Microsoft (can't link to their blog, it is down at the moment )

http://msmvps.com/blogs/donna/archi...mmunization-by-spybot-s-amp-d-is-enabled.aspx

It doesn't matter if one uses Spybot, Spywareblaster or IE-SPyad to add these domains to the restricted sites. The result is the same.

Resolution: uninstall IE8 and go back to IE7 OR remove *everything* from Restricted sites (*not recommended*).

 

I have SpywareBlaster and Spybot S & D installed on two other Vista machines and an XP one and they both work fine. IE only crashes when I try to go to zdnet. If it was this problem, wouldn't IE not work at all?

 

Hi,

Yes, that would seem to be the case.

A few points of clarification:

IE8 does have a few bugs that can result in delays or crashes when trying to load Trusted/Restricted Sites. These bugs can affect users using IE 8 and Spybot or IE-SpyAD to add tens of thousands of sites to the Restricted Sites list. SpywareBlaster should not trigger the problem by itself, because it adds a more focused, limited group of sites to the list. (Of course, the bug in IE8 probably shouldn't exist to begin with - a number of reports on various blogs seem to indicate it didn't exist in the IE8 RC1, and only showed up in the final build. I have not had time to independently confirm this.)

@cbodendein:
The problem you're referring to is, I believe, a completely different case. Since it only happens on one machine, and not several others with IE8 + SpywareBlaster + Spybot, this leads me to believe that something else is the cause on that particular machine - not SpywareBlaster or Spybot. I also can't reproduce the problem here. Are there any other configuration differences between the working machines and the problematic one?

Best regards and thanks,

-Javacool

 

No, all of the machines have the same setup. I've tried reinstalling IE 8 twice, System Restore, deleted my browser cache, ran IE 8 with no addons, reset Internet Explorer, nothing worked. With IE7, it worked fine, but I don't want to use IE 7. The only way I can get it to work is if Restricted Sites in SpywareBlaster is disabled, I have the Internet Explorer protection on, and zdnet works fine. Zdnet is the only site that I've had a problem with, which wouldn't be a big deal if zdnet wasn't one of my favorite sites. I'm totally baffled.

Thanks for the reply Javacool!

 

Just in case this helps:

I have installed IE8 on win Xp SP3 and have a full set of restricted sites. No problem going to Zdnet BUT then again I don't run any security software. My guess is that one or other of the clever programs is trying to protect users and in some way conflicts with IE.

Unless anyone like to play with nasties then I can see little reason for these additional programs - they seem to do more harm than good.

 

It's not a problem of using SpywareBlaster, Spybot - Search & Destroy and IE-Spyad, which will kill the functionality of the use of Internet Explorer 8, and, in certain situations requiring administrative rights, slow things for a quite a few minutes.

I've used this approach for a very long time. Never had any problems. I also started to use IE 8, when the RC came out. I didn't witness this problems.

It's a bug in the final version of IE 8.

And, people don't use this sort of protection, just to play with nasties (?). They use it, because they want to be safeguarded, for example, against redirections, that could lead people to malicious domains, with active malicious content. Therefore, blocking access to the malicious domain, that the redirection, from a good, and perhaps, well known domain, wanted to take them to.

Microsoft needs to solve it. IMO, they rushed the final release. Something usual with Microsoft. End result is here.

 

No issues here running Spyware Blaster using fully immunized Restricted Sites.

 

Later today I'll uninstall SpywareBlaster, then reinstall it and report back. For a complete removal, I'll disable immunization then remove it with Revo Uninstaller. Would this be the most complete way to remove it?

EDIT: I uninstalled and reinstalled, and it appears to have worked! I have all of the protection for Spybot and SpywareBlaster enabled and I can go to zdnet (at least once).