Problem with IE6 and Mcafee

[Invadervirustro]

Hi all
I have just finished getting rid of an "Invader" virus from my Dell laptop, running Windows XP Home Edition. On the laptop, i had PCShield Security, which failed and i cannot fix.
So, i uninstalled PCShield and installed the Trial version of McAfee Security Center.
After that, i couldn't open Internet Explorer 6. I Uninstalled McAfee and i could open and use IE6. However, i have now reinstalled and running McAfee (as i need/want the protection) and i cannot open Internet Explorer 6 or open MSN Messenger. When i try to do so, it tells me that it has "encountered a problem and needs to close".
Is there a compatibility issue? And is there anyway i can resolve it?
Thanks for any help.

[exbrit]

What service pack level is XP at and are you totally up to date with both critical and non-critical updates from Microsoft Updates, as against the old Windows Updates?

Go to Start/Run and Enter winver then click Enter and post what version of XP it says.

Alternatively right-click My Computer, select Properties and tell us what verison it says you have.

Have you tried System Restore to before you had the virus or whatever it was? Warning, after using System Restore you must update McAfee immediately or it will malfunction.

Try running the free versions of both these tools and let them clean anything they find:
http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

Go to Start/Run and enter cmd then click Enter.

Type in the Command Prompt interface sfc /scannow (with the space) and let it run. It may or may not ask you for the system CD at some stage, do so if asked. That will check the system files for integrity.

If you don't have the system CD can you tell us how the system is installed, from a backup partition or what?

When this is all sorted out you need urgently to update to IE7 as it is safer and more reliable.

[Invadervirustro]

It says it is Service Pack 1, and i don't know if it has all the updates.

It is Version 5.1

I have not tried System Restore.

I have used Malwarebytes and it was really effective, got rid of about 14 files.

I don't quite get the rest of the post, but have just found a load of updates to download, i will try them and let you know how it goes.

[exbrit]

You can also find the cmd (Command Prompt) under Start/All Programs/Accessories I believe.

Hopefully it's just malware that's ailing the machine and once gone everything will work.

XP SP1 is obsolete and not supported any more by anyone including Microsoft, therefore it is unsafe. So whatever updates come in will never get you totally up to date.

You have to install SP3, which contains all updates from day 1 right up to about April 2008, then normal updating should take care of the rest.

After which you should install IE7.

How much free hard drive space do you have and how much installed memory?

There is plenty of help out there with installing a service pack and we have some useful helpful hints here: http://community.mcafee.com/showthread.php?t=220807