Microsoft Security Update Cripples Internet Explorer
Microsoft Corp. confirms that it is investigating reports that a security update for Internet Explorer issued last week has crippled some users' ability to get on the Web with the browser.
Users started posting messages to multiple Microsoft support newsgroups almost immediately after Microsoft released the MS07-069 security bulletin on Dec. 11, saying that they were unable to connect to the Internet, either because IE refused to open or because when it did open, it could not reach various sites.
"About 60% of the time, I would get an 'Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and must close' dialog," reported Bill Drake on the Windows Update newsgroup. Others echoed those comments on IE-specific forums, noting that both IE6 and IE7 balked at loading, or while loading, some pages, particularly home pages, on both Windows XP and Windows Vista machines.
