Error 306

The 306 is usually a proxy settings issue, though the basic cause of the problem can vary.

Let's first try the following:

Open your Internet Options control panel
Click the Connections tab
Click the LAN Settings button
Make sure that that "Use a proxy server for your LAN" checkbox is unchecked
Click OK till you are out of everything, and then close Internet Explorer
Try again in iTunes to load the store

(If the box is already checked, try unchecking and checking the box and clicking okay.)

(puzzled look) You don't have an Internet Options control panel currently in with the rest of your XP Control panels?

Oddly, I can't get the network options tab to open, it just flashes. I wonder if I still have a virus?

Ackk. It's a possibility. I've seen the same 306 error crop up in safari 4.0.4, after someone got malware that latched on to the proxy settings registry keys.

Try downloading the free version of Malwarebytes, and running a full scan. (Update your Malwarebytes definitions prior to running the scan.)

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

Does the Malwarebytes scan pick up any nasties? If so, if you remove them, do your Internet Options control panel and your iTunes start behaving a bit better?

Hmmmm.

I think it might be best to get to a specialist malware removal help forum so a trained helper can have a look over a HiJackThis log of the PC. (Not trying to get rid of you here ... I just think that specialised help might be called for to make sure that PC is clean.)

The Malwarebytes forum looked pretty good when I found myself there the other day (I was hunting down information on another possible infection):

[Malwarebytes Forum > Computer Help > Malware Removal - HijackThis Logs|http://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?s=b7a471d20857fd8cbfc4145c89a66c2 a&showforum=7]

b noir, you're a genius! This was not a browser issue. Nor was it a firewall issue. This was a Windows XP Control Panel issue dealing with how my computer connects to the internet. Thank you SO MUCH. I've been beating my head against this issue for literally months until I found your post. (you should ask for a cut of all I can finally spend at the itunes store!)

🙂 Excellent news, cosmo ... always a relief when the simpler treatments work with a 306.

I'll pass on the kudos for the proxy settings adjustment technique to other users here at Discussions though. I can't track down the particular topic at the moment, but someone else pioneered the LAN settings adjustment technique for us. I'm just passing it on.