Hmm, I suspect IE7 has a hand in all of this somewhere.
Dont know if you've come across this: EA Socket Error help
might help, Esp. this part:
If you are still experiencing the error, it may be due to a game setting that is interfering with your connection. You can reset the game settings by deleting the Battlefield 2 folder in the My Documents folder.
1. Open your My Documents folder.
2. Right-click on the Battlefield 2 folder and choose Delete.
Dont know if you've come across this: EA Socket Error help
might help, Esp. this part:
If you are still experiencing the error, it may be due to a game setting that is interfering with your connection. You can reset the game settings by deleting the Battlefield 2 folder in the My Documents folder.
1. Open your My Documents folder.
2. Right-click on the Battlefield 2 folder and choose Delete.