Internet Woes

[yachtsman1]

Last night after our "South Pacific" movie night. I switched on my PC clicked my usual IE icon on the taskbar to get onto the 'net & got the attached message ieprob. I then spent a frustrating 3 hours trying to prevent the event happening but couldn't. I know some of us have been experiencing various problems after downloading various up-grades from other sources. So after doing 2 system restores, running a full MSE scan & finding my old Samsung laptop wasn't having any problems, I went to bed.

This morning, hoping the problem had cured itself I switched on & it was still there. I could remember a few days ago Youtube saying my browser wasn't supported, & managing to get around it. I'd also downloaded the latest version of Adobe Reader X1 & Windows updates.

So I've just typed Internet Explorer into my Windows 7 search which brought up IE2 screen shot, so I clicked the 64bit version & the internet opened straight away, if I then shut down, & used the task bar icon, the error returns. So I have unpinned the original IE shortcut from the taskbar & added the 64bit version, hopefully that has resolved the matter & I hope others that have experienced similar problems will be able to cure them.
Regards Eric

[John]

Sometimes a particular website can cause IE to crash, but there's no particular general problem.

One alternative is to download another browser and I also use Firefox. Quite a few web designers use Firefox themselves, so their sites are well designed for it. Add ons are also easy to install, and EXIF Reader and Tineye are two useful ones.

Others swear by Google Chrome, but I haven't tried that yet.

[yachtsman1]

Hi John
I use Yahoo.com which is BT's IE derivative. I've gone through all its foibles for the last 7 years, so you could say I'm used to it & have loads of bookmarks I'd hate to have to re-do. Their email system has been up-dated (for the better)in the last 2 weeks which could be another reason for last nights debacle. I'm just glad I was able to fix it. I would beware anything connected to Google they seem to be trying to take over the world. I don't think I mentioned on here, last week when I logged onto YouTube I couldn't access my account, just a pop up telling me my browser was persona non grata & to get one of their suggested alternatives, one of which was Chrome. I didn't & managed to get to my account using a Google search.
Regards Eric

[John]

You can import all your contacts into Firefox, but don't forget that you can use more than one browser. Sometimes I use Firefox for a particular site if it becomes troublesome in IE.

[yachtsman1]

Hi Mike
I tried it when it first appeared, but didn't get on with it. Old dogs & new tricks etc.
Regards Eric
BTW there have been a lot of complaints on the PTE forum about Mediafire the hosting site, which I've used for ages for my AV stuff, just as a back up in case my drives drop dead. The complaints were about the pop-ups which you can stop if you sign for a basic paid account, I've waded through the pop-ups & just wear blinkers when I'm on there, but Dropbox has improved quite a bit since that appeared, but for purely AV uploads & downloads, you can't beat Beechbrook.
Regards Eric

[PhilipHowe]

I use Chrome and trust google accounts, having 5 android devices in the house, plus chrome on a further 5 machines. Using chrome and logging into your account means all my bookmarks are held in a central place and whenever wherever I log into my google chrome account, all bookmarks are there.

Eric, you seem to be confusing a web browser with a web page. You say you use yahoo.com which is BTs IIE equivalent. This is not the case as IE is IE, and yahoo.com is a website you can access from just about any browser. Your IE may be branded as yahoo, but is exactly the same as the standard version you have. Also, you say that using the 64bit version of IE sorts your problem, I would advise always using the 64bit version, 32bit version is only there for legacy compliance, which probably isn't needed now.

I would always advise people to use integrated services for bookmarks etc. People always mention privacy laws etc, but noone in their right mind would bookmark their online banking, or store any personal details on a laptop that can be stolen in a second anyway. I am not Apple's biggest fan, as a lot of people will know, but even so, I'd advise using their integrated services.

You can backup all your bookmarks to an .xml file that you can use to restore later.

[Brian]

I have never ever had a problem with IE and really dont know what all the fuss about anti IE issues are I think its what most people use and as windows is now advertised to the masses and most of these masses download tool bars and click on every pop up that comes up then sure you are going to get viruses .. I never download tool bars and or click on pop ups :S

Google chrome is loaded with every android device yet the eu are not taking them to court like they are teaking microsoft for anti competative practices :S strange LOL .. Also Google is in the court over their practices on their search engine and the fact that the google maps car was hacking and recording e-mail accounts when doing its rounds .. Google atm is worse than Microsoft for its practices you just dont hear about it as much .. for its data mining/hoarding practices I would advise to stear clear of chrome ..

Fire fox has built in scripting that is heavier than ie .. strange when all the firefox fan boys quote ie's serceptability to virus's as their main reason for jumping ship ..

Ie is a good web browser when you consider everhything and you should take a look at web browsing practices before blaming the tool for the internets problem ... TBH anti virus software I would say is the first point to point fingers at :S

[yachtsman1]

When I made the initial post, the intention was to point out a problem I had as I thought it may help others who had come across a similar problem, not create an acrimonious debate on browsers & the like. This initially started around 2 weeks ago when YouTube said they didn't support my browser & wanted me to install someone elses, which I didn't want to. Two nights ago, out of the blue when I clicked my IE shortcut icon, I received a MS error message that said, IE was not responding & would have to close. After trying all the tricks I've learned over my 25 years plus computing, the error wouldn't go away, so after typing IE into my search box I dscovered I had two versions of IE, one was indeterminate & the other 64bit, I clicked the 64 bit version & off we went into the 'net. So after using IE 64bit for 24 hours I discovered my bookmarks were missing from my toolbar. Yesterday I re-tried my other IE version (presumably 32bit) & it opened without the error & my bookmarks had returned. So last night I went onto the Yahoo help forum querying my problem between standard & 64bit IE. I got a shed load of replies, one side telling me bookmarks won't work with Yahoo/IE 64bit, the others telling me to use Firefox or another browser. What should I do?, so I used the old Lancashire expression, "when in doubt, do nowt". As my system is now back to the pre debacle state, that is what I am doing, nowt!.
Regards Eric
BTW, I find it's very dangerous to set yourself up as an expert when you have no idea of the capabilites of the person you are trying to influence, which is why I say what has happened & what I did to correct it.

[John]

I'm sure everyone is just trying to be helpful. Personally, although I do all the updates, i don't tend to try and upgrade things, rather i wait out the life of the PC and move on when the marriage between new hardware and new software has settled in. So, for example, I wouldn't upgrade my Windows 7 to Windows 8. I'm sure next time I buy a new PC or laptop I will quite ahppily use Windows 8 (or 9!) and all will be well.

Just a minor irritation though, every time IE changes it seems to change the side of the screen my Favourites are on. IE8 was on the left and IE9 is on the right. Who can tell me how to shift the favourites in IE9 over to the left?

[Brian]

Eric since ie & (I think) there are 2 versions of Ie x86 (32 bit) and x64 (64 bit) (I find it annoying that x86 is a higher number than 64 but actually refers to an earlier version of the o.s. core code :S but there you go and dont quote me "historic reasons" cos they changed the name of IDE to PATA after the horse had bolted but I digress again) .. usually Ie can be run safe mode too (in the run box type Iexplore -exoff : the -exoff turns off all extentions and runs a clean system) also in the internet options try reseting the system on the advanced tab ... try the best to run ie as clean as possable and not install or download any tool bars .. ie from 7 onwards came with a search box so there is no need for search bars, these fill up the screen, slow down ie and generally offer no aditional functionality apart from to the providers .. also if you get search bars from 3rd parties (not yahoo bing or google) most of them will be crappy spyware/ransom ware that take over your i.e settinga and be more a pain than useful :S

[yachtsman1]

Hi Brian
I seemed to have created the impression I am not computer savvy, I can assure you that my 25 years of computing have taught me a few things, I don't claim to know everything but I'v been around long enough to be able to avoid pitfalls.
Take a look at the tutorials I produced recently about Mediafire.
Regards Eric.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8um9FOldhg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQqiedNpLHc

[PhilipHowe]

Brian, x86 refers to your processor which is based on 86 processor architechtire (do you remember the 286, 386, 486 and 586 which was actually renamed Pentium?). 64, as you've said is 64-bit. IDE was always PATA, but PATA was already a word. It was always PATA when I did my Computing degree, but the cable was always an IDE.

None of my Android devices (6 in all) ever came with Chrome pre-installed, you have to get it from the play store.

I've never ever had a virus on any windows PC I've ever had. My father in law, as you've suggested, installs all search engines, toolbars, and spyware he can get his hands on, he can't get enough of them.

I've never had a problem with any version of IE, until I got Windows 8 and it insists on being full screen without toolbars etc, so I finally ditched it in favour of Chrome, which does drive me mad on XP at times.