Internet Explorer Problems.

[piggy]

I am having problems with some sites on the net not working properly.

All was good, but now this problem and I don't know how to find or fix this.

I am using a PC with a Pentium 4, running Windows XP Professional SP1 and Office XP Professional.

I can't find the problem, so I have been attempting to flush it out by updating Office XP, but again my browser stands in the way.

I am using Norton Personal Firewall and Norton Anti-Virus, both up to date.

I am also using "Guard Bar" with my IE.

When I go to Microsoft office update site, I get a message saying that my browser is not supported and that's as far as I get.

When I go to some other sites buttons/controls don't work, yet on others there are no apparent problems.

Sometimes my "Network Connections" in which is my dial-up connection, goes missing and I have not been able to find it until I do an Windows XP repair (NOT using the Repair Console), by booting off the original XP cd and wiping-out all XP updates.

When I attempt to use the make new connection wizard, the option to make it a dial-up connection is greyed and blocked from functioning with cable as the only option available.

Any ideas?

[Miz]

Microsoft's update sites, both for Windows and for Office, has to install a small program (Update Engine) on your computer in order to inventory Windows or Office, depending on which you're getting updates for, to find out what updates you already have. Then it can present you with the updates you don't have.

First it has to find out if your computer already has the current version of the update engine. To do that, it has to query your computer in some manner. It's possible that the "Guard Bar" software is blocking your computer from responding so Microsoft's server just give you its standard error..."wrong browser."

Try disabling Guard Bar before going to the MS site and see if that makes a difference. If not, temporarily disable your firewall and try again.

For the greyed-out dialup problem, see the MS Knowledge Base article, Dial-up modem or PPPoE option in New Connection Wizard is unavailable.

[piggy]

Originally Posted by Miz Microsoft's update sites, both for Windows and for Office, has to install a small program (Update Engine) on your computer in order to inventory Windows or Office, depending on which you're getting updates for, to find out what updates you already have. Then it can present you with the updates you don't have. First it has to find out if your computer already has the current version of the update engine. To do that, it has to query your computer in some manner. It's possible that the "Guard Bar" software is blocking your computer from responding so Microsoft's server just give you its standard error..."wrong browser." Try disabling Guard Bar before going to the MS site and see if that makes a difference. If not, temporarily disable your firewall and try again. For the greyed-out dialup problem, see the MS Knowledge Base article, Dial-up modem or PPPoE option in New Connection Wizard is unavailable.

Thanks Miz,

I have got rid of GuardBar and re-booted, but still Microsoft Office site reports that I am using an unsupported browser.

Yet Windows Update works fine.

Any ideas as to how I can get a clean copy of IE?

Currently I have IE Version 6.0.2800.1106.xpsp2.040919-1003
Cypher 128 bit
Update Versions:;SP1;

My Norton Firewall log shows this:

Details: Rule "Default Block Microsoft Windows 2000 SMB" blocked (211.26.116.130,microsoft-ds(445))
Inbound TCP connection
Local address,service is (PRIVATE(211.26.69.52),microsoft-ds(445))
Remote address,service is (211.26.116.130,3747)
Process name is "System"

I also got this alert from Norton Firewall:

Script Blocking Suspicious script

Source: iexplore.exe
---------------------------------------

When I go to the Office Update site and click on a link to one of the offered items on the page, this is sometimes what I get:

Server Error in '/Library/Errorpages' Application.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Runtime Error
Description: An application error occurred on the server. The current custom error settings for this application prevent the details of the application error from being viewed remotely (for security reasons). It could, however, be viewed by browsers running on the local server machine.

Details: To enable the details of this specific error message to be viewable on remote machines, please create a tag within a "web.config" configuration file located in the root directory of the current web application. This tag should then have its "mode" attribute set to "Off".










Notes: The current error page you are seeing can be replaced by a custom error page by modifying the "defaultRedirect" attribute of the application's configuration tag to point to a custom error page URL.










-----------------------------------------------

I have downloaded and installed Macromedia Flash and also MS Virtual Machine in attempting to resolve the problems I am experiencing, but still I have problems with some web-sites, where many control buttons don't work nor show anything in the status bar at the bottom of the browser window when I pass the mouse cursor over them, some controls work OK but they are controls usually in blue-text.

I have disabled Windows XP firewall and only have Norton Firewall.

I have set my security to "low" in IE settings.

Some .jpg photos on sites that used to show the photos now only show some text-code that refers to audio files.

Any further suggestions?

regards,
piggy.

[glc]

Shut your firewall off or reconfigure it. It's definitely getting in your way. If you are behind a router, get rid of it, Norton is overkill behind a router.

[piggy]

Originally Posted by glc Shut your firewall off or reconfigure it. It's definitely getting in your way. If you are behind a router, get rid of it, Norton is overkill behind a router.

Is it safe to shut down my Firewall?

I use a dial-up connection.

I have not had this problem with Firewall on before.

It is something to do with this runtime thingy.

All the sites that i am having problems with have never given trouble before whilst having my Firewall on.

[piggy]

I have installed Mozilla FireFox and still have the same problems with the control-buttons on the same sites.

[piggy]

This is what I get when I try to check for office updates:

quote:
Warning: You are viewing this page with an unsupported Web browser. This Web site works best with Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 or later or Netscape Navigator 6.0 or later. Click here for more information on supported browsers.

Sorry, the Office Update site does not support Office for Mac Help


Office for Mac updates can be found on the Mactopia site.

[glc]

You have to shut down the firewall to troubleshoot this. If this fixes it, you have to reconfigure the firewall or get a different one that doesn't get in your way so much. Don't worry, dialup users are at low risk (I did NOT say "no" risk). How are you going to tell if the firewall is causing it unless you test with it off?

The XP firewall is good enough for dialup users. Norton is overkill, this is one of the most obtrusive firewalls out there.

[piggy]

Originally Posted by glc You have to shut down the firewall to troubleshoot this. If this fixes it, you have to reconfigure the firewall or get a different one that doesn't get in your way so much. Don't worry, dialup users are at low risk (I did NOT say "no" risk). How are you going to tell if the firewall is causing it unless you test with it off? The XP firewall is good enough for dialup users. Norton is overkill, this is one of the most obtrusive firewalls out there.

Problem solved!

Many thanks to you good people for your help.

Glc, you hit the nail on the head, it was NPF that was causing the problem.

I have disabled NPF and only have Windows XP firewall active, which as allowed me to access all sites visited without any further problems.

Thank you and best wishes.

Piggy.