XP2 Problem

[gilera]

Attachment 6192After downloading SP2 i am getting the following message when i try to look at sites i normally visit.When i click on OK nothing happens, cancel does work.Can i get rid of this or override it?

[GaryRouth]

The screenshot in your link shows the Hotmail message that you receive if you click a link from with an email that leads to an external site. It's an anti-phishing enhancement.

SP2 added several security features to IE also -- especially the "information bar", which pops up when a website attempts to run a script, install a program (or an ActiveX control), download a file, etc. It, too, is an additional security feature.

As Microsoft would put it, "this behavior is by design".

. . . Gary

[gilera]

Thanks for the info but how do i get around it?

[kev7555]

It is merely a warning that you are leaving the secure environment of your ISP's site. The choice is yours whether to allow the link to open or to say no.

-Kev

[gilera]

Thats my problem, when i click on OK to allow nothing happens as i said in the first post. What can i do to allow me to accept these sites?

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

If the link is a valid one, it should work. It's possible that your browser has a problem.

Assuming that you are using IE as your browser, if you haven't visited Windows Update since you installed SP2, try a visit. There are a fair number of updates for IE since SP2 came out, and you might benefit from some of those updates.

If you are using the Beta of IE7, it could be you've stumbled upon a bug. Try reverting to IE6.
__________________
If you are using IE6 on Windows XP - you can try making a Registry change (to trick XP into thinking IE isn't installed). The Registry value to change is in the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{89820200-ECBD-11cf-8B85-00AA005B4383} --- Look for the entry "IsInstalled" -- it's current value should be 1 [the 1 = yes, IE is installed]. Choose "Modify" and change that value from a 1 to 0 [that is the number zero, not the letter O, the number 0 = no, IE is NOT installed]. Then you can either visit Windows Update to download and install IE6 fresh, or download IE directly http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/...p1/default.asp

And .... did you have trouble while installing SP2?
. . . Gary

[gilera]

Hi Gary, No trouble at all but now im beginning to wish i had not!

[gilera]

Have just found out if i log off and use my other user the OK button works and allows it to go through to sites. So something is stopping it on one user and not on the other.This clears all the programmes. Incidentally this has always been the case on this computer when using outlook express, i have not bothered to get it working on my main user as i have had the option of going to the other user. Maybe if i sort one out it will fix the other.

[GaryRouth]

Sure seems to be some sort of restrictive setting, possibly somewhere in IE setup (could be Security, Privacy, or Parental Control type of setting), that's holding things up for the one user.

I'm on my Linux machine at the moment, but later on (from a WinXP box), I'll see if I can find one that might limit links to external sites.

Let us know if you find the setting - there might be other folks in the same puzzling spot.
. . . Gary

[gilera]

Attachment 6196

Attachment 6197 Hi Gary, Heres a bit more info. The problem with outlook express has been with me since purchase of computer 3 years ago. I have done a new installation of XP along the way with no change in OE. I started another user file to see what would happen and low and behold it works. The warnings i get on main user are attached, i hope this is of some help.

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

Those errors seem to point to a problem in OE's original setup - it looks like it's having trouble finding it's default storage folders (where it keeps the messages, etc.). The dll error message seems to point to a problem with finding one of it's files -that we'd normally expect to be in it's program files folder.

Here's something you can try - you'll probably want to save any email or contact lists beforehand - to a CD-R, or a folder on your hard drive (use a unique name).
---> Since it's reinstalling IE/OE is troublesome on a post-SP2 machine [the Registry-key-change trick that I described earlier really works best on pre-SP2 machines], you could try just reinstalling only OE -- which is fairly easy = you can do that from "Add or Remove Programs" in the Control Panel (via the "Add/Remove Windows Components" applet - you remove the checkmark from the Outlook Express box). Then reboot, and reinstall OE from the same spot in the Control Panel. Then re-create your email accounts, and test. If OE functions normally, but Hotmail external links don't, try the Beta 3 of IE7. Since it's fairly well along, it's not a giant risk (if you rely on email for professional or business reasons, however, you'll want to wait until the final IE7 is available).

You can of course use a different email client & browser, such as Thunderbird & Firefox (open-source projects).

Hope it works like it should soon -- you've put in a lot of work already.
. . . Gary

[gilera]

Hi Gary, I cant see that it is in the basic OE programme as surely it is the same programme for both of my users. My main one with all my programmes does not work but my other user with only a few programmes on works 100%. Please correct me if im wrong on this.

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

. . . I think when you ran your 2nd XP installation, you added a parallel installtion, rather than repairing your original - so you probably do have two copies of Program Files, & two Windows folders. It's easy to check on that by looking in Windows Explorer.

Why not move things from the broken installation to the working one (personal files & data, that is - not program files!), re-creating the email accounts as necessary? [That is, if you don't want two parallel installations]. You could then remove the broken one. You'll have to reinstall programs onto the working installation - they generally can't be just copied over.

You should be able to scan both installations from up-to-date tools in the working one (a good idea before any repairs or relocations).

Check it out, & we'll see what's next
. . . Gary

[gilera]

Only one windows im afraid, bear in mind that this has always been the same from purchase of computer, not since repair of XP.

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

If the broken user has Administrator rights, while logged in under than username -- see if uninstalling/reinstalling just OE helps at all (from Control Panel).

Another option, not a casually considered thing to do = would be to transfer files from the broken user to the working user (ie, items from the Documents & Settings folders), and make sure that all programs start OK under the working user (you might want to move the Start Menus over accordingly) -- and then deleting the broken user profile from the system. You'd be left with a working user, and have IE and OE act like they should.

--- Odd that the problem came with the machine. That almost sounds like a bad disk-image for your model. Is your PC a major-brand from a large vendor? I've known a few Sony PCs to have odd configuration quirks (a couple of years ago, for some of their laptop models, they didn't get the Registry entries right for Windows Protected Files [aka System File Checker] to work properly. On another, they had mixed the source files from the Whistler Beta, XP Home, and XP Pro [while selling the unit as a Home box], and SFC would ask for three different version OS CDs... Ugh -- so, even the giants have blemishes from time to time). A major vendor, though, should have published a fix on their website by now.

. . . Gary

[gilera]

Hi Gary, I will try your ideas and let you know, the PC was purchased here in Spain and comes from a company called AIRIS. The shop i bought it from has since ceased trading although AIRIS are still going. The computer went back to AIRIS during the warranty period for a problem i used to get with BSODs, they never solved problem but eventually i sorted it myself.

[gilera]

Managed to fix OE problem, now works OK first time since new. The fix which i do not understand came from anothe forum. I was told to run Scannow and then rename Folders.dbx, this did the trick.

[GaryRouth]

Glad it's behaving better now.

The sfc/scannow can help when files are corrupt - (reinstalling OE would also have provided you with fresh files, but only those associated with OE -- the sfc tip was a good one). I'd guess that most of your system's trouble dates back to whatever hardware was at fault early on when you had the BSODs & sent it in for repair. It sounds like the repair might have fixed the hardware, but they didn't think to refresh your system files. You probably had just enough file corruption to cause the trouble. If the corruption had been a little worse, they probably would have seen it, and fixed it back then.

Must feel nice that the machine is finally working well after so much work = nice going to stick with it.
. . . Gary