IT Queries: Computer problems answered

When I attempt to access the Internet via Internet Explorer I get the message “You appear to be connected to the Internet but the page cannot be displayed” regardless of the page I am attempting to open. Any ideas?

This sounds like a classic web browser hijack where your web surfing is redirected through another page. You should follow our Removing a Trojan instructions.

Replacing Internet Explorer with another browser is highly recommended as well. We like Mozilla Firefox, but there are other alternatives as well.

If you are still having problems, we have further ideas on our Browsers not connecting to the Internet page.

I have some names & urls I’d like deleted off my tool bar. When I highlight them & click the delete button, they appear gone; however, when I begin typing the previous name & url is right back there again. How can I get rid of unwanted names & urls permanently?

You can delete Internet Explorer’s history by clicking Tools, History and clicking Delete under the Browsing History section.

Another quick way of doing this is using a clean up tool like CCleaner or Cleanup! These have the advantage of tidying up a lot more than just browsing histories.

My Outlook Express dissapeared after I shut down with it still open, I found a 2nd copy in control panel[that computer tech pmade when OE froze a year ago] and dragged and am using it.

BUT my files dont recognise it, I can ATT; pics to emails but I cant send a picture to be emailled, mess; Cannot start Microsoft Outlook ,requires M O Express 4.01 or greater. You can install OE by runnig IE5 setup .exe from the IES folder located on your cd or through the windows website

It sounds like your Outlook Express 5 is damaged and your computer is actually using Outlook, which is a totally different program.

To fix this, you’ll need to repair the Internet Explorer 5 installation by following our instructions on Removing Software.

When you select Internet Explorer, it will give you the choice to remove, repair or modify. Choose modify and make sure the Outlook Express is ticked in the list of installed options. If it is, cancel the modify, repeat the process and choose repair then follow the wizard through the repair process.

You should keep in mind Outlook Express and Internet Explorer 5 are extremely out of date programs and you should upgrade to the newest version your system can support. You may also want to consider buying a new computer as these problems are probably related to the age of the system.

I want to change my browser search engine to use Microsoft’s Bing. How do I do this?

The simplest way is to simply type www.bing.com into your browser’s address bar and go from there, but if you want to set your system so it always uses Bing, you need to change the default settings.

Google Chrome

Click the spanner icon in the top right hand corner, select Options and under the Basics tab choose Default Search.

As a new browser, Bing won’t be listed so select Manage, then Add and type the Microsoft Bing into the Name box and the address www.bing.com into the URL field. Click Okay and Close.

Internet Explorer

Next to the Search box in the top right hand corner is an arrow pointing down, click on that and select Change Search Defaults. Highlight Live Search and click Set Default. Click Okay.

Firefox

In Firefox, go to the Mozilla Live Search Add On Page, click the Add to Firefox button and a box will appear asking if you want to add Live Search to your system. Tick the box that says “start using right away”  and click Add.

Keep in mind you can undo these settings easily by simply changing the settings back to Google, Yahoo! or whichever search engine you prefer so it’s no great problem if you find Bing doesn’t work for you.

The Windows Scripting Host is an important part of all Windows versions later than the first version of Windows 95. It automates various functions and it’s critical to operation of various Windows features like Automatic Updates.

It does have some problems however and using it to infect Windows computers through “drive by downloads” has been a favourite trick of virus and spyware writers in recent years.

While it does create security problems for Windows users, it is an essential part of the system so you need the latest updates for it.

Microsoft have a number of updates for Windows Scripting;

• Windows XP and Server 2003 users should download Version 5.7
• Windows 2000, 98 and ME users should use Version 5.6.
• Vista users should use Windows PowerShell

It’s best to download and install the appropriate package and then run the Windows Update program.

Is it worth updating to ie8 yet?

Our general rule is to leave major product releases for three months to let the early adopters deal with the problems. Given Internet Explorer 8 was released in mid-March 2009 it’s probably a bit early to recommend an upgrade at the beginning of May 2009.

That said, we haven’t heard of major problems with IE8 so it may be worth trying. The only concern is some sitesand computer programs designed for IE6 and 7 may have problems, so you should check any business critical programs before upgrading.

A good testing strategy is to install Firefox, Opera or Safari, set them as the default browser and see if this affects the websites and programs you use.

So it may be worthwhile giving it a go. Just remember to back up your important data before starting the upgrade.

After updating internet explorer 8, some sites are not opening. How do I remove internet explorer?

The first thing to try is uninstalling Internet Explorer from Add/Remove Programs. Follow our instructions for uninstalling software and choose Window Internet Explorer 8.

If you can’t remove it, Microsoft have a removal tool and further instructions on their website.

Before running the removal tool, we’d strongly recommend backing up your data as a damaged Internet Explorer installation can cause problems for a Windows computers.

This 89 yr old must be a slow learner. My Vista home prem has picked up “about:blank”.  Please point me to a  s i m p l e  way to delete. 

The about:blank page is the opening page for Internet Explorer when there’s no start page set.

Usually this is easily fixed by opening Internet Explorer, clicking Tools, Internet Options and select the General tab.

Once you are in the General settings, you can type the page you’d like to start with in home page box or click the Use Default button.

If Internet explorer keeps going back to the about:blank page then you probably have a spyware infection and you should follow our Removing a Trojan instructions.

I have Windows XP and I use google as my default search engine.
I recently downloaded a new version of Bear share and ever since then several times a day a window appears that says;-
DEFAULT SEARCH ENGINE PROTECTION
An unknown application is trying to change your default search engine.
Changing these settings controls the way Internet Explorer treats search queries.
What would you like to do
1. Keep my current search engine (Recommended)
2. Replace my default search engine with the one from the unknown application.

The first option is checked so I leave it that way and I just close the window. How can I stop this window appearing all the time. I have removed Bear Share.

A program is trying to change your browser’s search engine. This is known as “browser hijacking” and it’s common trick by software distributors to make a few more dollars.

The software might have been bundled with Bear Share or it’s come through the same website. Often these programs claim to be download accelerators.

You’ll need to uninstall the program trying to hijack your computer. The best thing to do would be to follow our “removing a Trojan” instructions which should pick up and remove the hijacking program.

When i try to open my mail on yahoo internet explorer, it says that the security certificate authority is not valid or has expired.

So,it asked me to proceed and i click yes but still it won’t open.

I tried with several attempts. I also checked and viewed the certificate and it says the same.

Now, the internet yahoo explorer wont open anymore as well as my yahoo messenger. Everytime i open Yahoo mail, it says that the page cannot be displayed. What’s wrong with it?

The first thing you need to check is the date and time of your computer. If these are wrong, you may get this message.

To check the time, double-click the time in the bottom right hand corner and it will come up.

In Internet Explorer you can clear the SSL settings by clicking Start, Control Panel and selecting Internet Options.

In the Internet Options click the Content tab then the Clear SSL state then OK.

Should the problem still continue, then there may be a problem with the website. This is something outside of your control and you’ll have to contact the site owner.