IT Queries: Computer problems answered

I have a problem using IE7 with XP Home. It can’t access Microsoft Windows sites and cannot change homepage in Internet Options even though I am the system administrator. I also Keep getting error codes;http404 with IE7,error #56with Live Messenger and errors #80048820/#80048430 with Ninemsn Premium.

This almost certainly sounds like an Active Scripting problem. We’d suggest downloading and installing the latest Windows Scripting Host.

It’s also possible you have a spyware infection. So running a spyware scan would be a good idea.

Another possibility is Internet Explorer needs reinstalling.

You don’t need to uninstall and reinstall, open the Control Panel and click Add/Remove Programs, or Programs in Windows Vista, and select Internet Explorer.

To right of the selection there are two buttons; change and remove. Click the Change button and follow the wizard to repair the existing installation.

I am having problems accessing my Yahoo mail. It was all OK until about a week ago. I installed Nortons 360 about a month ago but it worked OK with that for a while. I now get a bland screen coming up with just blue text and no pictures or boxes etc.  I have 3 computers linked and it is happening on all 3. I am with Bigpond. It is most frustrating as I am running a project and all my operating files are stored in the emails.

I have Windows and am using Internet Explorer as my browser. I am wondering if ther is anything in the properties which may have been unchecked with regard to the Yahoo website. I can access all other websites OK. The problem sometimes fixes itself for a few hours then it seems to freeze and I have to restart it and it comes back as only text. PLEASE HELP!

We’ve had a  few reports of Yahoo! Mail having these problems recently. It appears there’s been some changes to their system which causes these problems.

The first thing we would suggest is to install the latest version of Java. Before doing it, it’s worthwhile uninstalling the earlier versions.

It’s also a good opportunity to update your Flash Player and Windows Scripting Host.

If the problem continues you could try using Mozilla Firefox, this will show if the problem is with Internet explorer or deeper in the system.

The final suggestion is to exclude the Yahoo! domains from the Norton 360 firewall. To fix this open Norton 360, click Tasks and Settings then Advanced Settings and Firewall Protection Settings, Symantec have full instructions on doing this at their website.  You may need to ask Yahoo! what addresses should be added to the trusted list.

Since I’ve upgraded to Internet Explorer 7 I’ve lost the padlock icon that tells me when I’m on a secured site. Am I protected when I go to my bank’s website?

With the new release of Internet Explorer, Microsoft have changed the location of where the padlock icon is shown. Rather than put it in the bottom right hand corner where every browser, including previous versions of Internet Explorer, have placed it, they’ve put it next to the address bar near the top right hand corner.

Every time I try to access Hotmail or Windows Update I get the message “An error has occurred in the script on this page.”

Internet Explorer is damaged. First, check your system for spyware as malware infections are a common cause for the problem.

Once you’re happy the computer is clean restart your computer. Once it is fully running click the start button, click run and type the following command;

regsvr32 msxml3.dll

Click okay and you should get a message saying registration completed.

Then click Start and Run and type the following;

regsvr32 urlmon.dll

Restart your computer and the problem should be clear.

Can internet explorer version 6 be upgraded to internet explorer version 7

You certainly can, just visit the Internet Explorer website, download it and run the update.

We would recommend backing up your computer and checking the system for spyware before installing IE 7.

Generally we’ve found IE7 to be a big improvement in security and browsing over 6. However there are some bugs with websites and software that relies on functions in IE6. We have seen some situations where people have had to go back to IE6 for this reason.

My internet explorer is missing. I can’t see it on the Start, Programs list.

First of all, we recommend using Firefox or Opera for day to day web surfing, as today’s Facebook bug shows.

That said, there are some sites you need to run Internet Explorer. If you need to start it quickly, then you can open it by clicking Start, then Run and typing iexplore. In Vista, click on Search and type iexplore.
To get the icon back, right click the desktop, choose properties and in the desktop properties click on the Desktop tab.

In the Desktop tab, click Customize Desktop and tick the Internet Explorer box under Desktop icons.

This will bring up Internet Explorer on the desktop, you can then copy the shortcut to your taskbar and into the Programs list.

for past few months i have had no internet history files,when clicking on history whilst in internet,the boxes with ‘2 weeks ago, last week and today’ come up, but there is nothing there,nothing comes up if i click “expand” on the tools menu, under internet options– history it says to keep 10 days history….I have Norton 2007 Internet Security and tracks eraser, but cannot find anything on either which would prevent recording my history, hoping you can help

The culprit is Tracks Eraser. The whole purpose of the program is to delete traces of what you’ve done on the computer. Deleting the web history is one of it’s basic functions.

It may be possible to set Tracks Eraser to exclude your browsing history and they may be able to advise you on how to do this. But I’d suggest that defeats the purpose of the program and you should consider why you have this program in the first place.

I have been blessed with an unsolicited message from url runonce.msn.com/runonce2.aspx relating to internet explorer 7. This site has not downloaded correctly and i am unable to get rid of the damm thing. I am running windows xp professional and the error message is as follows
Line 8
Char 5
Error not implemented
Code 0
Url runonce.msn.com/runonce 2 aspx

You can change the startup page by opening Internet Explorer, clicking Tools, Internet Options and changing the home page settings under the General tab.

However it sounds like you have a spyware infection. We’ve previously posted instructions on removing a Trojan.

Some of these spyware infections can be very difficult to remove, if you find it stubborn, you may want to contact our technicians.

Can you recall an email sent through Hotmail?

Unfortunately not. Hotmail, like most other web based systems, doesn’t support this.

On some email systems you can recall sent messages but even then you can’t guarantee they will be recalled before they are read by the recipient.

One of the important things with email is to take a deep breath before sending them. We have more advice on email etiquette on our PC Rescue website.

How do you recover details of visited sites on the internet after you’ve deleted your browsing history?

One way is to run System Restore tool which we’ve described in a previous post.

This doesn’t always work and there are commercial tools that allow you to recover histories.

Internet Explorer history is kept in the index.dat file, it is possible to search the hard drive to find older copies of index.dat and then run a Dat file viewer.

It is a bit harder to recover Firefox history if the system restore doesn’t work. In that case, we’d recommend running a file recovery tool across the user’s profile, but this is a task which requires a trained computer tech.