IT Queries: Computer problems answered

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.

I can’t open Ebay or Hotmail websites. Other sites open fine. What can be causing this

There’s a couple of problems that can be causing this. We’ll start with the obvious.

Clear the cache
Web browsers store a copy of websites they visit to speed up subsequent visits. The idea is that many features of a website don’t change between visits so saving the site will save downloading information already on the computer.

Sometimes, one of those downloaded files gets damaged and messes up that website. To fix this, we clear the cache.

In Internet Explorer, click Tools, Internet Options and in the General tab, click the Delete Files button under “Temporary Internet Files”. When the confirmation box appears, click tick the “delete Offline files” button and click okay.

Check for spyware
These problems can be spyware related, follow our above advice to Sharon in clearing a spyware infection.

Test your security software
This sort of problem can be caused by an enthusiastic firewall, antivirus program or spyware program. Try disabling your security programs for a minute and try connecting without them running. If you can access the pages, then you’ll need to contact the program vendor to add the websites to the program’s trusted list.

Download the latest Java engine
Sometimes these problems are caused by a damaged Java installation. This can be fixed by downloading and installing the latest Java installation. When you download it, choose not to bother with unnecessary extras like the Google toolbar.

Update the Windows Scripting Host
The Windows Scripting Host is another program that can mess up. To fix this, download and install the latest Windows Scripting Host. You’ll need to restart the computer after running the installation program.

We also had a problem some time back where the Internet Explorer phishing filter affected MSN in a similar way. It may be worthwhile checking this problem.

If the problem continues, you may have to contact a computer tech to check your system.

I accidentally removed windows XP service pack 2 from my computer. i logged back on and tried to down load again and couldn’t as i need internet explorer 5. so i tried to download that but was unsuccessful. I have the original windows XP home edition CD but i cant find my serial no. how do i get my computer running normal again?????

Missing registration keys are a nuisance that we’ve discussed in a previous post.

The fact you can’t install Internet Explorer indicates there is some sort of problem with the Windows installation. You’ll need to repair this by running the System File Checker function.

If this doesn’t repair the problems, you’ll need to call in a computer tech. The good news with that is a competent tech will have both the later versions of Internet Explorer and SP2 which will save you the nuisance of the big downloads involved.