Need help with Internet Explorer

[Louis Brandt]

Hello,

I don’t know whether anyone else has experienced this problem, but in the last couple of days, my Internet Explorer screen has changed (without me doing anything). I’m using IE 6.0, but now the screen is totally different and what’s worse, whenever I enter a web address, instead of taking me to that address, it takes me to a “Bing” search page, where I have to select the website that I want. In the previous IE screen that I had, I could just enter the web address that I wanted, and it took me straight to it.

It's actually acting like a search engine, not like IE has always run.

Has this happened to anyone else? And how do I get my old screen back?

Thanks,
Louis

[Dave Johnson29]

it takes me to a “Bing” search page, where I have to select the website that I want.

Hi Louis,

Ahhh, shades of Juno. It's a tool bar hijack. Why don't you take the opportunity to switch over to Firefox? Faster, better rendering, free, and great forum support for almost instant answers.

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/upgrade.html

It will import your address book from IE.

You probably got "binged" when upgrading some software recently and it was secretly installed during the update. There was probably a check box somewhere but well hidden and easily over looked. Welcome to "progress." :D

If you are a masochist :) and want to stick with IE then read here...
http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/020134.html

[Louis Brandt]

Thanks Dave,
Now I see what happened. I may upgrade to IE7 or IE8, if nothing is done to fix the situation.

Louis

[Joe Pelonio]

Bing is Microsoft, and they are late to the party so will do what they can to get more people to use it. Like Dave, I never use IE and like Firefox. In fact I'm very annoyed at MS because they will do updates and reboot without asking (or when I'm not in front of the PC) so I lose my place on a job I've been working on. I'm forced to yank the plug from the DSL when I leave the
computer for a long time.

[paul cottingham]

It looks like you got hijacked, or ie upgraded itself. Two solutions:

1) use firefox.
2) run spybot http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

hope this helps.

[Doug Swanson]

+1 for firefox. You won't regret it. Just because your operating system is microsoft doesn't mean your browser should be.

[paul cottingham]

Which of course brings up the best solution...use linux.

:-)

[Peter Stahl]

Which of course brings up the best solution...use linux.

:-)

linux is for the average user, you really need to be very computer literate to use it.

[Scott Shepherd]

linux is for the average user, you really need to be very computer literate to use it.

Not any more. I have a version running on an extra computer and I let people use it all the time and no one's ever known it was anything other than Windows. They go on the internet, they can type spreadsheets, documents, whatever.

I've never once had anyone say "Hey, what's this", they just use it and don't know any difference. Linux has come a long way. In fact, when I was reconfiguring a system, I couldn't get Windows to see some of my hardware (internal hardware, specifically, the built in network device). I couldn't load the driver manually because I didn't know who made the chip and it wasn't in a place I could see anything. I booted Linux from a disc, told it to look at the devices and it reported back all the specific details of what was on the motherboard. Took that info down, went back into Windows and manually downloaded the proper drivers.

If you haven't tried it in a while, it's definitely worth another look.

[paul cottingham]

The average user wouldn't know the difference - except that it isn't crashing all the time.

In other words...what Scott said.

[Curt Harms]

I've been using Linux (Ubuntu 9.04) exclusively for several weeks. It has come a long way in the past year or two. But it has some different conventions. There are at least 2 different desktops- Gnome & KDE. One difference that drove me to distraction is capital letters in paths & file names. filename.doc=FileName.Doc in Windows. Not so in Linux. Filename.doc & filename.doc can be two different files. A nice thing is that installing printers if the model is found in the FooMatic database, the process if fully automatic, click and go. OTOH, some hardware manufacturers require commands typed into a terminal window. Not that hard, especially if you remember DOS but still different.

[paul cottingham]

I, too have been using Ubuntu exclusively for about a month. It has been flawless except when i did something dumb.
In fact, I am running Ubuntu in a thin client environment, so old beater computers boot off my network without hard drives.

And no virus worries.

[Dan Mages]

+1 for upgrading to Firefox... less bugs and Microsoft annoyances.

I have a spare netbook that runs Ubuntu. When I purchased my laptop, dell was offering the Mini 10v for $100. At that price, its worth having a small lightweight spare.

Dan

[Jim O'Dell]

Need help with Internet Explorer

My thought when I saw that was, change to FireFox. But others beat me to it. I have even added FF and Thunderbird to my work computer. I hate IE. I'm forced to use it when I do my certification courses for GM. Wish they would get with the real world and program their courses to work with other programs. Jim.

[Darius Ferlas]

linux is for the average user, you really need to be very computer literate to use it.
That is a generalization and somewhat of a myth.
It all depends on what you are using the operating system for. If you want to do some hardcore admin tasks then it can be hairy regardless of the operating system. For regular, home use there is nothing that makes Linux harder than Windows. In fact Linux is easier in many areas as it discovers all the hardware for you and sets it up mostly automatically. That is one of the best things in Linux. If you hardware dies, or when it's simply time to upgrade just pull the drive out, install it in the new machine and off you go. Linux will resets itself to match the new hardware, at least the major components that are not bleeding edge. Try that with Windows. It won't even boot.

My daughter (not a computer geek by any stretch of imagination) started using Linux when she was 9. That was her first operating system and she never complained about any difficulties. In fact, I never stopped her from using Windows and every time a new version was released I asked her to try it. She rejected it. She finds Windows difficult to navigate, confusing and, above all, too insecure and erratic.

The issue with many skills is not always how difficult is to learn them, but also how hard it is to un-learn the old skills. This is a common phenomenon known to psychologists as interference. When I first came to the US I found automatic transmission in vehicles confusing. I was looking for the third pedal and it wasn't there.

The last time my daughter tried Windows was with Vista. She gave it an honest try for about 30 days and then begged to be put back onto Open Suse Linux.

I think everybody should try Linux to see if they feel more comfortable with it. If you can click in Windows I'm sure you'll have no problem with clicking in Linux.


In fact I'm very annoyed at MS because they will do updates and reboot without asking
This is not a default setting and it can be changed in Control Panel/Automatic Windows Updates.

[paul cottingham]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Pelonio http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=1202075#post1202075)
In fact I'm very annoyed at MS because they will do updates and reboot without asking

This is not a default setting and it can be changed in Control Panel/Automatic Windows Updates.

In fact, some critical updates install themselves and reboot the machine, regardless of that setting.

[Darius Ferlas]

I have managed Windows client computers and networks for the last 12 years and I have never seen a situation where uncorrupted Windows rebooted a well functioning computer without warning while I was in the midst of doing something.

What are some of those critical updates that will install themselves no matter how you set up your Windows?

At the very least Windows update will warn you before you start the update process that there may be unannounced reboots but few people read those little pesky dialog boxes and they just click yes/ok.

There have been one or two updates where windows rebooted (after a warning) then did its thing and then rebooted again. Not exactly the same as just rebooting without warning.

[Dave Johnson29]

In fact, some critical updates install themselves and reboot the machine, regardless of that setting.

Hmmm, I think you will find that is only for the installer and possibly Genuine Advantage. I have never seen a critical Operating System update override the Control panel setting. I manage about 50 PCs all running Vista and XP.

Let's not get too paranoid here. :D

[paul cottingham]

I have managed Windows client computers and networks for the last 12 years and I have never seen a situation where uncorrupted Windows rebooted a well functioning computer without warning while I was in the midst of doing something.

What are some of those critical updates that will install themselves no matter how you set up your Windows?

At the very least Windows update will warn you before you start the update process that there may be unannounced reboots but few people read those little pesky dialog boxes and they just click yes/ok.

There have been one or two updates where windows rebooted (after a warning) then did its thing and then rebooted again. Not exactly the same as just rebooting without warning.

I am sorry if I gave the impression that I meant "while you are doing something." Some critical updates will reboot the machine when pushed down tho', regardless of the setting in control panel. Most, if not all of these will be pushed down at night.

There was a fair amount of fuss raised over this behaviour when it first started happening.