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When it's broken, it will not get any external files - no CSS, no Javascript -- not even images. So I get these unstyled HTML 2 pages which are pretty useless, especially when it comes to testing client sites.
Even full power-down/power-on reboot doesn't fix it. But somewhere in the mix of things it eventually starts working fine again for a while. And then it breaks again.
Has anyone ever seen this behavior? Any clues?
[edited by: tedster at 7:05 pm (utc) on Feb. 20, 2003]
[microsoft.com...]
All seems fine now. I also tried the Februay patch - but for some reason it keeps telling me that I need SP1 installed first. Of course, I DO have SP1 installed. Oh, well.
I suspect a conflict with some other program I work with when the browser is also open (an FTP enabled program perhaps?) But I never saw this happen before I reformatted this drive.
I have only one totally new program right now (AmphetaDesk) but I also have new versions of WsFTP and CuteFTP.
make sure you haven't stuck any wierd rules accidentally into your firewall (software or router/hub based)
there are ways to rip IE completely out to attempt a reinstall but I don't recommend it until you are desperate
Some of us have had a bad run......just formatted again this morning (7th this year) (I'm good at it)
I don't need IE that often, so this isn't that big a deal, I suppose. As long as it fixes itself on a reboot, I can still check designs first thing after the reboot. And I don't need properly rendered pages to do PR research.
Maybe it shouldn't by now, but it does amaze me that there could be so much trouble with a core Microsoft product.
this is my tip: instal ie 5.5 with the latest commulative patch. this is defenetly a browser version for compability tests. if you can't find the setup try evolt on this or sticky mail.
maybe ie6 isn't compatible with win98se anymore because it will go out of the supported product line of m$ soon.
You may have to explore the possibility that Windows itself is giving you your problem, especially if IE works OK after a boot-up (memory leak?).
>maybe ie6 isn't compatible with win98se anymore because it will go out of the supported product line of m$ soon
Huh? Last time I checked (yesterday as a matter of fact), win98se was being sold right along side of winXP. MS won't drop Win98se support for at least a few more years.
One idea might be to move the Windows Swap File. If you have more than one partition on your hard drive, you can try moving it away from the C: drive (if that's nearly full) and you have plenty of space on another partition such as D. This can also help sluggish Windows problems and out-of-memory errors.
Another possibility is a conflict with a program that uses the Microsoft HTML Viewer. This is the same code that IE uses. One such program is the email client Eudora. I noticed that when IE6 plays up, Eudora too misses images and colours from HTML emails. You could try switching to the inbuilt HTML viewer in Eudora and see if that helps.
In fact, I never had this problem before I reformatted and did a clean install of everything I need, with nothing that I don't.
I also have danged little time for playing around with Bill's toy browser. I am curious, and I'd like this issue handled -- but I can't afford to be real curious, I've got to earn money.
The only thing I noticed was that I had my IE6 cache set to 10Mb. Maybe it's worth upping the size. What size do you have for yours?
RAM may well be a contributing factor too. I have 128Mb on this system, which can easily run out when I have Office programs open along with Acrobat and so on.
How about Anitvirus/Firewall conflicts? I'm using Norton Internet Security 2003.
Could be the firewall program! The problem doesn't affect me at home where I use Zone Alarm. But at work we have various programs set up which I will have to take a look at.
Security could be the issue - perhaps IE is trying to block content. I've heard of images being blocked due to Norton before. Try disabling it and see what happens.
The browser was working fine until I visited a page with Flash on. I also have Adobe Acrobat running, along with Eudora, PowerDesk 4, WS_FTP and Word 2000. I am on Windows 98. Could the problem lie with my programs?
I also have Dr Solomon's VirusScan running, along with the following tasks:
AOM
Point32
Mswheel
Acrotray
Systray
Nwpopup
But I long ago stopped regular use of IE for security reasons, so it only affects me when I'm testing a new design.
BTW, I only use IE6 at work. At home I use Mozilla but test in IE and Opera. I just hate pop-ups!
I have had some trouble for 2 years with using IE. My students have had a project using some images that for some reason just decide to stop showing up. Turning off IE and starting it again, refreshing the page, even resaving the images they are using to build their page never fixes the problem. One of my students found that right-clicking then choosing show picture would clear the problem up until the next time it happened.
And as for the statement by Tedster that IE still amazes us with its difficulties, why would Microsoft put out an error free product? That would be like Ford putting out a car that never rusted, or GE making a light bulb that never needed replacing. It does not make financial sense for them to create the perfect product if 90% of the users out there will use their error prone product and pay Microsoft for the privilege (when buying a new computer).
Just my .02
Scott
I was just investigating the PR for various .int domains. IE was working just fine as I typed in www.who.int and www.interpol.int -- and then I typed in www.un.int and it broke.
The weird thing was that when I clicked on a few links on the UN's site, full functionality returned. I was not using any other program during this period, although Opera 7 was open in the background.
:)
One of my students found that right-clicking then choosing show picture would clear the problem up
No joy here on that approach. I'm thinking of going back to IE 5.5 - I've already reinstalled IE6 twice, once from disk and once from the web.
What fixed it was the XP Themes. If you use a nonstandard windows theme, some images may appear broken.
Chris
I've tried installs of four different builds of IE6 and the problem continues -- broken images AND other external files, such as css, js and the google toolbar functionality.
I can usually fix it with a full reboot, but not always. The signs seem to be that it's a software conflict, but I just can't pin down which programs are conflicting. And even if I did pin it down, I doubt that would point the way to a fix.
IE 5.5 is the best version for 98. Personally if I still ran 98 I would use Opera as it is the best browser out there next to IE. Some would argue that Netscape Mozilla is better. It really comes down to what you like.
I would suggest upgrading to windows XP and running Vmware 4.0. and install 98 into Vmware. Then you can test different situations without messing up your system.
If you are determined to stay with 98 and use IE6 then I suggest doing a clean install, getting all upgrades. Installing directx9, media player9, getting the latest video driver updates. I suggest directx9 and media player 9 because microsoft interconnects the products.
Also 98 doesn't like too much memory, if you have 512megs or more of memory you will have problems with your system.
Chris
I use either Opera or Phoenix for my normal browsing, so this is just a bit of a PITA that I must deal with when I test websites or want to do some PR research with then Google toolbar.
I'm planning on a whole new machine soon, so XP is just around the corners for me. Thanks for the recommendations.
See this thread for more:
[webmasterworld.com...]
Are you able to repeat this behavior?
If you are running Win95/98 try this.
Here is the line that does a verification reinstall. It came from
http***www.ecsis.net/pub/netuser/validinstal.html
f:/setup.exe /p v
Change f: to whatever you CD drive letter where the windows CD will be.
I can't tell you how many problems I have fixed with it.
