Please Help.. http Link Problem..

Factual Questions
1

I have a problem that I can’t seem to find an answer to. My parents computer, running Win 95 and Outlook Express, can’t seem to connect to links within the field of the program. That is, you can click away on the blue link but nothing happens. They’ve resorted to ‘copying’ the link in the text portion of the page and then ‘pasting’ in the address bar to make the link fire.

This is really upsetting because I’m about to enter a local computer technical school and I have no answer for them. Should I quit now and save them some money?

The big mystery for me is that wherever I’ve looked; MS Faq’s, tech support, Java Faqs, etc., everything’s been goose-eggs.

Anyone have an idea?

2

Cnote,

Does that computer also have Netscape on it?

Previously, I’ve had this issue when you have netscape as the “default” browser(or vice versa). So, if you have one or the other on the computer, make the other one default–or do what you will learn in school, and will become natural to you–RELOAD!

THat’s right Chris, download a new copy of IE 5. Very simple, and will solve the problem most of the time.

3

O sure, give in to the dark side.

Chris, have you rebooted? If you did, did it affect it?

4

I’m having the same problem - mailto links and bookmarks as well. Is there a way to change the default browser and keep both browers without doing any reloading?

5

This article tells you how to wantonly switch back and forth between default browsers.
http://help.netscape.com/kb/consumer/19971009-21.html

I can’t help you with Outlook or IE, because I avoid them like the plague, however if you’re using Netscape and you find hyperlinks aren’t working the problem can be a corrupt history file and/or a corrupt file in your cache. Do this:

  1. Go to C:\Program Files\Netscape\Users\whatever your username is. Open this directory.

  2. Look for a file named netscape.hst Highlight it. Delete it. (It dymanically regenerates the next time you start up Netscape, so this won’t affect program operation. However, with the history file gone visited hyperlinks won’t show up as such - in a different color - until you visit them again. This doesn’t affect cookies at all.)

  3. Look for a folder named cache. Open it. Highlight any file, then hit Ctrl + A on your keyboard to highlight them all. Delete them. Use Shift + Del if you want to send them directly to oblivion, without them going into your recycle bin first. (This is different from clearing out the cache from within the program because it also blows away the file allocation table that Netscape creates within the cache. That file can get fscking HUGE, and is often the source of cache problems)

Make sure Netscape isn’t running when you do these things or you’ll get all sorts of dire error messages.

6

Thanks all. In response to your suggestions: Gawd, netscape is not loaded. No conflicts there. Rm, reloading doesn’t seem to be the problem either. Vera, I’ll try that and let you know, thanks.

To be specific, they run an AMD 166, yeah I know, with IE 4 and Outlook Express. Nothing else that could conflict, besides word etc… They do, however, have an annoying habit of clicking like mad when they encounter something unexpected, hoping, I assume, to return to their happy place, the desktop. Is there something they may have clicked on that could have disabled this feature?

Sidenote to RM: I’ve heard that to reload the program you must first completely uninstall any and all previous versions. True? How? No uninstall for Ie that I can find.

Furthermore, If all I will learn at school is reloading programs that go awry, why should I be excited to go. What happened to repairing the problem, as opposed to throwing out the baby with the bathwater approach?

Thanks again, I appreciate your input.

7

Oops, ah, Vera, while your suggestion is good (I’ve used this approach on my own computer) it can’t work with their’s because netscape has never been loaded or on the drive (Didn’t want to confuse them more than they are now). Good suggestion for others with this problem,however. Still trying to avoid manually deleting and reloading…

8

Yes, an uninstall of the previous version of the program is always nice. But not required. Go ahead and install over your current version of IE.

A reload of the program will repair any corrupted files also. This is a good thing, really.

This is fixing the problem, not throwing baby out with the bathwater. I’m not sure that you are understanding the problem correctly.

You sure can’t go in there with a couple of computer commands and fix that file, nor will smacking it with a screwdriver help any.

I’m curious as to what your plans in school are. What are you going to study? “Computers” is a vague subject anymore. There are lots of different directions to go in.

I know hardware techs that are amazing, but can’t hardly move around the average word processor program, much less cruise the net.

I know people that use different software to produce fantastic results. But they could not tell you what makes a computer runs.

I know folks that write software for a living, but are not sure how to configure their OS on their new machine.

So what do you want to learn at school, and what to you expect out of it?

The Turtle Moves

9

This is a notorius problem with Netscape that I have been experiencing as long as I’ve used the program. I only recently figured out exactly what was going on.

First, exit Netscape. Then hit ctrl+alt+delete. This will bring up the task manager. DO NOT HIT CTR+ALT+DELETE AGAIN. This will restart your computer, which you don’t to do.

Instead, look at the processes running. Netscape (netscape.exe) should still be one of them, even though you exited the program. End the netscape.exe task (say yes to the “End Now” crap, until the program is no longer shows up on the task manager), and this should fix your problem.

As other’s have pointed out, rebooting your computer works. This is because all processes are killed when your computer is shut down (duh), and netscape.exe is one of them.

Talk about a memory leak.

Kupek’s Den

10

Hmm, didn’t see that they weren’t using Netscape. The same logic should apply with IE, I believe.

Except you have to be VERY CAREFUL about this. Tell them to shut down iexplorer.exe, but NOT Explorer.exe. Explorer.exe is necessary for the OS to work.

Kupek’s Den

11

Yeah, you know that probably would have sunk their case with the government.

Anyway, I wasn’t proposing anything so drastic. I just meant, turning the computer off, and then back on. Some people tend to leave their computer on forever, some don’t. I was just wondering if it affected the performance at all.

Memory leaks happen.

rocks

12

This is more than just your standard memory leak—the damned process is still going. Which means the programmers made one hell of a bad call.

You can uninstall IE on Win95 without any trickery (it’s not integrated into the OS), but it still can be done on Win98. On Win98 and up, IE is an integral part of explorer, the program that pretty much runs the show.

But with a program called [98lite*, you can remove IE from a 98 machine. What it basically does is install 95’s explorer in its place (which is actually faster than 98’s).

[url=“http://www.geocities.com/~tortolia/kupek”]Kupek’s Den](http://www.98lite.net/)

13

Damnit, I hate this UBB code crap. Why they felt it necessary to reinvent the wheel is beyond me.

http://www.98lite.net/

Oh, and this actually isn’t a memory leak. I used the term incorrectly. A memory leak happens when a program no longer needs some memory it owns, but doesn’t give it back to the OS, while the program is running.

If the OS doesn’t get memory back from a program after the program has terminated, that’s likely the OS’s fault, not the program. When a program terminates, the OS should reclaim all memory the program owned.

But in this case, where the program doesn’t terminate when it appears to have, that’s the program’s fault.

Kupek’s Den

14

Aeanea, I didn’t say uninstalling was ‘required’, only better than the alternative: either manually uninstalling the old app and re-loading a new one, or, a complete overwrite altogether, which for me over the internet, is a time consuming process. I’m looking for an alternative to the ‘toss the baby’ re-load mentality.

Now, continuing on that topic, I have read that overwriting a program with a new one won’t necessarily alleviate the problem you’re trying to fix in the first place. Some aspects of the previous program remain on and alter the new version.

Put simply, the previous app is not alien to the new, re-loaded, app. They chat with each other. Often times old problems can/do reoccur.

I’ve seen this a number of times. A complete uninstall of an app, regedit and all, doesn’t seem to erase all preferences of the previous program that is ‘supposedly’ erased.

Put simply, (hey this is my first post) the question should be: 'Is this a problem inherent with the app or a feature of the app that my parents may have disabled somehow? And, has anyone found a solution short of a complete re-load to solve it?

Simple.

Granted,reloading a program ‘per se’ is not a problem, well, maybe for your friends, but why subject youself to an hour of download nonsense if its not necessary?
Finally, you seem suspect to my pursuit of ‘computer school’, as if I had some dark ulterior motive behind wanting to go. Not at all, I simply want to go to school and learn how and why a computer, and all those linked to it, work. Nothing more, nothing less.

15

Sorry about the snotty post, I’m getting really frustrated about this and my parents are beginning to think I’m full of it for trying to fix it. Maybe I am, I dunno.

Anyrate, Thanks to all that responded, I’ll give them a go and let you know.

Just so you know, they do not, nor ever, have netscape on their system.

Thanks, really!

16

Sorry guys, as I write you’ve been giving suggestions to my prob, so I haven’t been fast in my reply posts. I’ll get better.

Kupek, right on the money! The reason I’m avoiding reinstalling IE 5.0 is that its slower than the version they currenlty use.I want a small, simple, program for them (my parents) that works relatively fast on their older system.

However, in your response you quickly mentioned that it was possible to remove IE from a Win 95 machine. But how? And, is this the only alternative I have? If so, I guess I can live with it but I’m bugged that it couldn’t be simpler. I suppose I ask for too much.

Thanks again all, I’ll wing it and let you know.

17

[ul][li]Click on Start, slide up to Settings and over to Control Panel.[/li][li]Double click on Add/Remove Programs.[/li][li]Find Microsoft Internet Explorer (whatever version you’re using) on the list of programs and highlight it.[/li][li]Click the now activated Add/Remove button.[/ul][/li]Hope that helps.

“Shayna… [one of] the most despised posters on this board.” As declared by WallyM7. (And if you want to know who the others are, click here. I’m in very good company!)

“Mom, he’s a neo Nazi! He’s a doctor also? Well…” - an original WallyM7 sig.

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” - Anne Frank

18

I ran into it. What happens is I once used an old copy of GetRight. When I took it out, that started to happen. So, update GetRight or turn off the Java usually does it.

Also, you can right click on a link to open it in a new window.

19

Sorry guys, still no luck.

Shayna, it doesn’t appear in add/remove, much like other Microsoft app’s that stay forever.

Handy, I have no clue what you’re referring to, but I’ve decided that while the message board is fun, and informative, maybe I should bite the bullit and re-load.

Urghh.

20

Everyone: The term is “uninstall,” not “reload.” This sounds petty, but the term “reload” is used when referring to refreshing a webpage.

If you don’t know what GetRight is, you probably don’t have it installed and it wouldn’t be an issue.

Chris, a few questions: How frequently does it happen? Do the same pages cause it to start happening? Did iexplorere.exe not show up in the task manager when the problem was happening AND the program was closed?

Unless you upgrade to a significantly higher version, I have doubts it will fix the problem. Like I said, I periodicaly have this probelm with Netscape (exact same thing happens), and I fix it by closing Netscape and killing the process (which shouldn’t be running, but is) manually.

If IE isn’t showing up in the Add/Remove Programs dialog, you can just delete the IE directory yourself, but I wouldn’t reccomend doing this if you’re not confident it won’t screw things up. You’re not hurting anything by leaving it on your computer. Microsoft, like just about every other software comapny, anticipates you already having a previous version of a program installed when you install a higher version.

Kupek’s Den