# Wife's browsers aren't browsing **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 3, 2024, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-browsers-arent-browsing/1005211 "2024-08-03T23:01:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-browsers-arent-browsing/1005211/1 "2024-08-03T23:01:53Z")
One of my wife’s computers is a 17-inch HP G72 Notebook PC. It is running Windows 7 Premium (2009). She uses Firefox, but the computer also has Explorer. When she clicks in the search box, a list of websites pops up. When she clicks on the links, the URL appears in the search box but nothing loads. She just has a blank white screen. I tried to navigate using Explorer and got the message ‘Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage. What you can try: Diagnose Connection Problems’ There’s also a dropdown menu with suggested problems. (The Diagnose Connection Problems didn’t find anything.) Top of the list is not being connected to the Internet. I see in the Control Panel that her computer is connected to our Wi-Fi. I tried clicking Setup in the Connections tab, and it says ‘You are already connected to the Internet.’ So… What gives? How can we make her browsers browse? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-browsers-arent-browsing/1005211/2 "2024-08-03T23:09:05Z")
Such an obsolete setup, Win 7 and Internet Explorer, won’t be able to display the majority of current websites. There haven’t been updates for both in ages. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-browsers-arent-browsing/1005211/3 "2024-08-03T23:15:08Z")
She uses Firefox. She said the issue started yesterday. We’ll use a flash drive to move her files to her newer computer. (We don’t have any USB cords.) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-browsers-arent-browsing/1005211/4 "2024-08-03T23:16:03Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > She uses Firefox. Doesn’t matter. Firefox on Win 7 is obsolete too and won’t update to a usable version. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-browsers-arent-browsing/1005211/5 "2024-08-03T23:19:58Z")
It’s been working. She uses that computer every day for her documents she emails to the State. What would have happened yesterday to make it stop working? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-browsers-arent-browsing/1005211/6 "2024-08-03T23:25:53Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > We’ll use a flash drive to move her files to her newer computer. (We don’t have any USB cords.) That’s a good plan, if the new computer at least has Win 10. It’s a high security risk to still browse the internet on a Win 7 computer, especially if you’re operating with “State” documents. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-browsers-arent-browsing/1005211/7 "2024-08-03T23:28:59Z")
Her new computer is a 13-inch, and her old one is 17-inch. It’s easier to do her paperwork on the larger one, and email them from there. We have transferred her files to the new computer. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-browsers-arent-browsing/1005211/8 "2024-08-04T00:09:37Z")
It sounds like a network problem. Although it says it’s connected to wifi, there may still be some kind of network issue. Try rebooting and see if that helps. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-browsers-arent-browsing/1005211/9 "2024-08-04T00:17:43Z")
I saw something that said to disable Adobe in the browsers, but I don’t know how to do that in 2009 Explorer or Firefox. I may try just restarting her computer. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-browsers-arent-browsing/1005211/10 "2024-08-04T00:23:11Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I may try just restarting her computer. That should be your first move. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-browsers-arent-browsing/1005211/11 "2024-08-04T00:35:53Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > That should be your first move. We both went ‘DOH!’ It appears the browsers are browsing again. I got to her Yahoo Mail and Facebook login pages. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-browsers-arent-browsing/1005211/12 "2024-08-04T01:02:02Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I may try just restarting her computer. Wait, that wasn’t the first thing you tried? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-browsers-arent-browsing/1005211/13 "2024-08-04T01:03:29Z")
Hence, ‘DOH!’ ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-browsers-arent-browsing/1005211/14 "2024-08-04T01:44:23Z")
My gf’s family all consider me an IT genius (I am not) because when asked about their computer problems I reboot their computer and the problem goes away. Mad hacking skills, I tell ya. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-browsers-arent-browsing/1005211/15 "2024-08-04T01:50:03Z")
Hello, I.T.; have you tried turning it off and on again? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-browsers-arent-browsing/1005211/16 "2024-08-04T07:01:20Z")
Glad you got it working. But, if she’s willing to try out different browsers, you may want to look into using Supermium, which is a build of Chrome that works on Windows XP and above. It is still receiving security updates, and gets updated to the latest extended release version of Chrome. So it stays modern, even putting out emergency updates for severe exploits. That said, official Firefox is good until after September of this year—assuming you’re using the ESR version. The latest is ESR 115.9.13. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-browsers-arent-browsing/1005211/17 "2024-08-04T07:19:07Z")
Correction: The latest Firefox for Windows 7 is 115.13.0esr. (I changed the wrong number.) Ideally, it will have automatically updated to that version. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-browsers-arent-browsing/1005211/18 "2024-08-04T08:29:27Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Hello, I.T.; have you tried turning it off and on again? No No,no…“turning it off and on” is not proper tech advice! You have to “reboot the machine”. That’s the sign of a guy who knows his tech! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-browsers-arent-browsing/1005211/19 "2024-08-04T08:33:20Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Such an obsolete setup, Win 7 and Internet Explorer, won’t be able to display the majority of current websites. There haven’t been updates for both in ages. This message is coming to you from Windows 7 and an “obsolete” version of Firefox. I could also send you a similar message from Windows 7 and an obsolete version of Chrome or Edge. There is no website that I’ve ever yet had a problem with. (Internet Explorer is, admittedly, truly obsolete.) It’s true that those products haven’t been updated in some time, but the idea that these “won’t be able to display the majority of current websites” is just nonsense. I believe in keeping up with technology when it’s warranted and necessary, but I don’t agree with “new-ism” just for the sake of “new” when existing tech works just fine if you know what you’re doing in terms of malware protection. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-browsers-arent-browsing/1005211/20 "2024-08-04T09:29:28Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Hello, I.T.; have you tried turning it off and on again?    > [@Is Your Roku Working?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-roku-working/1004508/15): > > Three colleagues are sharing a car on a road trip. One is a manager, one is an engineer, and one is a programmer. > > During the drive, on an isolated road, the car sputters and conks out. The three people discuss how they should deal with the situation. > > “Let’s call someone,” says the manager. “They will come and solve the problem for us.” > > “No, we’ll sit here and wait a long time,” says the engineer. “Let’s pop the hood and poke around and see if we can figure out what’s wrong.” > > “I have an idea,” says the programmer. “Let’s all get out of the car, wait a couple of minutes, and get back in, and see if the car works again.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-browsers-arent-browsing/1005211.md?page=2)