Is there a place to discuss Microsoft Internet Explorer?

thricipio · 26 Oct 2012

I've been using MSIE more or less exclusively for quite some time now, but since I've been using IE9 on Windows 7, I've been plagued by glitches that I've grown tired of dealing with. I'd like to keep using IE, since I like its functionality and find it the most aesthetically pleasing browser I've seen. But the glitches are getting me down. Seems like these problems should be fixable. I just need to know where to go to get help.

Thanks...

...and apologies if it's bad form to ask this question here. I just don't know where else to look, and the Seven crowd seems to know a lot about all kinds of things related to Windows.

—Thri

Brink · 26 Oct 2012

Hellp Thri,

What type of glitches are you having? :)

thricipio · 26 Oct 2012

Wow! That was quick: not only did I find out where to get help, my post got moved to show me *where* to get the help... and someone is already responding!

Thank you Brink!

Now, to my problems . . . there are probably just two (or three) . . .

• Video streaming: I think Flash-based. When streaming a (Flash?) video, the top of the "screen" is overlayed with a green color. I think I can see through the green, but it's not fun to look at!

• that's one problem with video streaming, and it's the nicer of the two. The other is that the browser session crashes. IE recovers itself and re-presents the page, but if one tries to play the video again, one gets the same result: CRASH!

• PDF Viewing within the browser - most of the time, PDF's won't come up within the browser as they're supposed to. Rather, they come up within Acrobat Reader, outside of the browser. When I return to the browser window, it's blank. At that point, of course, I can return to the page that had the PDF link in the first place.

On this last (PDF) problem, I asked about this some time ago, somewhere within the Seven Forums world, and was advised to perform the correct set-up with Acrobat (to tell it to open PDF's within a browser when applicable). I did that, but it made no difference.

This condition seems to come and go with no clearly discernable cause either way, particularly, the going. Most of the time the condition exists. However, it does seem that if I access the page containing the PDF link within another browser, say, Mozilla Firefox, then the next time I open an IE session, and repeat the scenario, the PDF will open within IE as it's supposed to. But the cure is always transient.

These are only two real problems, but I have frequent cause to encounter both these glitches, and I'm really getting tired of it... so... if there's help out there to be had, I'm all ears... and eyes.

Before closing, I should emphasize that neither of these problems occur ever, within Firefox.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and for any help you can provide.

—Thri

PS - If these issues with IE9 aren't (somewhat) readily resolvable, is MSIE v10 available? And if so, does it run on Windows 7?

Brink · 26 Oct 2012

IE10 is suppose to be available sometime in mid November through Windows Update for Windows 7.

You might reset IE9 completely first, then check to make sure that the Shockwave Flash Object, Adobe PDF Reader, and Adobe PDF Link Helper add-ons are enabled in IE9.

Internet Explorer - Enable or Disable Toolbars and Extensions Add-ons

Is there a place to discuss Microsoft Internet Explorer?-ie9_add-ons.jpg

Afterwards, make sure that you have the latest versions of you video drivers, Adobe Flash Player, and Adobe Reader installed.

thricipio · 04 Feb 2013

Well, Brink, obviously it's been some time since you posted your suggestion. I guess I'd gotten a little too used to using Firefox which is nice enough... but I thought I should finally get IE working again ... if possible. And maybe it's not!?

So, I took your suggestions and did a total reset. That didn't work.

Then I thought (then being this morning), "What the heck, I'll try installing IE-10 and hope for the best. And guess what: it worked!

Here's the weird part — it worked at first. Then it stopped working.

I should clarify: I think PDF's are coming up inside the browser okay... so that works. However, the video (Shockwave, Flash) isn't working. Like I said, that worked at first... but no more.

I'm bummed and completely stumped.

I still don't want to walk away from IE, but I'm gonna need some help from some heavy hitters if I'm gonna get this working. So if anyone has any suggestions, I'm all eyes.

Thanks,
—Thri

Anak · 04 Feb 2013

I can think of a couple of things.

If you are using the 64bit version of IE try the 32bit version, Correspondingly, if you are using the 32bit try the 64bit.

and,

Check Internet Options, under Advance Tab right at the top, see if "Use software rendering instead of GPU rendering" is checked, if it is uncheck it.

Internet Explorer GPU Hardware Acceleration - Turn On or Off

Again, correspondingly if it is unchecked, then check it. Restart IE and see if that helps.

thricipio · 04 Feb 2013

Anak–

Thanks for the suggestion. I've turned off GPU Acceleration by checking the Use software rendering... checkbox. With limited testing — I'm in a Panera and my WiFi connection's not so great — it seems that the immediate browser-session-crash problem has abated. However, I now (once again) have the problem of the green banding along the top of Youtube videos. Interestingly, this was the initial symptom I had for quite some time before it escalated into the instant crash problem.

Regarding the IE-32 vs. IE-64, I'd like to try that too. How do I find the different versions, assuming they're both on my computer? Seems to me I noticed a 64-bit version shortly after I did the initial Win7 install, but have lost track of where it is.

Any hints?

Anyway, thanks for the help thus far. :)

—Thri

Brink · 04 Feb 2013

Thri,

In 64-bit Windows, the 32-bit IE is located here:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe"

...and 64-bit IE here:

"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe"

thricipio · 04 Feb 2013

Brink said:

…the 32-bit IE is located here:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe"

...and 64-bit IE here:

"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe"

Thanks, Brink. —Thri

Anak · 04 Feb 2013

If I may expand on Brink's reply.
Since you have the x64 version of the Windows 7 OS, you should also be able to find both IE's in Start Orb >All Programs, look at the top of the list you should see both of them there.

If the change in browser settings to turn off GPU/hardware acceleration is helping, there is one more place to check.

Go to any Flash video, it doesn't matter if it is playing or not.
Right click anywhere on the playing area, you will see a context menu appear.
Third from the bottom you will see Settings, click on that, a small box will appear.
You should, but if you do not see the Display tab open, click on the small monitor at the bottom, it is the first icon on the left.
If Enable Hardware Acceleration is checked, uncheck it.
You may see the green bar disappear immediately, if you don't, stop, and then restart the video. It should be gone.
If it still isn't, try a new browser tab with a new video, it can be the same video.
What you are trying to accomplish is a new instance of playback.
You may have to go so far as restarting your machine.

Go back to the Context menu, you can look in Global Settings, but do not change any settings in there.
And, make sure you have the latest version of Flash, click on About, and it will take you to Adobe's version checker page.
There, it will tell you what version you have, and you can check yours against the list below, if your version is lower/older, update it.

You do have a pretty powerful machine, but changing these settings could indicate that you may need to update your video drivers, ergo, the cause of your crashes.

See: Lenovo Support - Drivers & Software ThinkPad W520 (4270) (US)

You may have to change the location (US), it depends on where you are, and thank you for posting your system specs, they could be expanded upon, but what was there allowed me to find the lenovo support page for you.