[joelisa]

I have a problem I hope somebody can help me fix. When ever I am on a website such as this one, and I click on where you need to type in text for example a search. My laptop does not allow me type anything in that space. Another example would my email account, where I need to type in my password, It will not let me. I am running xp on that computer.

[mphenterprises]

Hi joelisa and welcome to the PCWorld Communities. :D




I do not believe this is an issue with your laptop. I believe this is an issue with your browser. What browser are you using and what is the version?

[joelisa]

Internet explorer I do not know what version it is. How can I find out?

[mphenterprises]

From within Internet Explorer, click on Help -> About Internet Explorer. The version will be listed at the top similar to this screen shot (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

[joelisa]

Internet explorer #7

[mphenterprises]

joelisa said:

Internet explorer #7...When ever I am on a website such as this one, and I click on where you need to type in text for example a search. My laptop does not allow me type anything in that space. Another example would my email account, where I need to type in my password, It will not let me.

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Okay, the version number is more specific than that. Please check that section again. The Version information is listed within the first line of text of the window you initially saw. For example, my Internet Explorer version is 7.0.5730.13.

Also, to see if this issue is isolated to just Internet Explorer or any browser, do you have another browser such as Firefox or Chrome ? If you do not, click on either of the hyperlinks to download one of the browsers. This is only for testing purposes. We are not trying to change your browser choice if you do not want to change. If you can easily use the text fields within either browser, the issue is within Internet Explorer. If you cannot, the issue is a bit deeper than that.

Finally, since you are able to respond to this Discussion, does that mean the issue only happens sporadically or are you using another computer?

[joelisa]

1) When I check for the internet version. A error box appears with error 54 and a unspecified error. Then when I click ok to clear that, the box comes up with explorer 7. Nothing appears after the VERSION, CIPHER STREANGTH AND PRODUCT ID. I checcked on my desktop computer and there are numbers after them. So it appears the problem is with Internet Explorer.

2) I wioll certainly download Firefox and try to use it.

3) Yes I am writing with my desktop computer

[mphenterprises]

joelisa said:

So it appears the problem is with Internet Explorer.

Great. Once you confirm that you can easily maneuver through various websites while using Firefox, come back and we can start troubleshooting Internet Explorer.

[joelisa]

I downloaded Firefox. I am able to navagate around normally. I was even able to go to my hotmail account and check my email. So clearly the problem is with Explorer 7.Can you help me figure it out. Thank you

[mphenterprises]

Sure. Please follow these steps. What you are going to do is uninstall Windows Internet Explorer 7 and revert back to Internet Explorer 6. This is only possible because Internet Explorer 7 is an upgrade from the original version. If you had Windows Vista, Internet Explorer 7 is integrated into the Operating System and cannot be removed.

- Open the Control Panel and go to the Add or Remove Programs utility

- Once the list populates, scroll down to Windows Internet Explorer 7

- Select it and click Remove

- Follow the on-screen instructions and then restart the computer when prompted

- Upon a restart, the computer will now have the default Windows Internet Explorer 6

- Take it for a test drive to see if you have the same problems that you had within Internet Explorer 7



If you have any problems, please post back.

[joelisa]

When I click on Windows Internet Explorer 7, the removal sign does not appear, as it does when I click on other programs.

[coastie65]

Hi, It should be listed in Add / Remove Programs in your control panel. coastie

[AuroraDizon]

Check for ie under the windows components area of the add remove page.

[mphenterprises]

Hi joelisa. Okay, I was kind of afraid of that. Here is what I found out. I have a dual boot system (Windows XP and Windows Vista). When I went into Windows XP and checked to see if I could uninstall Windows Internet Explorer, I could. I checked the other two computers in my home. Those all had the option to uninstall Internet Explorer.

However, I spent some time at my mom's house today. I checked her Windows XP computer and that computer did not have the option to remove Internet Explorer. My wife's laptop does have the option to remove Internet Explorer.

I do not know the correlation. Maybe there is was a Windows Update that changed Internet Explorer 7 from an upgrade to an integral part of Windows XP. If that is the case, this option may be moot.

As an alternative, Microsoft offers a Wizard that walks throught the steps to uninstall Internet Explorer 7: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927177

Step 1: Make hidden files and hidden folders visible

1. Click Start, and then click My Documents.
2. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options.
3. Click the View tab.
4. In the Advanced settings list, under Hidden files and folders, click Show hidden files and folders, and then click OK.

Step 2: Uninstall Internet Explorer 7
To uninstall Internet Explorer 7, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type %windir%ie7spuninstspuninst.exe, and then click OK.
3. Follow the wizard instructions to uninstall Internet Explorer 7.
4. Restart the computer

Once the computer is restarted, open Internet Explorer and confirm that Internet Explorer 6 is installed.




If this does not work, let us know and we can pursue other options.

[rgreen4]

I believe if someone with XP installed Explorer 7 and then updated to SP3 they lose the ability to roll back from IE7.
Joelisa - see if you can download IE7 and install it again.

[coastie65]

Hey rg, Even with SP3, IE7 was seperate entry in Add / Remove programs, at least in here it was and IE 8 is a seperate entry now. coastie

[mphenterprises]

rgreen4 said:

>

Quote

I believe if someone with XP installed Explorer 7 and then updated to SP3 they lose the ability to roll back from IE7.

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Hi RGreen. I am not sure about that. I am not at home at the moment so I cannot check the three computer I have but this laptop has Windows XP with Service Pack 3 and Windows Internet Explorer 7. I know for a fact that my main computer has Service Pack 3 in the Windows XP partition.

[coastie65]

Yeah, As far as I know, no matter what service pack you have, if you go to control panel > add / remove programs and IE is listed separately, you should be able to remove it.

[rgreen4]

For those who installed IE7 and then SP3 it cannot be removed, as the SP3 cleanup removes IE6. For those who installed SP3 and then IE7 they can as IE6 is still available as a rollback. IE is an integral part of Windows and must be present in some version. There was discussion on this a year ago when SP3 came out that if you wanted to be able to remove IE7 you had to remove it, go back to IE6, install SP3 and then re-install IE7.

I will see if I can find any discussion on it.

[joelisa]

I am in the add and remove prgrams, When I click on Windows Internet Explorer 7 it gets highlighted like all the rest of the programs gets highlight BUT the remove part is not there as it is on the other programs. Does this mean Explorer 6 is not on this laptop so it cannot go back to that as a back up as you stated earliear.