HELP! The mysterious problem.....any ideas?
 

My computer is having issues and we can't figure out what is the problem.

• IE will not run any Java apps and I cannot use WYSIWYG mode for message boards (everything gets converted to code with no formatting).
• In addition, Yahoo runs but I cannot see what is messaged to me, nor can I see what I message in the text box.
• I can't install my Norton AV renewal because it only works with IE. :rolleyes:

Firefox runs fine with all apps.
AIM works well.

I've uninstalled/re-installed Java, upgraded to IE 7 (beta), uninstalled and reinstalled Yahoo, Installed and run another antivirus free program (AVGfree) with nothing found.

I think Chris has done some other things after I threw up my hands and turned on the laptop.

Any ideas?

I'm looking at buying a Mac. That's my bright idea. ;)

Sounds like you have what we in the IT industry call a "technical issue". I would recommend fixing it as soon as you can for best results.

Cheers!

Try running both AdAware and Spybot.

Yeah, yeah, what GD said!;)

WYSIWIG is just a java application I believe (I don't think it is pure javascript but I've never looked closely) so no surprise that it would also break for you.

If you haven't yet definitely follow GDs suggestion in looking for malware on the computer.

Do you get any kind of error message when the java applications fail to run or is it just that nothing happens?

Otherwise, off the top of my head one thing you may want to check is in the Java Control Panel.

Open that up (if you have the little coffee cup icon in your system tray double click it or you can run the file at C:\Program Files\Java\jre.1.50\bin\javacpl.exe in a default Java install)

In the control panel, go to the Advanced tab.

On the Advanced tab expand the <APPLET> tag support line and confirm that the box for Internet Explorer is checked. If not, check it. If it is, then that isn't the source of the problem.

Hummm, I've not had the cahones to try IE7 Yet, but what you are describing sounds like a security issue. In IE6 I would say go to tools->options and the Security tab and then click custom level. From there look for "Microsoft VM -> Java permissions and make sure it is not checked as disabled. You can also try (temporarily) setting the security setting to it's lowest level to see if that helps. Another idea would be to reinstall Java AFTER you have ie7 installed. From your post it sounds like you installed Java before the upgrade to ie7.

Done.

No - it just does nothing.....

and it's checked for IE.

I checked the secutiry setting and they are not desabled for Java. I did the temp level things with no difference and I uninstalled and re-installed Java (after IE7).

Still the same irritating thing.

I have to say that I can work-around with Firefox for web stuff but ME without YAHOO!!!!! OY!

I think the only solution is to open your window and toss your computer out of it.

Yeah, I'm beginning to believe this is the best solution.:(

Did you try a rollback to the most recent day you recall your system working properly?

No. How do I go about doing that?

I am starting to get the suspicion that it is the NAV notice of expiration that is at the start of this whole thing.

Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore > Restore system to an earlier time

Pick the restore point that is right about the time you started having problems. While NAV is problematic and AVGFree is 10x better, the renewal shouldn't have messed with it.

You won't lose any documents, it will just refresh your directory and registery to a time you wern't having problems. If it doesn't work you can roll back forward.

Very Important: DO NOT turn off your computer, un plug your computer or do anything until it asks you to or the restore is complete. You can mess things up.

Personally, I think this is the best solution. But I'm biased.

If your bias is based on security, you might want to check this out. Still, having to have all the damned anti-spy/virus/pop-up, etc ware is annoying as hell.

From the story:
I'd say that if just two people caught this virus (though there are prolly more), I think us Mac-heads are still doing okay.

Not immune, just MUCH less likely.

Who writes a virus for a platform only 5% of users are on? What's the fun in that? It would be like staging a protest that takes 5% of the population out of commission. Boring.

I'm so proud that Lani finally made the switch. After a couple of years of stability problems with her last two Macs she has switched to a PC (and also because World of Warcraft runs better). Now we're no longer a mixed marriage. I was worried that some day we'd be arrested in South Carolina since computer miscegination is still illegal there.

Being the first person to introduce a virus into a area that touts itself as virus-proof is pretty much all that is needed, Alex. Hackers do a lot worse for less.

You're right, KB, but it really was just a matter of time before someone figured out a way. Even so, the idea of not having to arm one's comp with so much cluttering crap that some yahoo is going to sneak past anyway is attractive.

I tried this one, but the system restore is returning an error message and the system info app doesn't run either.

It's never been about being "virus proof". Just "virus devoid" because there's not motivation to write 'em.

I'm no expert but this doesn't sound good at all. Depending on how well your data is backed up, I'm wondering if it might be easier to consider an OS re-install at this point. It's a pain, considering all of the service packs and apps that need to be re-installed, but sometimes it is worth it just to be back to a nice clean system.

Actually, there's a less drastic option. Boot from the Windows install CD and hit "r" when it asks if you want to do a repair. That might do the trick (though you should probably make sure you've got copies of photos and other important files, either on Chris's computer, or burn 'em).

Good point and definitely worth a try. I haven't always had the best of luck with the repair feature but it's definitely worth trying first. I would consider my advice of an OS re-install to be an absolute last resort.

I'm also probably a bit jaded. I just spent 3 days trying to get a USB port to function on my laptop. After numerous driver downloads, reading pages and pages of technical docs, trying to repair the existing info and basically trying every thing I could think of, I finally said the hell with it and started from scratch. The nice thing is that it fixed the problem and runs smoother than it had in a long time. Had I not done this, I don't know that I ever would have solved the problem.

Zoinks!

There is a chance NAV is conflicting with AVGFree. Turn off NAV auto-protect, disable NAV completely if you can and run a virus scan with AVG.

I seriously recommend completely uninstalling NAV (though it's so deeply integrated into your system that you're going to have to go digging to get out bits and peices of it) and just use AVGFree.

I've uninstalled AGVFree already. There was a conflict with NAV and AGV.

Sigh.


I hate this shyt.

Unplug the system. Open window. Toss system outside.

Soon.

If I make it to the Tiki thing tomorrow I could probably take a look at it before you toss it out the window.