Basic Troubleshooting Browsers

Stagnant for years, the Web browser is seeing a new wave of excitement crest as major versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox have been released recently. While early browsers were limited to the display of Web pages, modern browsers are more properly thought of as frameworks for viewing and interacting with a variety of sites, including Web-based applications such as email and rich media such as video not just traditional HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) pages. Users are excited about the features and functionality that the new browsers offer, but these updates open the door to a different set of software issues and problems. Over the next few pages, we’ll show you how to fix common kinds of browser errors, as well as how to determine if the problem is really with your Web browser in the first place. We’ll focus on troubleshooting the latest versions of the most popular browsers for Microsoft Windows XP Internet Explorer 7 and Mozilla Firefox 2 two free programs that control over 90% of market share by most estimates. While we won’t explicitly consider other operating systems, Firefox has versions available for other operating systems, so some of the information presented herein may be applicable to those versions. As well, some of the general tips may be applicable to other browsers, such as Opera and Safari. Product Information Since your browser is a piece of software, you can easily obtain the version number to aid you in your troubleshooting.

To determine your browser version, follow these steps:

1. Click on the Help menu and select About Firefox . .(for Firefox) or About Internet Explorer (for IE 7).

2. In the window that appears, look for the version number immediately under the product name. Earlier versions may have slightly different selections in the Help menu; if so, look for an About option or an option that appears like it. If you don’t see anything like these, you likely don’t have a current version of your browser. Working Status Your browser depends on a stable, unimpeded connection to the Internet. If your browser does not appear to function, it may be your online connection rather than your browser that is actually at fault. If you have current versions of both Firefox and IE installed on your PC and why not, since they’re both free? when one browser isn’t working, start the other one and see if you can reach the Web. If you can’t reach the site you’re trying to reach, then try to reach another big site that will likely be up examples include www.google.com, www.yahoo .com, and www.microsoft.com. If you can reach any site through another browser, you can eliminate the possibility that your Internet connection is malfunctioning. Also, check the network connection icon in the System Tray (the area next to your computer’s clock) to make sure that the network connection is up. Another way to verify your Internet connection is through this simple test: Click the Windows Start button on your Desktop. Select Run . . . In the Run window’s “Open” text box, enter the word command, and then click OK. In the Command window that appears, enter the command ping www.google.com and then press ENTER. (If you get a security check from your firewall, give permission for the connection.)

You should get several lines of text, including a number of lines that say something along the lines of “Reply from 209.73.186.238: bytes=32 time=34ms TTL=51.” (The numbers in the response will vary.) If the number after “time” is relatively low for instance,under 100 for most modern connections the problem is not your Internet connection. If you get a response like “Ping request could not find host www.google .com. Please check the name and try again,” try entering the command ping www.yahoo.com. If you get an error with that one as well, then you likely have a bad Internet connection. If you get a set of responses that include “Request timed out” and something like “Reply from 209.73.186.238: bytes=32 time=34ms TTL=51” and/or you have a number after “time=” that’s over 200, then this means that your Internet connection may be up, but it may be slow. If this happens with only one site, it indicates a problem with the Web site you’re trying to reach. If you get that kind of result with multiple sites, then the problem is probably with your Internet connection or your Internet service provider not with your browser. To troubleshoot an Internet connection, see “What To Do When . . . You Can’t Go Online”. Problems & Solutions

Problem: Issues with browsers earlier than Firefox 2 and IE 7.

Solution: Upgrade. The latest version of Firefox and IE offer many security and functionality upgrades. If you don’t upgrade, you will not experience the full benefit of the modern Web. If you can’t upgrade to IE 7 (e.g. you have a pre-Windows XP PC), upgrade to the latest version of Firefox. If your PC can’t run either Firefox 2 or IE 7, then you should seriously consider upgrading your PC the security benefits of these browsers make this a great reason to upgrade your PC. The only reason that you shouldn’t switch is if you have certain applications that will not run in Firefox 2 or in IE 7. Examples of this might be a proprietary system at work that works in only one browser. (In general, you should never upgrade a work system without first talking to the appropriate IT professional at your employer.) If you have to use a certain browser version for a particular application, then consider using that browser for only that reason and using the latest version of Firefox or IE for everything else. If you are using IE on a pre-XP system, at the very least, make sure that you have the latest version of IE by using Windows Update.

Problem: Browser won’t start.

Solutions for Internet Explorer: Try each of these steps and, after each, see if IE starts correctly.

1. Reboot. First restart your computer and see if the browser will work after rebooting.

2. Check for malware. Update your antispyware and antivirus software and do complete antivirus and spyware checks on your PC. If malware is found, remove it and then try to start IE. If it starts, the malware was probably causing the issue.

3. Try a different home page. Click the Start button and select Control Panel. (Control Panel may be in the Settings menu.) Select Internet Options. In the window that appears, under the General tab, change the Home Page box to about:blank. Click OK. Try to start IE and browse to another Web site but not your original home page; if it works, the problem is with the home page you are using. Try troubleshooting with the plug-in section below.

4. Clear all cached data. Go to Internet Options as described above. In the General tab, under Browsing History, click Delete. Click Delete Files and then confirm by clicking Yes. Click Delete Cookies and then confirm by clicking Yes. Click Delete History and then confirm by clicking Yes. Click Close and then OK in the primary window. Try to start IE; if it works, you’ve likely solved the problem.

5. Disable unused extensions. Go to Internet Options as described above. On the Programs tab, click the Manage Add-ons . . . button. Disable any add-ons that you don’t use by clicking on the add-on listing and click the Disable radio button. When you have disabled all of the add-ons you don’t use, click OK, and then click OK in the Options window. Try to start IE. If it works, one of the add-ons was the problem. Re-enable each of add-ons in turn by following the steps above, except click the Enable radio button for each. After you enable one, try to start IE. If it fails, then you know that extension was at fault.

6. Use Default Settings. Go to Internet Options as described above. Go to the Advanced tab. Click Restore Advanced Settings. Then click Reset. Confirm that you want to do this by clicking Reset in the window that appears. Click OK and try IE again. 7. Reinstall. If none of these steps work, then reinstall IE

7. First, download the executable at www.microsoft .com/windows/ie /downloads. (If you don’t have another browser installed, use another system to download the executable, then copy it to your primary PC.) Then, if you can, uninstall IE 7. Click the Start button and select Control Panel /Add Or Remove Programs. (Remember, Control Panel may be nested in the Settings menu. If IE 7 came installed with your PC, you may not be able to uninstall it using the Add Or Remove Programs window. If this is the case, then skip this step.) Then, click on the listing for Internet Explorer 7 and click Remove. After clicking through the removal routine, run the IE 7 executable that you downloaded.

Solutions for Firefox: Try each of these steps and, after each, see if Firefox starts correctly.

1. Reboot. First restart your computer and see if the browser will work after rebooting.

2. Check for malware. Update your antispyware and antivirus software and do complete antivirus and spyware checks on your PC. If malware is found, remove it and then try to start Firefox.

3. Try starting in Safe Mode. From the Start/ All Programs (or Programs)/ Mozilla Firefox menu, select Mozilla Firefox (Safe Mode). If you can get Firefox running in Safe Mode, try steps 4 and 5 under the “Problem: A page does not behave correctly . . .” section if that doesn’t help, continue with step 4.

4. Clear all cached data. Click the Start button and select My Computer. Go to the folder C:\Documents and Settings\[Your Username]\Local Settings\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\ Profiles. Under each folder in Profiles, delete the Cache folder. Then go to C:\Documents and Settings\[Your Username]\ Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\ Profiles. Delete the History.dat file from each folder in the Profiles folder. Try to start Firefox.

5. Remove extensions and plugins. Using My Computer as shown in Step 4, delete the contents of the C:\ Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\Extensions but not the folder itself. Delete the contents of the C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\Plugins folder but not the folder itself. (If Firefox is installed in a different folder, you will need to change the C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox above to correspond to the folder in which you installed Firefox.)

6. Reinstall. If none of these steps work, reinstall Firefox. First, using IE, download the executable at www .mozilla.com. Uninstall Mozilla. Click the Start button and select Control Panel/Add Or Remove Programs. Then click on the listing for Mozilla Firefox and click Remove. After clicking through the removal routine, run the Firefox executable that you downloaded.

Problem: A page does not behave correctly the formatting is messed up or it just doesn’t work properly. If you have a problem with a specific Web page, it is generally a configuration problem, or there may be an incompatibility with the browser you’re using.

Solutions for Internet Explorer:

Try each of these steps in turn and see if it corrects the problem.

1. If you have Firefox installed, try it for the Web site in question. This can allow you to work around the problem if nothing else helps, as some sites work better in Firefox than in IE.

2. Reboot. First restart your computer and see if the browser will work after rebooting.

3. Check for malware. Update your antispyware and antivirus software and do complete antivirus and spyware checks on your PC.

4. Clear all cached data. Follow the cache clearing instructions in the “Browser won’t start” section above.

5. Pop-ups. Select Internet Options from the Tools menu. Then click the Privacy tab. If the Turn On Pop-up Blocker box is unchecked, go to the next step. Otherwise, click the Settings button immediately next to Block Pop-up Windows. In the window that appears, enter the domain of the Web site that you are having a problem with in the Address Of Website To Allow box and then click Add. Click Close, then OK.

6. Reset Security. Click Tools/Internet Options. Click the Security tab. Click on Internet Zone if it’s not already selected. Set the Security Level For This Zone selector to Medium-high. If the Reset All Zones To Default Levels button is active, click it. Click the Privacy tab. If the Security slider is set to a setting higher than Medium, then set it to Medium. Click OK.

7. Upgrade. Make sure that you’re using the latest version by going to win dowsupdate.microsoft .com and downloading the latest updates.

Solutions for Firefox:

Try each of these steps in turn and then try using Firefox to see if the step corrects the problem.

1. If you have IE installed, try it for the Web site in question. This can allow you to work around the problem if nothing else helps, as some sites will not work in Firefox no matter what you do.

2. Reboot. Restart your PC and see if the browser works after rebooting.

3. Check for malware. Update your antispyware and antivirus software and do complete antivirus and spyware checks on your PC.

4. Clear your cache. Select Clear Private Data from the Tools menu. Select Cache and Authenticated Sessions only, and then click OK.

5. Check for updates. Select Tools/ Check For Updates. The window that appears will tell you if there are updates to be downloaded. If there are, follow the instructions in the window and update your Firefox.

6. Popups. Select Tools/Options. . . Then click the Content tab. If the Block Popup Windows box is unchecked, then you are done with this step. Otherwise, click the Exceptions button immediately next to Block Pop-up Windows. In the window that appears, enter the domain of the Web site with which you are having a problem and click Allow. Click Close, and then click OK.

7. Javascript and Java. Select Tools/Options . . . , then click the Content tab. Make sure that the Enable Javascript and Enable Java boxes are checked. Click OK.

8. Accept Cookies. Click Tools/ Options . . . . Then click the Privacy tab. Make sure that the Accept Cookies From Sites box is checked, then click the Exceptions button immediately next to Accept Cookies From Sites. Check the list to see if Firefox is blocking cookies from the problem site. If it is, highlight the listing for the problem site. Click Remove Site. Click Close, then OK.

9. Remove Cookies. Click Tools/ Clear Private Data. Select Cookies only, and then click OK.

Problem: Music, video, or some other media won’t play in a Web site.

Solution:This is almost always a plug-in-related issue. A plug-in (or add-on) is a helper program that extends a browser’s capabilities. The steps to correct a plug-in issue are similar in both IE 7 and Firefox. IE and Firefox will often prompt you with a bar at the top of the window telling you that a plug-in is needed and giving you instructions to install it. If this doesn’t happen, most Web sites indicate what plug-ins are needed to run the site and include a link to download the latest version. Go to the site in question and download the updated plug-in version. Exit your browser, and then install the plug-in. If you still don’t know where to go to install the plug-in, see the Web sites addons.mozilla.org for Firefox and www.ieaddons.com for IE for more information. These sites include links to download and install all of the major plug-ins for the various browsers.