Internet Explorer/Favorites question.

March 2, 2004 10:08 AM

IE problem. Lately, Internet Explorer windows will sometimes not let me use the favorites menu. It will pull down but the selections won't work. The only way to solve the problem so far has been to close that window. Is there another solution?
posted by drezdn to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

Someone's gonna say it, so we might as well get it out of the way: Switch to Mozilla. IE favorites are imported seamlessly. And if you're browsing in multiple windows simultaneously with IE, chances are you'll love tabbed browsing.
posted by mr_roboto at 10:21 AM on March 2, 2004

Response by poster: I have Mozilla. For certain things, I prefer IE.
posted by drezdn at 10:39 AM on March 2, 2004

My guess: IE has been hijacked with a BHO, a Browser "Helper" Object - some are indeed helpful like the Google toolbar, others much less benign, and not all are readily apparent. That's always my first guess when IE screws up in some unexplained way. I'm not sure if more general-purpose crudware tools like Ad-aware or Spybot Search and Destory always catch them.
Mozilla is a great browser. So is Opera.
posted by TimeFactor at 10:47 AM on March 2, 2004

Ad-aware.
posted by TimeFactor at 10:49 AM on March 2, 2004

I am not a computer expert but I had a similar issue with one of the earlier versions of Firebird; it would work happily for a while and then intermittently the Imported IE Favourites folder would just refuse to open on the Bookmarks menu. It was only "solved" by closing and reopening Firebird. My only option was to install a later version of Firebird. Of course with IE you don't even have that option.

PS I understand that you still want to use IE as well as another browser. Don't tell anyone, but even the newest version of Firebird fails to render some sites "properly".
posted by squealy at 11:14 AM on March 2, 2004

Try BHO Cop, a tiny program from PC Magazine. It shows what Browser Helper Objects are installed in IE. See one that looks fishy? Disable it and see what happens.
posted by ALongDecember at 2:48 PM on March 2, 2004

While we're here, does anyone have a link to a website detailing how to remove IE from a W2K laptop? I've found this but it's a bit too technical for a techno-wuss like me... Besides I don't want to have to reinstall Windows as I've no way of backing up all my stuff.

Also, any suggestions for someone who uses both Outlook 2002 and Outlook express but wants to move to a more secure product yet still be able to import my old mail and contacts details?

Many thanks
posted by dmt at 8:51 AM on March 3, 2004