BS: Browser problem... opening links

Subject: BS: Browser problem... opening links
From: gnu
Date: 20 Jul 11 - 04:31 PM

I have always just clicked links. About a week ago (I use IE if that makes a difference; I have a PC with M$ Windows Vista) I had to start right clicking links (not all, eg, not at Mudcat) and then clicking open. I looked at mouse settings options but didn't see anything that might apply. Any ideas?

Subject: RE: BS: Browser problem... opening links
From: Newport Boy
Date: 20 Jul 11 - 05:02 PM

I've not had that particular problem, but I have intermittent trouble with links, mainly to pdf or mp3 files. I use Firefox on linux and clicking the link crashes Firefox instantly. A right click and Save works every time.

Subject: RE: BS: Browser problem... opening links
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 20 Jul 11 - 10:16 PM

The number one rule when a click doesn't work is check the battery in the mouse. It's still possible to find a mouse that doesn't require an internal battery, but it ain't easy.

The "clicker" is a simple switch, sometimes open so that fuzz can get into it, so it's possible that your mouse just got dirty in a different place than the more common ones(?).

On a "wheel mouse" you should be able to open in a new window without right-click open in new-click (one instead of two) if you Click the Wheel. (Press down on the wheel without rotating it).

More arcane stuff:

There is a setting in Word Options that controls behavior in all OFFICE programs. Although it shouldn't affect IE it's possible that some minor cross-breeding has occured. The setting I'm thinking of lets you single-click, or Ctl-click to open links inside Office files.

Lots of people have reported problems with IE in Vista (and elsewhere) but the problems reported have been mostly related to inability to Print Preview or Print anything from IE. (Since all html documents/pages open in IE if it's your default browser, you could be unable to print saved files from your own computer.) A few people also reported inability to Save html pages.

No reliable fixes were found in any of the 140 or so Microsoft or Microsoft "Comunity Solutions" threads I chased, although I was able to recover the ability to save (but not to print) html pages.

Coincidentally, my hard drive started reporting "impending failure" and about the fourth or fifth time it SCREAMED "Gasp, Gurgle, Croak, HELP!!!" I yanked it out and put in a new drive. Of course the backup made following Microsoft instructions down to the last detail performed as for all previous Microsoft backups I've ever made and REFUSED TO RESTORE. So I reinstalled Windows and all my other programs, and copied my files back from my own primitive archives for about the next 11 days (I do have quite a few data files). After reinstalling IE7 - the last version that had been reasonably reliable, I began gettint IE9 as an "important update" and eventually let it install. No (visible) problems since reinstallation of the OS.

I don't recommend a full reinstall except as a last resort, but it does appear (to me) that a sequence of Vista and IE updates immediately before I started seeing the problems with IE quite possibly "scrambled" (corrupted is the polite term) some access/login/priveleges settings buried rather deeply in the OS. Nobody knows - or will admit knowing - which updates were responsible, or in any complete way what might have been corrupted; and it doesn't appear that uninstalling all the recent updates (that you can) and then jumping to a current version of IE in order to skip over the updates is a viable method of repairing the problem.

Vista does have a "File Repair" utility, but it reported no file corruption even after the drive itself said some files had failed.

And of course, your problem may a completely different one than what I had (although I suspect it's probably related if it isn't just a busted clicker).

John

Subject: RE: BS: Browser problem... opening links
From: gnu
Date: 21 Jul 11 - 07:22 AM

JiK... it works here and elsewhere but not some places. FI, news items on my Rogers Yahoo email page. So it ain't the jeezely clicker (Canuck joke).