Can't open attachments or download anything

I have been having problems opening attachments on my both my IE email and
hotmail accounts. Have been putting off the problem because my life has been
too busy to really deal with it. However after taking my head out of the sand
I am desperately trying to figure out what is going on. I have read a
gazillion (give or take a few) discussions about this. I have tried to
download another browser however I find that I can not download anything. It
goes through the motions but I can never find anything on my computer even
after doing a search. Some say it is IE8 and to uninstall this. I have looked
and can not find any place to uninstall IE8..if in fact that is what I have.
Everything I see just says IE..no number after it. Can someone jump through
this screen and help me please.

HJCloutier wrote:

> I have been having problems opening attachments on my both my IE email and
> hotmail accounts. Have been putting off the problem because my life has
> been too busy to really deal with it. However after taking my head out of
> the sand I am desperately trying to figure out what is going on. I have
> read a gazillion (give or take a few) discussions about this. I have tried
> to download another browser however I find that I can not download
> anything. It goes through the motions but I can never find anything on my
> computer even after doing a search. Some say it is IE8 and to uninstall
> this. I have looked and can not find any place to uninstall IE8..if in
> fact that is what I have. Everything I see just says IE..no number after
> it. Can someone jump through this screen and help me please.

No one can "jump through the screen" of course. If you need help in person,
take the computer to a local tech. Don't use a a BigComputerStore/GeekSquad
type of place.

Unfortunately, you haven't really told us anything except that "it's
broken". Start here:

The First Question Of Troubleshooting: If the problem is new, what changed
between the time things worked and the time they didn't?

The Second Question of Windows Troubleshooting: what is the malware/virus
status of the machine? If you think it is clean, what programs (and
versions) did you use to determine this?

Be sure the computer is clean:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...moving_Malware

You can get whatever malware scanners/tools you need from a different
computer with a working Internet connection. Put the programs and updates to
them on a USB thumb drive and transfer them to the target machine. Make
Firefox from www.mozilla.com one of the programs you get in case this is
just a browser issue.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

Jumping through my computer was an attempt at humor..guess it didn't fly. I
have tried to do scans but my computer will not download anything. I have
tried to add firefox/mozilla, but again, my computer will not download. How
do I find out if I have IE* on my computer. If I figure out how to delete IE
off my computer (assuming this is what is causing my issues) will I be able
to download another browser? Starting with your first question. I do not know
what changed between the time things worked and stopped working. Vista does
automatic updates, so not sure if it was something that was updated. The
malware/virus status of the machine? I have AVG antivirus and it shows that
it is on and running. The version I have was downloaded roughly the same time
I started having these problems. I believe it is AVG 85. I hope this is more
helpful, I am not very savvy when it comes to computers. I will try that link
you sent me. Thanks for the help.

"Malke" wrote:

> HJCloutier wrote:
>
> > I have been having problems opening attachments on my both my IE email and
> > hotmail accounts. Have been putting off the problem because my life has
> > been too busy to really deal with it. However after taking my head out of
> > the sand I am desperately trying to figure out what is going on. I have
> > read a gazillion (give or take a few) discussions about this. I have tried
> > to download another browser however I find that I can not download
> > anything. It goes through the motions but I can never find anything on my
> > computer even after doing a search. Some say it is IE8 and to uninstall
> > this. I have looked and can not find any place to uninstall IE8..if in
> > fact that is what I have. Everything I see just says IE..no number after
> > it. Can someone jump through this screen and help me please.
>
> No one can "jump through the screen" of course. If you need help in person,
> take the computer to a local tech. Don't use a a BigComputerStore/GeekSquad
> type of place.
>
> Unfortunately, you haven't really told us anything except that "it's
> broken". Start here:
>
> The First Question Of Troubleshooting: If the problem is new, what changed
> between the time things worked and the time they didn't?
>
> The Second Question of Windows Troubleshooting: what is the malware/virus
> status of the machine? If you think it is clean, what programs (and
> versions) did you use to determine this?
>
> Be sure the computer is clean:
> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...moving_Malware
>
> You can get whatever malware scanners/tools you need from a different
> computer with a working Internet connection. Put the programs and updates to
> them on a USB thumb drive and transfer them to the target machine. Make
> Firefox from www.mozilla.com one of the programs you get in case this is
> just a browser issue.
>
> Malke
> --
> MS-MVP
> Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ
>
>

I have just talked to a local techie and he believes it is a bigger problem
then I was hoping for. I did look at that link you sent me but have decided
to take my computer in to get fixed. Thank you for your help.

"HJCloutier" wrote:

> Jumping through my computer was an attempt at humor..guess it didn't fly. I
> have tried to do scans but my computer will not download anything. I have
> tried to add firefox/mozilla, but again, my computer will not download. How
> do I find out if I have IE* on my computer. If I figure out how to delete IE
> off my computer (assuming this is what is causing my issues) will I be able
> to download another browser? Starting with your first question. I do not know
> what changed between the time things worked and stopped working. Vista does
> automatic updates, so not sure if it was something that was updated. The
> malware/virus status of the machine? I have AVG antivirus and it shows that
> it is on and running. The version I have was downloaded roughly the same time
> I started having these problems. I believe it is AVG 85. I hope this is more
> helpful, I am not very savvy when it comes to computers. I will try that link
> you sent me. Thanks for the help.
>
> "Malke" wrote:
>
> > HJCloutier wrote:
> >
> > > I have been having problems opening attachments on my both my IE email and
> > > hotmail accounts. Have been putting off the problem because my life has
> > > been too busy to really deal with it. However after taking my head out of
> > > the sand I am desperately trying to figure out what is going on. I have
> > > read a gazillion (give or take a few) discussions about this. I have tried
> > > to download another browser however I find that I can not download
> > > anything. It goes through the motions but I can never find anything on my
> > > computer even after doing a search. Some say it is IE8 and to uninstall
> > > this. I have looked and can not find any place to uninstall IE8..if in
> > > fact that is what I have. Everything I see just says IE..no number after
> > > it. Can someone jump through this screen and help me please.
> >
> > No one can "jump through the screen" of course. If you need help in person,
> > take the computer to a local tech. Don't use a a BigComputerStore/GeekSquad
> > type of place.
> >
> > Unfortunately, you haven't really told us anything except that "it's
> > broken". Start here:
> >
> > The First Question Of Troubleshooting: If the problem is new, what changed
> > between the time things worked and the time they didn't?
> >
> > The Second Question of Windows Troubleshooting: what is the malware/virus
> > status of the machine? If you think it is clean, what programs (and
> > versions) did you use to determine this?
> >
> > Be sure the computer is clean:
> > http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...moving_Malware
> >
> > You can get whatever malware scanners/tools you need from a different
> > computer with a working Internet connection. Put the programs and updates to
> > them on a USB thumb drive and transfer them to the target machine. Make
> > Firefox from www.mozilla.com one of the programs you get in case this is
> > just a browser issue.
> >
> > Malke
> > --
> > MS-MVP
> > Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
> > http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ
> >
> >

HJCloutier wrote:

> I have just talked to a local techie and he believes it is a bigger
> problem then I was hoping for. I did look at that link you sent me but
> have decided to take my computer in to get fixed. Thank you for your help.

Based on your previous post, I think you made the right decision.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ