Internet Explorer - Windows^®

Version Numbers & Problems IE has arrived in many, many versions (see right). It is, generally, true to say that the latest version needs to be installed on the system, if only to cope with security holes in earlier versions. This is a touch dicey for win95 users - I've met many situations where ie4/5 will not allow itself to be uninstalled, and the alternatives are to reinstall the whole operating system, or force-reinstall Internet Explorer. Signup Problems & Fixes: win95/98 - IE 4.01 The IEAK depends on the presence of the ICW to be able to do it's stuff. The ICW first appeared within v4.01 & was therefore not included with either win95 nor with the original win98, although it did appear with later OEM first edition win98's. win95 Network problems. This is dealt with more fully here, but briefly: a Client may not be installed at all (leading to "Logon to Windows" dialogs at connection, & easily confused with DUN) illegal names within the Identification page of Network [screen shot] (giving the harmless but annoying WNetGetUser message) TCP/IP not installed at all, leading to no connection Does not launch into signup Fails at end of signup. These can both be due to a missing/corrupted installation of the ICW. Files with a filetype of "ISP" (eg signup.isp) are used to launch an automatic-signup process with an ISP. Files with a filetype of "INS" (eg install.ins) are used after signing up with an ISP to setup the computer so that future connection sessions can easily be launched. Both types of file are linked through the Registry with isignup.exe. Some OEM installations of Windows 98 have registry corruptions where the ICW is concerned. The IE installation file has a quiet-mode (no version-checking) switch which may allow re-installation, fixing the errors: either: "IE4SETUP /N:V" (no quotes) or "IE5SETUP /Q" (no quotes) IE5.01 does not need this switch as the install process has been changed to avoid the problem. Use at your own risk, & do not install an earlier version over the top of a later one. Fails during signup - "Severe server error". This is most often due to security being set too high. If IE is already on the system it will either be left alone or updated with a newer version - in either case it retains current settings. This is important for the signup process, which uses a secure form of the HyperText Transfer Protocol [HTTPS], and cookies to track your progress through the Signup pages. If security is set too high in IE & mistakes are made on a page this can cause problems, as the server cannot notify you of the mistakes. Drop the security level during signup, try again, and raise the security level after completing signup. More than one ISP. IE4 is designed to handle only one ISP at a time - upgrade to IE5 if you wish to use more than one ISP. This problem is due to the proxy-server settings, which in IE4 are shared amongst all connections. Removing customisations. Why do companies do it? I don't know anyone that likes it, and hundreds that hate it. However, thanks to Stuart Isenberg there is an incredibly easy way to remove them: Open a Run box (<Start>-Run) Type: “rundll32.exe iedkcs32.dll,Clear” (no quotes) Press <OK> That’s it! It is probably best to copy/paste the command above, so as to get it exactly right, but it worked a treat for me on IE6, and only needs to be done once. Here is the text that used to occupy this place: The logo's are easy to remove - they are simple BMP files, stored in Freeserve's case within C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\Signup & can be removed without harm. The name is a little more difficult, as it is stored within the Registry, & means changing Registry key values.

Versions provided with Windows Windows 4.00.950 B - IE 3.0 Windows 4.00.950 C - IE 4.0 Windows 4.10.1998 - IE 4.0 Windows 4.10.1998 (OEM) - IE 4.01 Windows 4.10.1998 SE - IE 5.0

Internet Options All of IE's settings are changed with this dialog - a screen shot of ie5, showing the Connections tab, is at right. It is accessed: from the Tools menu of ie5 from the View menu of ie4 or, from Control Panel - Internet Options (ie5) from Control Panel - Internet (ie4) Never dial a connection This is a normal setting if the computer is on a LAN (Local Area Network). The WinSock DLL will be set to expect a direct connection via the network rather than via a dialer, & entries within the Hosts file may be important here. Otherwise, Internet Explorer will always show Page Cannot Be Displayed messages, since it can only show pages from the local cache (Temporary Internet Files, containing pages already viewed) if not connected. From experience, there is some sequence of actions which people take which switch ie5 to this setting, but I've never yet worked out what that sequence is! Change to one of the other two options if yours is a stand-alone computer.

Dial-Up Settings (ie5) Highlight the connection & press the Settings... button. Automatic Configuration (ie4 - this is accessed from the bottom of the Connections tab; all connections share the same auto-configure script in Internet Explorer 4, a foolish design feature which was rectified in ie5, so - if you wish to use multiple ISP's - either upgrade to ie5 or disable the proxy server and automatic configuration script usage). An automatic script is now used by Freeserve for both ie4/5. You will need to check with your ISP to discover it's settings. Automatic scripts are often .pac files - see Q209266 (use of JavaScript & JScript). When a script is used the Proxy server tick-box will usually be blank. Dial-up settings These are identical to DUN.

Proxy Settings (ie4/5) (ie4 - accessed from the centre of the Connections tab; all connections share the same proxy server settings in Internet Explorer 4, a foolish design feature which was rectified in ie5, so - if you wish to use multiple ISP's - either upgrade to ie5 or disable the proxy server and automatic configuration script). Click on the Advanced... button alongside the Proxy server section to see the screen shot as at right: Freeserve no longer uses the proxy server explicitly, using an automatic configuration script which itself sets the proxy. If you wish to use this connection method the tick-box for "Use a proxy server" (above right) should be clear. Using the settings as at right will also work. To increase speed-to-connection that little bit more, substitute "195.92.64.197" (no quotes) for the address. This is the IP address for the cache-server, which will avoid one DNS lookup for every file. If Freeserve ever change the FQDN or IP-address for the cache-server you'll be left high & dry, but at the moment it works fine. Freeserve forces all connections through a proxy server on port 8080 whether set in Internet Explorer or not. Thus, Freeserve communications are quicker if the connection is set to use the proxy, whether through an automatic configuration script or directly. The addresses at right are correct for Freeserve. You will need to check with your ISP to discover it's settings. First Aid You will note that the boxes are too small to show the FQDN for the Freeserve cache-server. Do check that the whole of the FQDN is in the box - programs such as First Aid truncate the FQDN to the same size as the box, corrupting them in the process. Proxy servers are useful for ISP's from both a security, management & financial point of view, and useful for subscribers in the potential for increased download speeds. As the FQDN name at right suggests, internet accesses can be cached on the server. This allows future requests for the same files to be supplied from the cache rather than having to make another, possibly international, file transfer.