my_realtor said:
This use to be a place where you could get help without expecting to have
to put up with children fighting.
Now, I think the change to my browser was done by VISTA upgrades. I was
talking with my daughter yesterday and expressed how upset I was that my
browser had changes that I had been implimented such as changes to my
toolbar for one. I also found changes to 'my favorites'. Some are now
being placed across the toolbar instead of being hidden except for when
they're needed. My daughter told me that was from the update as well. I
don't like it so is there a way to change it back to the way it was?
Another thing that was changed is my search engine. I realized that my
favorite search engine had been replaced by 'BING' a Microsoft search
engine. Why are all of the other search engines I've saved been made
'unavailable' and how can I make them 'available' again?
I've always been able to count on these newsgroups for help and was
surprised when I read the other replies I had received yesterday. Please
don't reply if you can only do so in order to fight with each other. I'd
never seen replies such as those before and it's because of this type of
behavior that helpful sites get shut down. Where are all of the grown ups
who use to value the time of people who were visiting these newsgroups for
help? I'm looking forward to getting helpful replies and I think you for
them in advance.
This is Usenet and there have always been trolls. Just ignore them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(Internet)
I'll try to address your situation but I'm missing some information. It
sounds to me like you updated to Internet Explorer 8. This was a Microsoft
Update but you had to agree to install it; it wasn't automatic. It's always
wise to know what you are installing. If my guess is correct:
Bing is Microsoft's new search engine. If you don't want to use it, you can
change it to whatever you like. I still prefer Google.
Change or choose a search provider in Internet Explorer
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/78e85c0d-ff1f-4eac-b1b2-a1443d60fcb91033.mspx
As for some of your Favorites showing up in a toolbar, that is the Favorites
Bar and it can be hidden.
"The Favorites bar appears on the far left side of the toolbar next to the
Favorites button. To keep the Favorites bar visible at all times, click
Tools, then Toolbars from the Command bar and select Favorites Bar. Also,
you can activate or deactivate a number of Internet Explorer toolbars from
this menu option. You can even Lock the Toolbars to make Internet Explorer
8 show the same toolbars each time you use the browser."
Help for IE8:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/support/faq.aspx
And finally, a browser is the program that you use to "see" the Internet.
Internet Explorer is the browser that comes with Windows and IE8 is the
current version. However, there are lots of other browsers. Download and
install one of them and see if you like it better. Personally I prefer
Firefox. It's always good to have more than one browser installed anyway;
you are not limited to only one.
Firefox:
http://www.mozilla.com
Opera:
http://www.opera.com
If you still prefer Internet Explorer 7 (the previous version), uninstall
IE8. Don't accept the update when you get it again. Click Start> Control
Panel > System Maintenance > Windows Update> View Installed Updates> Click
on it there> Uninstall. You'll be rolled back to IE7.
On the subject of automatic updates: the way to choose what updates get
installed is to go to Control Panel>Windows Update and change the settings
from automatic to "download but let me choose..." (paraphrasing here). Then
when there are updates available, click on the Update Details and see what
is being offered. The downside to this is that most end users won't know
what they are looking at and won't want to take the trouble to Google the
updates to find out what they are. It's very important to keep your
operating system (Vista in your case) patched for security vulnerabilities.
You have to balance the ease of automatic updating with whether you'll get
something you didn't want. Just remember though - Internet Explorer 8 did
not get installed automatically. You had to click OK to an agreement to
install it and you so did without reading it or taking the time to figure
out what it was.
Malke
