Can't see some sites as I 'need to update my browser' - I have lat

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HELP! Can anyone offer advice? I am running IE6 yet when I try to view
certain websites I get a site generated message telling me I need to update
my browser as the site requires a version newer than 4 or 5. Odd! The site I
need access to today is this one:
http://creative.gettyimages.com/sou...x001&esource=googgbrgen&keyword=p&country=gbr

I can see the page fine, but when I choose one of the options on the left
(Creative, for example) I get the new page up for a split second and then a
screen telling me I need to go upgrade my browser.

The irony is that I thought maybe I need some updates that the auto facility
hasn't picked up on. So I manually went to check, and guess what? I got a
Microsft page telling me I needed a more up to date browser! It said I needed
something more recent than v4, and I'm running v6 with what looks like an SP2
according to the 'About' banner.

I have checked and updated my Sun Java bits, so that's all fine.

Can anyone advise as to what on earth this problem could be? I've had one or
two other sites give me the same message quite recently.

Any help GREATLY appreciated.

Cheers
Frank
 
FranksBank wrote on Thu, 26 Jan 2006 02:33:03 -0800:
HELP! Can anyone offer advice? I am running IE6 yet when I try to view
certain websites I get a site generated message telling me I need to
update my browser as the site requires a version newer than 4 or 5. Odd!
The site I need access to today is this one:
http://creative.gettyimages.com/sou...x001&esource=googgbrgen&keyword=p&country=gbr

I can see the page fine, but when I choose one of the options on the left
(Creative, for example) I get the new page up for a split second and then
a screen telling me I need to go upgrade my browser.

The irony is that I thought maybe I need some updates that the auto
facility hasn't picked up on. So I manually went to check, and guess what?
I got a Microsft page telling me I needed a more up to date browser! It
said I needed something more recent than v4, and I'm running v6 with what
looks like an SP2 according to the 'About' banner.

I have checked and updated my Sun Java bits, so that's all fine.

Can anyone advise as to what on earth this problem could be? I've had one
or two other sites give me the same message quite recently.

Any help GREATLY appreciated.
Click to expand...

Do you have any firewall or "security" software running? It sounds like
something is changing your outgoing HTTP requests to either hide or modify
the User-Agent string which identifies the browser you are using, and the
scripts on the server that give you this message are specifically looking
for an IE version number higher than the one your User-Agent string is set
to.

The other possibility is that the version number held in the registry than
IE uses itself is corrupt. If you're happy to use regedit, take a look at
the following value:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Version Vector\IE

What value does that show? My IE6 on XP SP2 here shows 6.0000. If yours is
different, you could try changing it - however, I take no responsibility for
any problems changing this may cause.

Dan
 
Hi Frank,

Go to this URL, download the IE6 reg file and run it to reset your UAS
(bottom of screen - hyperlink "make your browser pretend it is IE). The
download is provided for IE7 users who fall victim to User Agent sniffing,
but it will likely work for you as well.
http://www.ie-vista.com/sites.html

Do *not* run the IE7 one.

--
__________________________________________
Sandi - Microsoft MVP since 1999
http://www.ie-vista.com
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org

Inetexplorer has changed - for instructions on how to
find old URLs, go here:
http://msmvps.com/spywaresucks/archive/2005/05/14/46971.aspx
 
Thank you Dan and Sandi for your suggestions. I checked into everything - and
had in mind to try your fix Sandi, if all else failed. I didn't get that far
though as I'm now working again. My registry was displaying correctly and
having trawled through my security system (BullGuard) I tried pulling a few
switches on the firewall and when I turned off 'Browse in Stealth Mode' I
found I could work without problem (I had previously found that stealth mode
enabled my machine to be totally invisible to the web and port scanners,
apparently). Clearly it was this that cloaked the identity of my browser.

So... I'm sorted. Once again, many thanks to you both for your attention to
my plight.

Cheers
Frank
 
Hi Frank,

Yes, I can understand how stripping browser version can stop sites from
working that sniff user agent string.

In all honesty, its not necessary to hide such things. Sure, hide IP
address if you wish, but browser version and things like that are harmless
information and help site owners optimise their sites for the most common
browser versions in use.

--
__________________________________________
Sandi - Microsoft MVP since 1999
http://www.ie-vista.com
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org

Inetexplorer has changed - for instructions on how to
find old URLs, go here:
http://msmvps.com/spywaresucks/archive/2005/05/14/46971.aspx
 
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