IE 6 crashes, XP Media Center Edition SP2

[Guest]

I encounter problems every time I try to access a specific web site with
javascript. I contacted the web site and was informed that they use the
<BGSOUND> html tag in the script that may cause problems in certain
situations. The page has no problem loading in XP Professional but crashes
every time on my Dell "XPS" that came with Windows XP Media Center Edition
preloaded. The Microsoft Support page directs me to the hardware manufacturer
for an answer. Dell has no answers. Any suggestions?

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

Curious to know a bit more information. What's the webpage address?
When you say your Dell XP-M.E.- browser crashes....... can you provide text of message & drill down to get some of the error code ?

As you likely gathered, <BGSOUND> tag is used to indicate a background sound (file) to be played --- as long as the browser knows the tag & the system is sound capable.

On your Dell XPS' Internet Explorer, from menu, select Tools > Internet Options > click on the Advanced Tab.
Scroll down to the Multimedia heading. Is this line selected (checked) : "Play sounds in web pages" ?

Does the Dell have an antivirus / antispyware / 3rd-party add-on which is 'not' present on your other machine?

 

[Guest]

Maurice, thanks for your speedy reply. In response to your questions:

1 - http://www.dkmsoftware.com/sudoku/SudokuSniper.htm. I spoke to the DKM
webmaster, who then quickly reacted by removing the background sound tag and
creating a test page: http://www.dkmsoftware.com/sudoku/SniperTest.htm which
still causes IE to crash on my Dell XPS machine. Both pages work on my XP Pro
machine.

2 - The "Play Sounds on Web Pages" box is checked.

3 - The error report contains the following two lines:

....\LocalSettings\Temp\WER9238.dir00\IEXPLORE.EXE.mdmp
....\LocalSettings\Temp\WER9238.dir00\appcompat.txt

When I click on the link to the Microsoft Support page on this error report,
the only thing it tells me is that it may be spyware.

4 - My XP Media Center machine came with Dell's own version of McAfee
Security Center Firewall/VirusScan software. I regularly scan for spyware
using both SpyBot Search & Destroy and Lavasoft's Ad-Aware, but no full-time
protection is employed. The only spyware ever found are the cookies which I
normally delete anyway each time I close IE.

I trust this will help solve the mystery.

Thanks again,
Laszlo.

 

[Guest]

Maurice, sorry -- I missed one bit of information. The Error Signature is:

szAppName : IEXPLORE.EXE szAppVer : 6.0.2900.2180 szModName :
hungapp szModVer : 0.0.0.0 offset : 00000000

if in fact this means anything...

Thanks again.
Laszlo.

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

Hi Lazlo,
Well, it does tell that IE froze up.

To your other note on "spyware" possibility:
Close your IE browser. Run Disk Cleanup to delete temporary internet files.

Bring up (use) Windows Explorer. Look at contents of folder at
C:\Documents and Settings\<Your-User-Name>\Local Settings\Temp

delete files stored there. Especially if it has a name "IEXPLORE" in that folder.

You may have had an infection from before & perhaps un-aware of it.

If you have MS Windows Defender or MS Antispyware (or other reputable Antispyware), run it to insure you have no infections.
If you do not have anti-spyware program, see Aumha.org The Parasite Fight Quick Fix Protocol at
<http://www.aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm>

 

[Guest]

Thanks, Maurice,

But I've been down this road before. As I mentioned in my previous message,
I use Ad-Aware regularly as well as SpyBot Search & Destroy. I also run
occasional on-line spyware scans on TrendMicro.com. The result of all of
this: my computer is not infected (keeping my fingers crossed). I also used
KillBox.exe per your suggestion. No help! I remove cookies, Temporary
Internet Files and History by hand almost every time I use this computer.

It must be some way Windows XP Media Center Edition differs from XP Pro that
causes IE to become incompatible with some code used on the DKM software web
page. Nobody seems to be able to tell me what these differences XP-MCE and XP
Pro are. I was hoping Microsoft may be able to, becasue Dell is mostly
unresponsive. I'm going to have to look elsewhere. Maybe I'll try Dell again.

Thank you for your time anyway.
Laszlo.

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

Laslo,
You should stick right here, and likely someone will come along, with a fitting solution.
While I had read your other note about having Spybot S & D & Ad-Aware, my focus was on a suspect item in a Temp folder
<q>
The error report contains the following two lines:

....\LocalSettings\Temp\WER9238.dir00\IEXPLORE.EXE.mdmp

</q>
There should not be any file beginning with IEXPLORE.EXE in the \LocalSettings\Temp folder hierarchy.
That's why I made the comment about having infestation.

Make sure your Spybot has current definitions.

Do a global Search for all files (in all folders on your system& all drives) that begin IEXPLORE.EXE*
The real IEXPLORE.EXE is at C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer (that is the real IE browser)
You may find a pre-fetch file at C:\Windows\Prefetch ( prefetch is ok)
If you applied a service pack update, you'll find one at C:\Windows\ServicePackFiles\i386 (that is ok too)

Any other IEXPLORE file found is a suspect.

Granted the product is a Beta 2 item, but get & use MS Windows Defender at
<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...e7-da2b-4a6a-afa4-f7f14e605a0d&DisplayLang=en>

Just make sure to exit/close Spybot before running Windows Defender ( do not have them both open & running at same time).

 

[Guest]

Maurice,
I ran a global search as you suggested and found 2 instances if
IEXPLORE.EXE: one under Program Files, the other under Prefetch. The one in
Temp included in the error report is removed as soon as you click the "Send
Error Report" button. I watched it happen. Upon further investigation I
found that the .mdmp extension is a Microsoft WinXP trouble report file that
is deposited briefly in the Temp folder (where else?) for the purposes of
error reporting, nothing more (http://filext.com/alphalist.php?extstart=^M).

I appreciate your suggestion for the Windows Defender application. I
immediately downloaded it and scanned my computer, and lo and behold: "No
unwanted or harmful software detected . Your computer is running normally."
But then I knew that already. Still I will add this program to roster of
protective software on my computer. I guess you can never have too much
protection... LOL

So where does that leave me? Back to where I started from. Perhaps I'll take
another stab at Dell's Customer Service dept. (perhaps with a bigger dagger
this time), and continue with my ongoing search for answers to the XP Media
Center Edition vs. XP Pro question.

I must say though that I was totally impressed by your knowledge, patience
and desire to help. Thanks again.

Laszlo.

PS. Out of sheer curiosity, did you have a chance to check the
http://www.dkmsoftware.com/sudoku/SudokuSniper.htm page to see if it works on
any other XP-MCE machine? And by the way, the "SudokuTest.htm" version of
this page was deleted by DKM Software.

 

[Guest]

Hi,
I had the same problems with my new Dell Latitude D820. I am not an expert
in technical issues, but I was lucky to have my problem solved by upgrading
my Windows Media Player to version 11 (Beta).
/Tage