multiple problems

[misskellibad1]

Hey guys! I'm at my girlfriend's place and she's having mutiple seemingly related problems.
She's running xp, internet explorer 6, all updates.
She can't send or receive e-mail. She can't access links, game windows won't load. I thought maybe a java or flash issue, but can't access the links to check it out. Any ideas?

[Big Booger]

Some things to check:

(1) firewalls, make sure they are disabled, both XP's internal firewall, as well as any third party or hardware based firewalls.

(2) check the security settings inside IE, tools, internet options, security.

(3) check to see what programs she has installed recently.

(4) run a program like adaware.

(5) run a virus scan

(6) report your findings after doing all of the above.

Good luck!

[phishhead]

what kind of internet dialup, dsl, cable, does she have the xp firewall enabled, does she have a software or hardware firewall. just some questions to throw out there

[phishhead]

boogs you beat me by a min

[misskellibad1]

checked the firewalls, nothing there, security set to medium low,roxio is the only thing installed recently and is working fine.
Cable. The only firewall is xp, she had norton's but uninstalled it.
Haven't tried ad-aware, don't know if it will download, will try though. Running a virus scan now.
Error message when trying to access e-mail "null is not an object"?

[misskellibad1]

no virus. can't access link for ad-aware.
apparently someone uninstalled the upgrade video card and reset the switch on the motherboard last week, but when I was here on the weekend I had her empty her cache and redownload her favourites, and they worked for the day. Now, nothing.

[Big Booger]

Try setting the IE back to default settings,

click tools, Internet options, advanced, click restore defaults.

Then set the security and privacy to low, further, dump all cookies, temp files, etc...

Last thing, disable windows XP Firewall:

http://www.duxcw.com/faq/win/xp/firewall.htm

Reboot the machine, then go try it.

If the above doesn't work, try a system restore. that might work well in this situation.


The null as an object sounds like a Java script error. YOu could try installing Java again from the Sun Java site:
http://java.sun.com/downloads/

Hope that helps,

[Tinker]

Defrag the HDD.....

[misskellibad1]

Hey Booger, thanks for the suggestions. Tried them all and still no go. It won't let us restore, and Tinker, we're defragmenting now. So, it looks like we might have to reformat and go back to 98 as that's the only disc she has. Unless...... anyone has anything new to add? Thanks to you all for trying to help Maybe you can walk us through a reformat and installation of 98?

[Dehcbad25]

well, if you can get ANY Windows XP disc (matching her version, pro or HOME) run a repair.
The Null error doesn't seem to be a OS problem but it is more related to a program filling a database with an empty field. XP comes with .Net support wich is basically VB7. I had seen this problems with VB6 and Oracle, but not from a OS itself. VB can integrate with the OS, so watch out.
If you can, look at the event log after producing an error.
Which program are you using to access email? Is it Outlook Express??
Did you try another program??
Netscape7, Outlook
If the error is reported in a Windows style window, it will probably write a log, so there is the best place to look

[Big Booger]

Well, if you had access to an XP disk, do as DEHC says,

Go to start, run, then type SFC /SCANNOW

You must have an XP disk inserted in the ROM drive to do this. I don't think I could ever go back to windows 98 after upgrading to XP.

That would be like selling the 2003 Ferrari for a 1902 T model Ford.


Have you tried to create a new user and try Internet Explorer from the new user's account?

Have you tried booting into safemode and running the system restore from safe mode? If not, give that a whirl before going gungho into a reformat back to the 90's.

Let us know how you get on.

[phishhead]

does outlook use a database for accessing the email or does it store it in a DB...because if it does its along shot though you can try to go into admin tools and odbc and do a repair on the dbs if you know which ones they are because that NULL statement is a db statement at its basically telling you that a table needs to be populated and not have a NULL value. anyone know what db outlook uses to acess email.

[misskellibad1]

You're funny Booger! I called my girlfriend(I'm at home now), and you got a chuckle outa her as well.
Anyway, did the defrag thing and no go. Passed on your expertise and she's going to try it out in the morning.
@ everyone,
I really appreciate all of your help, I'll let you know how it goes.
As for the downgrade, she doesn't have a disc (except for ME, and 98...... So, for her sake, I hope your suggestion pans out.
BTW, the e-mail she is trying to access is outlook and something on the internet from school.
@Dehcbad25, I have no idea what you are referring to.
No errors come up at all (except for the null thing), nothing will open for her anywhere.
Thanks again.......

[Big Booger]

Did this Pc come with Windows XP preinstalled? If so there should at least be a recovery disk.. if not, she might be well to pick up a el cheapo copy of XP on Ebay, or at walmart. I hear it is down to $149.00 and the home version is around $99.

Might be a decisive move for her to have a disk on hand. At what point did the strangeness start happening?

Has she tried another browser like Mozilla, or Netsape? As mention in a post above.

Glad to get a giggle or two of you two

[misskellibad1]

It did come pre-installed (but we can't talk about it)
As for the other browser, no, but another good suggestion, will try.
As I mentioned, on the weekend she couldn't get pogo to work. I had her empty her cache etc., and redownload and it worked fine.
Then Sunday, all these problems?????!!!!
Tomorrow she will try the new user account, safemode restore and new browser. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks for spending quality time with me