Help a non-Geek?

Somebody please help me.

I think I know what caused the following problem, I just need help to fix it.

I am having a problem opening hyperlinks from programs other than MSIE (ex. Outlook Express, etc.) Whenever I click on a link in Outlook Express that should open an IE window, I get an error message window with "YBrowser" at the top that says "This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down." In the details section, it says "YBROWSER caused an invalid page fault in
module YBROWSER.EXE at 0167:0042d0f8.
Registers:
EAX=00000000 CS=0167 EIP=0042d0f8 EFLGS=00010246
EBX=00000084 SS=016f ESP=0067e328 EBP=0067e34c
ECX=0067e33c DS=016f ESI=007a3900 FS=43af
EDX=00000085 ES=016f EDI=00000000 GS=19df
Bytes at CS:EIP:
8b 07 57 ff 90 c4 00 00 00 5f 5e 5b c9 c2 10 00
Stack dump:
00000084 0067e33c 00000000 007a3900 00000000 00000075 00000029 3dbdb358 ffff16df 0067ec6c 0042dae2 00000f40 00000000 00000000 00000084 0000000"

I think the problem is coming from the Yahoo Browser (I formerly used Prodigy/SBC Yahoo Dial Internet Service - now use T1 connection) that I was forced to download. I think it has somehow overwritten my preference for IE. The Yahoo Browser will no longer function without a valid userID/password which I don't have anymore. First I need to know how to reset my preference for all hyperlinks to be opened with IE. Secondly, is there any way in the future to avoid being taken hostage by preferences I don't want?

I'm including as much of the technical info as I know:
Windows 98
IE 6
Outlook Express 6

 

1. Welcome, non-geek.

2. If you can, go to Control Panel, Add-Remove programs, and remove the YBrowser that no longer works. If it no longer works, its files are just garbage on your system.

3. Open IE and under Tools in the Menu bar, click Internet Options. Click the Programs tab. Check the box that says "IE should check to see ..." Click Apply and OK. Close IE. Now re-open IE and answer Yes when it asks you if you want IE to be the default browser. Close IE.

Now go back to your mail and click a link. It should open in IE.

If that works, tell us. If it doesn't work, tell us.

(Next, we have to speak to you about getting a better browser than IE. But that's another question.)

 

Thanks Wisewiz, but....

I tried the add/remove & YBrowser is not even listed. I removed everything that was related to Yahoo. Is there another way to remove YBrowser?

I vaguely remember finding the option for IE to check to see if it's the default browser, but I'm not sure. I'm not at my own computer right now, so I will double check when I get back home.

What browser(s) do you recommend & why?

 

Is there nothing in Add-Remove that has the name Yahoo in it? I didn't mean to suggest that you had to look specifically for a program named "YBrowser." It might be anything with the Yahoo name in it. Let us know what you find.

Do you know what folder the program was stored in? There might be a file called "uninstall.exe" in that folder. If you can find the folder and there is an uninstall.exe file in it, tell us, and we'll go on from there.

Otherwise, forget that part for now, and just try to follow the instructions above for getting IE set as your default browser. We can try to work on other issues after you get that fixed.

 

Thanks again but still no luck.....

In the add/remove dialog there were other items with Yahoo in the name, and I did remove all of them.

Also, the box was .already marked for IE to check to see if it's the default browser.

I will try to find the uninstall.exe file & let you know the results.

Thanks again for your help

 

Well, if the box is marked to have IE ask whether it's the default browser, it should ASK every time you open IE, if it's NOT the default browser. And if it asks and you say YES, it should BECOME the default browser in which all of your links open from then on. (And then it will stop asking, of course.)

Don't spend too much time hunting for Yahoo folders with uninstall.exe files in them. If you've found all of the Yahoo items in Add-Remove and REMOVED them, the uninstalls have probably been deleted, too.

Just say YES to the IE question, then close IE and go to your mail and try a link. It should open in IE.

Wisewiz

 

Still not working!

I found the folder with the uninstall file, clicked on it, restarted the computer as prompted, opened Outlook Exp, clicked on a hyperlink and.......

Still the same problem as before.

I haven't deleted the files from my hard drive yet, just ran the uninstall. Would that be causing the problem. (I didn't want to delete them just in case I did something wrong & have to go back and try again.) Any other ideas/suggestions? I really appreciate your help. You're the only one who even tried to help me.

 

OK, well, it seems that your link names (the ones with htm and html extensions in them) are not calling IE, so let's try to fix that.

Open Explorer (My Computer) and click your C: drive to see it displayed. Now in the menu bar at the top of the window, click Tools, then click Folder Options, and then click on the File Types tab.

When the new panel opens, type the letter H on your keyboard, and scroll until you see HTM HTM Document, and HTML HTML Document. Click HTM. If there's a Restore button on the panel below the white window, click that button.

If there's not a Restore button, click the button that says Change, and a panel will open that shows you some program names. Click Internet Explorer. Then click the OK button.

Now click HTML, and do the same things.

After you finish and click the OK button and the Change panel closes and leaves you seeing the origianl panel, just click the Close button at the bottom of the panel.

Then go try a link again, and report back. OK?

 

Just wanted to give you an update:

Before I got a chance to try your last suggestion, the weirdest thing happened. (I swear this thing is POSSESSED!)

You remember that IE was not asking to make IE the default browser like it was supposed to? Well, all of a sudden one day it decided to finally get around to asking! So I said yes, then opened Outlook Express and VOILA! Problem solved!

Thanks again for all your help.