IE blocking flashplayer and firefox downloads

grai

about 2 months ago someone advised me to use a cleaner which wiped my computer (on this site btw)

long story short I got everything back except flash player

I cant open pics vids or music that I have d/loaded onto realplayer or quicktime and I olny get onto the internet using Firefox having been told to un-install Internet Explorer

Yesterday I logged on and Firefox was giving an error message about 9.12.5.29 minversion and I couldnt get onto the net

For some reason Internet Explorer is still on my computer and I have been using that - even though I have un-installed it (?)

But now even videos and stuff on the net are saying "you need Flash Player"

I go to d/load flash player from their site and as its d/loading a window opens to the effect of "Internet Explorer is blocking this download" - even tho its Internet Explorer that I'm using! Why is it blocking its own downloads?

I want to go back to Firefox (I un-installed it and tried to install it again and Internet Explorer is blocking me from doing that too)

But as far as I know Internet Explorer isnt even on my machine! I go into control panel and open add/remove and Internet Explorer isnt even listed there so I couldnt un-install it even if I wanted to

I want Firefox back and I want to be able to download Flash player to open the stuff I have downloaded onto Realplayer and Quicktime on my computer

I'm not computer literate at all as you can probably tell so please dont use jargon

the reason I'm on here is because computers have yet to evolve beyond jargon for home users so the minute you open a window they stop using Enlgish and the next step is unfathomable unless you're a PHD (rant over)

Thanks for any help

Or is my pc just past its sell-by date? Its an Acer Windows XP about 5 years old

JJ_Egan

Cleaner that wiped your computer ??? Which one .

For some reason Internet Explorer is still on my computer and I have been using that - even though I have un-installed it (?)

Do not uninstall just don't use it is the better advice .


You have Firefox on now does it work ??
If not what current error message have you a copy of Firefox


I'm on here is because computers have yet to evolve beyond jargon for home users so the minute you open a window they stop using Enlgish and the next step is unfathomable unless you're a PHD (rant over)

These days its straightforward 6 year old use them though i dont fully understand your posts problems either .

jje

sfocata

grai wrote: »

I go to d/load flash player from their site and as its d/loading a window opens to the effect of "Internet Explorer is blocking this download" - even tho its Internet Explorer that I'm using! Why is it blocking its own downloads?

I want to go back to Firefox (I un-installed it and tried to install it again and Internet Explorer is blocking me from doing that too)

The only way I can imagine IE blocking these downloads are because of some sort of add-on... what cleaner program did you use exactly?

But as far as I know Internet Explorer isnt even on my machine! I go into control panel and open add/remove and Internet Explorer isnt even listed there so I couldnt un-install it even if I wanted to

I *think* (being mostly a Mac user, I'm no expert on Windows) that IE is classed as a fixed component of Windows, so you won't be given the option to uninstall it. The fact you're using it means it's very much still installed!

I know it might seem daunting, but in your situation I'd be thinking about backing up all docs and media and re-installing Windows. XP is still perfectly fine for most purposes.

kwikbreaks

Looking back over past posts shows ccleaner was the one used which won't delete anything unless told to so this is all rather strange.

I'm wondering if you also followed some instructions on removing IE from somewhere else because there is no standard way to remove it.

It certainly sounds like your PC is proper poorly (and your past posts suggest that too). I'd agree with the advice to reinstall after backing up any important personal documents. There should have been some instructions on how to do this that came with your PC as the process does vary from brand to brand and even machine to machine.

A 5 year old machine is getting long in the tooth but it should still be fine for general internet use although from your earlier problems I see it wasn't powerful enough to run iPlayer downloads. Restoring it back to initial factory setup may sort that out too.

slinga

without getting into any difficult stuff you might try this.

On your IE page click on tools>internet options>then tick the box which says tell me if IE is not my internet browser.
Then try to open Firefox.
A prompt should come up saying Do you want to make IE your browser or some such. Click no.
Then if your Firefox page has opened click tools>options>advanced then tick the box saying something about Firefox being your internet browser then click the check now box and tick a box about always use FF as my internet browser.

Dunno if that might help.
But it won't harm your computer or how it's working.

Perhaps if that doesn't help a proper expert will suggest something better.

If you get things working or near enough then go to filehippo.com and download and install the latest version of Firefox.

keith1950

Hi, this depends on which windows you are using but you say that in add/remove programs it isn't listed ,look at the top of the left hand side margin and see if there is 'installed updates' ,if there is you should find IE there.

flashg67

You haven't posted say you've sorted this yet so hope you haven't lost internet access altogether!

Previous post is correct - you can only uninstall IE from 'remove windows components' from the 'add/remove programs' icon in the control panel - it doesn't show up in the 'normal' list of programs to uninstall.

Have you tried downloading an alternative broweser such as Google Chrome? You could then use this to download Firefox again. IE and Firefox use different versions of Adobe Flash player so you'll have to download the correct one for the browser you're using.

NB don't uninstall IE unless you have another working browser installed, or you'll have no way to get on the internet, unless you have another PC to re-download it to. I've done this myself & kicked myself!

qurious

You could try using system restore to return the pc to an earlier date when it was working properly. If you go into system restore and ask for more restore dates it should be able to take you back 2-4 weeks depending on the volume of downloads.