How do I fix Internet Explorer on my computer?

Ditch IE! I recently got Firefox & it’s great. I love it. Also, Google Chrome is getting good reports. Anything but IE!

Try Firefox. A lot of people use it and it has a lot of nice extensions, some of which are surprisingly useful.

I don’t know too many people who continue to suffer with IE.

Use firefox , IE is pants and should be banned .

Do I just download Firefox and then uninstall IE? I’ve noticed that the Safari browser seems to be much, much faster.

You don’t have to uninstall IE. Just set FF as the default browser.

The only way to fix IE is to stop using it.

Go with Opera. It’s the hackers choice mainly because other hackers tend not to target it.

I don’t like firefox. Every so often I download it and play with it but after a few days I’m back to using something else.
Safari is quite nice but a little unstable on windows (in my experience).

I use IE8. I’ve never had a problem with it (although it would be nice if MS would put a spell checker in it, the lazy sods).

Safari and Firefox are both fantastic. Safari 4 is faster than Firefox, but both work great.

Get rid of IE for good, no one should be using that crap.

OMG…IE8 messed me up bad. I couldn’t even open pictures in my email.

@MissAusten You don’t HAVE to delete IE, but I did. I don’t want it on my computer at all, no way, no shape, no how!

@lefteh that’s a hoot. You’re SO right! :-)

Yeah as others said it, get rid of IE, I recently did. I switched to Safari. I didn’t delete IE, I just stopped using it. I also have Firefox, but I’m the only one that uses those in our computer, everyone else is dumb and still uses IE, and it’s terribly slow.

Fix IE? lol. Just stop using it.

I downloaded Firefox, but there must be something wrong with my computer because it does the same thing as IE—starts to open, but then I get the “not responding” message. I haven’t even been able to try it out. Safari is still working though.

I spent a good chunk of my evening updating our anti-virus program, and it’s running now. It found three “items” so far. Maybe one of those items is causing my current troubles? We have McAfee anti-virus, which is included with our Comcast cable package. I think this computer being almost five years old doesn’t help. I see a new computer in my near future.

@everyone, thanks for the suggestions! If anyone has further tips for getting FF to work or another anti-virus program (or anything in general to keep me from smashing the computer with a hammer), please share! I think I jinxed myself the other day, answering a question here and describing how this computer always works fine for me, but not for my husband. Famous last words and all.

@MissAusten It’s possible hat you have a virus in there that’s preventing you from connecting to FF. I just went through the ordeal of a virus being in here & preventing me from sending yahoo mails, so it can affect anything. As for a good virus protection program, I’d try Avira. My computer guy put it on here & it’s working great. My old program wasn’t cutting it. I also hear AVG is good. And they’re both free. So DO watch your virus situation. I hope you can get FF to work. It really is a good program.

@jbfletcherfan Thanks, I’m going to keep trying. The McAfee always worked well for us, but a while ago it “expired” and I didn’t realize it wasn’t working. It’s entirely possible for something to be lurking on my computer. I’m pretty computer-literate when it comes to using the computer, just not when it comes to fixing the computer. :(

@MissAusten Oooh, if you don’t have a program running, it’s hard telling what’s going on in there. You can download either Avira or AVG & get back in business. I’d do it soon, honey.

I know, I know! Argh! I got it all updated, and am running a virus scan now. It’s almost done, and then maybe things will work better. My husband has a friend who works in computers, and last time we had a big problem he had us get Spybot, which took care of things. I ran that as well and found a few things that have since been fixed. Oh, the scan is done. I’ll see if I can decipher the details!

Firefox is working great now—no problems at all. IE still messed up, but at this point I don’t really care. I got rid of some crud on my computer, and knock on wood I think everything is fine.

Thanks again @everyone for the help and suggestions!

Welcome to firefox! You can now install all sorts off add-ons for your browser to customize it however you wish.

Those error messages you’re seeing are probably not from IE directly, but are more likely to be a problem with an add-on or BHO. Flash Player and Acrobat reader are always suspect.

I don’t know what version of IE you have. However, the idea is to reset it to factory defaults. In IE7, go to the Internet Options->Advanced tab, and click the button at the bottom to Reset Internet Explorer settings. Odds are pretty got that will eliminate your problem.

This being said .. don’t use IE unless you don’t have a choice. Most people prefer FireFox, and I’m sure you can see why after having used it for a while. The problem is, it’s nearly impossible to purge your system of IE completely. Too many Windows components use elements of it, so it’s still worth trying to fix it.

@MissAusten I’m glad to see things are working again. :-)