John Harrison
December 12th 03, 07:55 AM
>-----Original Message-----
>For the last week I have been unable to load any secure
>web pages or any web pages running active X (although my
>security settings in Internet Explorer 6.0 are set to
>permit the running of active X scripts/programs, I get
an
>error message that says I need to fix my security
>settings to allow active X). I also can not run my
>Norton Anti-Virus or Personal Firewall programs. The
>folks at Symantec seemed to believe this was a system
>problem, vice a virus, and recommended uninstalling
their
>software completely, which I have done. I am still
>unable to access secure web sites or run pages that have
>active X. The Symantec tech recommended reformatting my
>hard drive and reinstalling the operating system. While
>I would prefer not going to that extreme, I would
>appreciate it if someone could help me in the following
>ways:
>
>1) Suggest some troubleshooting I can do to resolve the
>problem I am having - or -
>2) Tell me how to reformat the hard drive so I can
>reinstall Windows XP Home Edition
>
>Thank you for any assistance you can provide.
>
>Greg
>.
>I have heard from some more experienced tecchies than I
that a hardware firewall is the way to go, and forget
software firewalls such as Norton Personal Firewall.
They "wreak havoc with internet connections." As for
reformatting, buy a DiscSanitizerPro at the software
store, or other hard drive wipe program. Have a windows
startup disc handy. When the drive is wiped, restart
your computer, entering bios by pressing delete when it
is starting up. In advanced bios settings, change your
first boot device to CD-Rom. (Change it back to 3.5
floppy when you're all finished) Put the windows disc in
the cd and restart. It should walk you through
formatting and installing. At some point when it says
remove all discs and restart, then put the 3.5 startup
disc in. (Go figure) after windows loads, you should be
ready to reload drivers. Get all your drivers for all
hardware before doing anything else.
>For the last week I have been unable to load any secure
>web pages or any web pages running active X (although my
>security settings in Internet Explorer 6.0 are set to
>permit the running of active X scripts/programs, I get
an
>error message that says I need to fix my security
>settings to allow active X). I also can not run my
>Norton Anti-Virus or Personal Firewall programs. The
>folks at Symantec seemed to believe this was a system
>problem, vice a virus, and recommended uninstalling
their
>software completely, which I have done. I am still
>unable to access secure web sites or run pages that have
>active X. The Symantec tech recommended reformatting my
>hard drive and reinstalling the operating system. While
>I would prefer not going to that extreme, I would
>appreciate it if someone could help me in the following
>ways:
>
>1) Suggest some troubleshooting I can do to resolve the
>problem I am having - or -
>2) Tell me how to reformat the hard drive so I can
>reinstall Windows XP Home Edition
>
>Thank you for any assistance you can provide.
>
>Greg
>.
>I have heard from some more experienced tecchies than I
that a hardware firewall is the way to go, and forget
software firewalls such as Norton Personal Firewall.
They "wreak havoc with internet connections." As for
reformatting, buy a DiscSanitizerPro at the software
store, or other hard drive wipe program. Have a windows
startup disc handy. When the drive is wiped, restart
your computer, entering bios by pressing delete when it
is starting up. In advanced bios settings, change your
first boot device to CD-Rom. (Change it back to 3.5
floppy when you're all finished) Put the windows disc in
the cd and restart. It should walk you through
formatting and installing. At some point when it says
remove all discs and restart, then put the 3.5 startup
disc in. (Go figure) after windows loads, you should be
ready to reload drivers. Get all your drivers for all
hardware before doing anything else.