I installed Norton Antivirus (was about time actually). An now when I access Freestuff, click on Notes, open any linked msg I get blank browser windows. sometimes I can hit stop and then refresh and the site will come up, but if I don't it just sits there forever. Norton has changed some setting and for the life of me I cannot find it. Even disabling Norton and trying doesn't work. Anybody know?

My IE is acting odd these days as well. Some pages are crashing it. Friends have reported problems too. I think SkyNet has become self-aware is is preparing to attack. :)

All of the Norton software (Norton Security, Norton Firewall, Norton Anti-virus) plays havoc with your web browser. The default settings of these programs are to block almost everything. I'm sure that the programs see the free stuff as "advertising" and the mini-window as a "pop-up ad". In turn, the program blocks whatever is being displayed. Your best bet is to configure the software so you can view this site correctly (or just turn the stuff off).

SkyNet is still being build last I checked. Though all the spammers sure feel like they are taking over. I have turned and configured and my IE is still wacked to hell. 10 billion options and no idea what they all do, and I consider myself compuer literate. UGH.

I had to remove Norton's altogether... Tried three times, and each time it would work for a few days, then disable everything! Would start with my mail, then the browser would go... It's not worth the hassle!

I have Norton SystemWorks on my second pc and I don't have any problems accessing the internet. I don't have Norton Firewall though. I use ZoneAlarm. I know with ZoneAlarm some sites won't display pictures and things if you don't remove the privacy header for that site. There are some programs that you have to allow to access the internet. Like IE and Outlook. If you don't give them permission, then the firewall won't let them access the internet. Not sure how Norton Firewall works, but ZoneAlarm would ask if I wanted to allow various programs to access the internet when I installed or upgraded. They made the program a little smarter because it will tell you that you need to let certain programs have access. But it still makes you choose on others, and I'm not always sure what to say in all cases. Sometimes I've done a search of my harddrive to see who owns the program that wants access. But that's not always a safeguard because some malicious programs can use or masquerade as legitimate programs. Anyway, I suspect it's your firewall. You might try turning it off and see if you have access.

switch to Netscape....its FREE....it has an excellent pop-up blocker built in....none of that IE crap.... also switch to Trend's PC-Cilin 2000/2004....free updates 2x a week.....

Agree with biggert...I have been IE free [plus Outlook Express] for over 5 years now. I use NeoPlanet for sites that are IE only friendly...my browser crashes and Page 404's are down to nearly nothing now. I removed McAfee demo and Norton2003 full and installed AVG by Grisoft. IMO it is the best anti-virus on the market and is free, it caught 2 bugs in my system that Norton had never heard of yet. It updates [free] on a constant basis.

From Microsoft This change is a result of an adverse verdict against Microsoft in a patent infringement lawsuit brought by the University of California and Eolas Technologies. You can read about this case at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2003/oct03/10-06EOLASpr.asp. Eolas has asserted that its patent covers one specific mechanism used by Web page authors to embed and automatically invoke certain interactive programs. We made this change to IE to respond to this ruling after considering many factors, including impact on the customer and impact on developers. This section describes changes to Internet Explorer's handling of ActiveX controls and Java applets. Developers who build ActiveX controls, Web developers who use ActiveX and Java Applets on their Web sites, and developers who host the Web Browser OC or MSHTML should consult this documentation to understand how the user experience is changing, and also how to modify their pages to manage the user experience for their content. From this site, there are links to Microsoft documentation explaining these changes, a test version of Internet Explorer that shows how it will work when new versions of Windows are released that have this behavior, as well as links to information provided by other companies who produce ActiveX controls or tools. These changes will not be applied to Outlook or Outlook Express. That said, note that in new versions of Outlook and Outlook Express, for security reasons, ActiveX controls and Java Applets are blocked by default in the restricted zone. Early next calendar year, Microsoft expects that new computers and retail purchases of Microsoft Windows XP will have this behavior. Microsoft also expects that new service packs of Windows XP and Internet Explorer will have this behavior starting after that.

Well it's very nice to say don't use IE, or that IE is a bad thing. I used XP system restore and went back a day, uninstalling Norton and everything is fine now and browser and links work again. It's a Norton thing and there is no link, config etc. that explains the behaviour or how to fix it. Thanks for the thoughts and input. This is the second time I have had Norton screw up my system and not give me benifights I thought it would, live and learn.

just dump that IE crap man...

I doubt that the scripting for R'osity's Notes windows is related to the Eolas case which deals with plug-in technology gush as ActiveX controls. The case itself is far from settled since there was ha huge industry outcry, even including Microsoft's competitors, over the verdict that prompted the Patent Office to reexamine Eolas' claims. I can highly recommend Grisoft's AVG antivirus as one of the best free products available. It's worked very well for me. Of course, IE works fine for me as well. Everyone has their own preferences.

I have to have IE because my company does web applications and I need to test things from time to time and access things. As well as other testing I do which requires IE, so dumping it is not an option. Norton was the culpret it changed settings, could just have easly changed other things in XP or other browsers, so please stop with the browser bashing. I will check into AVG and check them out. My company uses McAfee I should have gone that route in the 1st place, though I don't much like all there stuff either. AVG I'll have to give a shot. Thanks for the input.

Attached Link: Avant Browser Homepage

Why is everybody bashing IE? It often seems to me that it is a more or less headless Microsoft Bashing than becourse there's actually anything wrong with IE. I have tried Opera. I have tried Netscape. I find myself returning to IE every time! It works! If there's security holes in it it is becourse you either haven't run the proper updates or lack a firewall. For a very nice pop-up blocker, get the IE extension called Avant. It's like a IE on steroids. It's still basically IE but faster and since I installed it, I haven't seen ONE SINGLE ad!! I have AdAvare too, but it lets some ads thru. But Avant just eats them quietly, and doesn't even burp *G* And Avant is freeware, which makes it even better.

Same here MachineClaw. Since I administer and provide content for a business website, I have IE, Opera, Mozilla (my usual browser), and Netscape all available for testing purposes. BTW, of these, Opera is the least flexible. Also have Safari and IE for Mac on an Apple computer.

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?Form.ShowMessage=1069696

I had a similar thing happen with Norton before; after I installed a new version the links stopped working. I tried several things and I'm not exactly sure how I fixed it, but it seems that I went to the Tools menu in IE and restored default settings there.

Or maybe I did this in Outlook Express, not IE... But maybe it would work with IE, too? E.g. Tools/Internet Options/Advanced/Restore Defaults?

I tried AdAware and PopUp Stopper. Strangely, the best blocker I've found is the one that comes with the free Google toolbar. Since I love the toolbar anyway, it was an unexpected bonus :-)