Problem with my Home PC...

[Virgo Nightingale]

Not quite sure if anyone here can be of help, but I figure there's got to be at least one or two computer-tech nerd types on here...:D

My boyfriend and I share a computer at home, a PC with WindowsXP. We each have our own partition, plus one guest partition. My boyfriend has been experiencing tremendous problems with javascript on his partition, regardless of what browser he uses (he usually stays within the AOL browser, but also uses IE7; he also tried Netscape 8.1.2 but had the same problems). He uses MySpace a lot to promote his music, but can't use any of the buttons to reply to messages/bulletins. They're essentially inactive - he clicks, but nothing happens.

The guest partition is a little wonky - Netscape works totally fine, but IE has the same problems. I do get a script error warning on the default homepage (I just installed IE7 and haven't changed the default homepage) which shows up in the bottom left corner of the browser. If I double click on it, I get a dialog box that along the lines of "There's a script error, do you want to continue running scripts on this page?", but I can't get out of this window no matter what and I have to close IE through the Task Manager.

I did some test posts while using the guest partition. I wrote this post (http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/forum/showpost.php?p=362703&postcount=148) on my guest partition using IE7. There are supposed to be three separate paragraphs, with an extra 'return' between them for added space, but the returns disappeared and made the whole thing one extra long paragraph. And towards the bottom there are supposed to be quotation marks ("") around certain words, but they came back as " instead. And the style buttons were inactive. This post (http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/forum/showpost.php?p=362705&postcount=125) is from Netscape on the guest partition. The returns work fine, the syle buttons work fine.

Here's the weird part - my partition is totally fine. I can do all the things he's unable to do on whatever browser I try. No problems at all. :confused:

I remember when they updated the bulletin software here on GDF that some people had a similar problem with the style options. I know it was due to java issues, and some people had to mess with their browser preferences to get things to work correctly. He's tried this to no avail. The only software that I installed around the time this started happening was PrintShop Deluxe (so I could get at the text in a client-designed piece so I could redesign it, I'm not actually going to use it!:p ). I don't see how this could have messed with my boyfriend's browsers' abilities to execute javascript, especially since I installed it from my partition which still has no problems, but I've been proved wrong before.

My boyfriend's contemplating backing up all his files on CD and deleting his partition and starting with a fresh one, but I'm not totally convinced that this will do anything since the guest partition is sorta wonky too.

Anyone have any clue at all as to what might be happening or what we can do to fix this?

[doubting_thomas]

Did your boyfriend install the recent Java update? I think it came out a week or
two ago. Or did you? Sounds like something's happened (or hasn't) on your
partition that didn't on the others, or visa versa. I updated and have no problems,
though I don't frequent the sites that you mention. Has he backed up his data,
then done a system restore to a time when he knows it ran well? It could also
be malware related.

[Virgo Nightingale]

I remember installing some kind of java update a few weeks ago, and I believe he didn't have any problems until about a week or two after the update.

Wouldn't any software or updates installed on one partition be installed on all of them?

I'll suggest the system restore, sounds a little less dangerous than starting over with a whole new partition.

[doubting_thomas]

Wouldn't any software or updates installed on one partition be installed on all of them? Not necessarily. It depends how you have the accounts set up on the partitions,
and how you share applications. It could be that there isn't any sharing of
preferences between the accounts. Did you install XP seperately for each partition?
If so, there may be a minimum of application sharing. If you share the operating
system it might be that his account is screwed up, or infected by some malware.
Make sure he backs up his data before doing much, and it might be smart to
back yours up, too. Then it's safe to System Restore, or reformat.

I'm not really an expert. I have 2 kids and no extra time so I back up often and
reformat if it's not an easliy solved problem. It's just my home PC after all. Your
situation may be different though.

[Samakimoto Graphics]

I've been questioning the idea of upgrading for the sake of upgrading software... If you old applications work use them, as I don't think the software firms took time to make sure the new applications work on the old platforms, it not in their interest to do so.

I could be wrong...

Hope you work it out Virgo.

[PrintDriver]

It depends on what the upgrade is.

If Adobe tells you that you better upgrade your Illustrator program because the PMS color formulas are wrong, you better do it (this did happen with CS). If MS Windows is telling you 'here's an upgrade', then you have to wonder....

I don't deal with PCs much any more but...
If PC accounts are like Mac accounts, then one of the two users is the Admin and the other isn't. There would be only one OS. The problem probably resides in the 2nd account preferences. Has the boyfriend tried making a new account to see if he has the same problems? It might just be a simple matter of creating a new account, moving what you need and dumping the old account.

If you really have 2 partitions with 2 OSs, I gotta kinda wonder how stable that is over time. On the Macs back when we were booting back and forth between 2 partitions, one OSX and one OS9, the OS9 side invariably developed schizty behavior every couple of months... Can't imagine a PC being any more stable.

Definitely backup your stuff anyway.

[Virgo Nightingale]

It's just one OS, he added his partition a few years after I bought the computer. We'll be backing up soon so perhaps we can do a system restore. I'm also going to see if he has the same jave update I downloaded to my partition a few weeks ago. I've got a sneaky suspicion that that has something to do with it.

[Annie Social]

Are you talking about an actual hard drive partition, or just a separate user account?

[PrintDriver]

^ That is the question...
because you both shouldn't have to download it if there is only one OS.

[Virgo Nightingale]

It's just a separate user account. He calls it his 'partition' I guess his term stuck. Sorry if that's causing confusion!:o

[D-Frag]

run a virus check from www.trendmicro.com I can almost guarantee you its a javascript trojan. with that said, i flipping hate javascript, just about every trojan i ever got came through javascript.

oh yeah, dont surf for pron on the internet either ;)

[doubting_thomas]

It's just a separate user account. He calls it his 'partition' I guess his term stuck. Sorry if that's causing confusion!:o
Oh, now I get it. Forget most of the stuff I posted.

[Virgo Nightingale]

Well I think the problem is fixed. Sort of.

I installed Firefox, and the javascript seemed to be working on all partitions/user accounts/whatever you call them while using this browser. But when he went to watch a video on YouTube, it prompted him to install the newest Flash Player, which he did (he'd gotten this prompt before, but the browser wouldn't allow him to click on the download link). Now he's able to do everything like he was able to before, except he has to use Firefox because IE still doesn't work properly. I give up as to what exactly happened and why my account was and still is working perfectly, but I'm thinking it's IE7's fault.

Question: is it safe to uninstall IE? I never use it and it doesn't work for my boyfriend so I really don't have a reason to keep it. I know it's very much tied into the whole Microsoft Empire, so I don't want to get rid of it if it might cause a problem with any other software I have.

[D-Frag]

i wouldnt un-install IE, mostly because its a huge pain in the arse to completely remove it from the OS. however, and I can't stress this enough, you should really run a virus check from trend micro. Any unstability in a system doesn't just disapear by installing a different browser, and chances are your system and all of your information on both user accounts is still at risk.

Dont know about you, but I wouldn't be able to sleep at nite unless I knew I was safe.

[Virgo Nightingale]

I have Norton Anti-Virus 2007 and ran a scan around the time the problems started happening. Nothing to be found (at least not at that time). When I get home tonight I will run another scan with the site you just mentioned, D, and perhaps a few other sites just to make sure nothing's being missed.

[D-Frag]

yeah, hate to tell you but Norton is the suck, ive had Norton on all of my machines when I got trojans, trend micro tends to catch alot more.

might wanna read this too if you haven't already... http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2849

[Virgo Nightingale]

Thanks for the info, D, I really appreciate it. Looks like I've got some homework to do tonight! ;)

[doubting_thomas]

To back up on what D-Frag said about uninstalling IE, don't do it. I did it
once on my PC and it totally screwed up my operating system. It has
elements that are shared with other parts of Windows.

[Ned]

Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer (your file browser) run off the same engine. In fact, they are essentially the same program for different environments. Try typing http://blahblahblah.com into your address bar in Windows Explorer, or typing file:\\\c:\blahblahblah\ into the address bar in Internet Explorer, and you'll see the program switch.