Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2014 March 15

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March 15

Frozen IE on HP Pavillion

My father has an HP pavillion laptop running windows 8.1 with Internet Explorer and Chrome installed. A few days ago, IE simply froze up. He can open and cloe a browser scree. He can click on the settings button (the cogwheel in the upper right) but he can't select any option under it like "internet options" and he cannot click any bookmarks or type in a URL. Google is set as the home page. He cannot enter anything in the google search box. It got to the point where I decided to uninstall and reinstall for him, but I cannot find the program on the computer, and while "uninstall" gives a list of programs, IE is not included. When simply trying to install IE 11, it says he already has a later version installed. Does anyone have any idea as to what is going on or what to do? Google seraches for IE are, as one would expect, rather poorly targetted. Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 00:40, 15 March 2014 (UTC)

Does this Microsoft support page help? http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318378 —Noiratsi (talk) 12:21, 15 March 2014 (UTC)

Looks promising, thanks. μηδείς (talk) 16:52, 15 March 2014 (UTC)

I was able to follow the instructions for the "deinstall" and reinstall" but there no change in the program. Bookmarks and address field won't load, can't access settings. μηδείς (talk) 18:31, 15 March 2014 (UTC)

You could open the the control panel (via windows settings) and write "internet options" in the upper right search panel. Once there, this article has a suggestion. http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/ie8-windows_other/menu-bar-text-is-invisible/fde22c71-df8f-4cd3-aca7-285b59b0d56a Star Lord - 星王 (talk) 20:02, 15 March 2014 (UTC)

Are there other browsers on that laptop ? If so, do they work ? Does other software work ? StuRat (talk) 18:40, 15 March 2014 (UTC)

Yes, he has Chrome and everything else is working. I think I need to reregister his dll files because on reboot it said one couldn't be accessed. Does that sound plausible? μηδείς (talk) 20:26, 15 March 2014 (UTC)

Worth a try, yes. Also, do you have any recent restore points ? StuRat (talk) 20:37, 15 March 2014 (UTC)

We've ren updates and checked the registry. There's a dll file miffing, when you look for it on the C:\users\dad\local\library\conduit (or whatver the exat sequence is( you get down to a Chrome file that shouldn't be there or the only file. I am going to try installing foxfire and then uninstalling chrome then reinstalling IE to see if that works. Personally I could live without any of these if I had netscape back. μηδείς (talk) 06:34, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

I think you mean Firefox. Foxfire is something entirely different. StuRat (talk) 16:56, 19 March 2014 (UTC)

Though that sounded weird. He still has no IE. We'll see if I can make any progress on the weekend. μηδείς (talk) 17:20, 19 March 2014 (UTC)

A Fourier transform

This is what I am trying to do. I need to get hold of a book by Bracewell, Fourier Transform and Its Applications... It is a famous book, all right. It has gone through 3 editions, the last one in 1999. I checked Amazon.com and they seem to have only the 2nd edition which is kind of strange. Then while googling I found this website. The name of the place is PlayPez. They offer to allow a download of a pdf copy. I don't know how much it would cost but the advantage to have it in the computer is very attractive. My question is: Anybody knows their reputation? Is it a good place? Obviously I have concerns although if worst comes to the worst I can download it in my VM. Still I want to ask. Thanks, --AboutFace 22 (talk) 02:24, 15 March 2014 (UTC)

A good book, I've got the second edition. You can get a physical copy secondhand from about £15.[1] I've never come across playpez before, and I'm unsure about it. If you do a search for the site name you get a bunch of site review sites which seem to give it conflicting reviews with some saying its a scam site and others liking it. I'd be a little worried about if they actually have the copyright on material, the address to write to about copyright infringements comes quite high up their terms and conditions.[2] It looks like you would have to sign up for an ongoing monthly contract. One particular thing to note is that it has a lot of different sites owned by the same people[3] these even have the same phone numbers.--Salix alba (talk): 15:37, 15 March 2014 (UTC)

Oh lordy, It is good I posted. Thank you for warnings. Barns and Noble (a USA bookstore chain) lists a few copies but they might be all from independent vendors. So, I will be heading there today. Thanks again, --AboutFace 22 (talk) 16:02, 15 March 2014 (UTC)