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Thread ID: 6526 2000-11-18 09:19:00 Failed Modems and Corrupt Internet Explorer Guest (0) Press F1
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7144 2000-11-18 09:19:00 I am re-posting this. The proxy email address I gave was wrong. Meanwhile I have recovered my own andrew57@ihug.co.nz address on another PC (which works!!).
I apologize to anyone who might have wasted their time and energy replying to wartz1@i4free.co.nz.
Sorry.

MODEM FAILURE AND INTERNET EXPLORER CORRUPTION.

When I tried to go on-line, by any means, my modem connected with the net via my ISP then ground to a halt, usually between 350 and 550 Bytes sent/received. I checked it out with
the freeware version of Modem Doctor (dynamic testing not accessible) and it told me that my KTX Voice/fax 33.6K modem memory had failed. I bought a Lucent 56K modem and this does
exactly the same, it grinds to a halt, except that Modem Doctor says its ROM is ok.

The problem arose simultaneously with my Internet Explorer being corrupted. From MS Update I had downloaded the 5.01 update four times: three failed and the fourth reported success.
Bullshit. I had file properties telling me I had v5.0, MS Update telling me I still needed v5.01 and downloads telling me they couldn't install because I already had the latest version.
Then, trying to over-install with v5.5, got told a previous installation was incomplete, etc..

What I needed was access to CDROM versions of IE 5.01 and 5.5. But, although my 32x Max CDROM drive could read all 60 or so of my CD's (software, music, etc), it could not read PC World's
CD's for Sep/Oct/Nov (I posted this problem on PC World's F1 and got only one response from a fellow with the same problem. What was notable was that his father also had the same problem.
I've now heard similar stories from others. I also sent an email over a month ago to PC World' subscriptions' but have had no reply). I overcame this by blowing the dust off an ancient 4x
CDROM drive and installing it. This worked. I could get quick CDROM access to IE 5.5 Setup.

Then things got worse. To cut a long story short, I am in an eternal resume/reinstall/try-again loop with v5.5 and attempting to back-track to v5.01 I am stopped by missing .stf files (what
the hell are .stf files?). In desperation I re-installed Windows. This didn't work. Also, to muddy the waters, I have kept my system supposedly squeaky clean by repeatedly running
Norton Utilities' WinDoctor, Optimization Wizard and Speed Disk.

The IE desktop icons have gone. Directly starting Iexplore.exe gets me a splash screen that says 'Internet Explorer 5', then a task bar with only five buttons on it and usually a blank screen.
If I am lucky, I get the page-not-available response.

What can I do to get my modem/s back? Is it a buffer memory/resource problem? How can I repair Internet Explorer? Can it be totally uninstalled so that a clean install is possible? Where
does Miscrosoft hide installation data/history on my PC?

AREN'T COMPUTERS FUN? WE ARE TOLD COMPUTERS ARE HERE TO MAKE LIFE EASIER FOR US. HA!

My PC is a Cyrix 200MMX on a P12+ board with Award BIOS, 64M RAM, 4GB drive, with Win 95B as my OS.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Because I am stuck.
My main problem is getting a modem to work.

Thanks, Andrew Harrington.

PS. Thanks to ihug for quickly helping me recover my email from a remote source.
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