Activating website "videos" with Internet Explorer

[Guest]

Recently purchased new desktop and laptop computers from Dell (six weeks
apart). Both computers utilize Windows XP w/Service Pack 2 and Internet
Explorer 6.0...both units have same problem. No matter which website we go
to; e.g., Yahoo, CNN, MSNBC, etc., whenever we attempt to "run" a video;
e.g., by clicking on video icon in Yahoo News, it appears the video starts to
load, but all we get is a blank screen with "DONE" in lower lefthand corner.
We've checked out Windows Multi-Media Player on both computers and it appears
to be working properly; i.e., we can get "sample" videos to run. I've tried
turning off firewalls and pop-up blockers with no success. In Internet
Options "Advanced" all the settings "appear" to be such that videos should
run. It appears that when I click on the video icon, Internet Explore can't
find a program (like Windows Multi-Media Player) to "run" the video. In
intial setup of both machines, I don't recall ever being asked, "What program
do you want Internet Explorer to use to run videos?" (assuming this should
have happened). Called Dell and was advised this was a software problem of
some type, not covered by its warranty. Called Microsoft and was told
there's no warranty its software from day one, but I could pay $79 to talk to
a service tech. :-( Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Don Varnau]

Hi,
Have you cleared the Internet Explorer cache? The default size for the
Temporary Internet Files folder is usually unnecessarily large.

From IE> Tools> Internet Options> General> Delete files (and delete offline
content when that dialog pops up.) Then set the size of the TIF folder to
50-60 MB.

Hope this helps,
Don
[MS MVP- IE]

 

[Guest]

Thanks Don,

I tried your suggestion, but unfortunately problem is still there.
--
JAC

Hi,
Have you cleared the Internet Explorer cache? The default size for the
Temporary Internet Files folder is usually unnecessarily large.

From IE> Tools> Internet Options> General> Delete files (and delete offline
content when that dialog pops up.) Then set the size of the TIF folder to
50-60 MB.

Hope this helps,
Don
[MS MVP- IE]

Recently purchased new desktop and laptop computers from Dell (six weeks
apart). Both computers utilize Windows XP w/Service Pack 2 and Internet
Explorer 6.0...both units have same problem. No matter which website we go
to; e.g., Yahoo, CNN, MSNBC, etc., whenever we attempt to "run" a video;
e.g., by clicking on video icon in Yahoo News, it appears the video starts to
load, but all we get is a blank screen with "DONE" in lower lefthand corner.
We've checked out Windows Multi-Media Player on both computers and it appears
to be working properly; i.e., we can get "sample" videos to run. I've tried
turning off firewalls and pop-up blockers with no success. In Internet
Options "Advanced" all the settings "appear" to be such that videos should
run. It appears that when I click on the video icon, Internet Explore can't
find a program (like Windows Multi-Media Player) to "run" the video. In
intial setup of both machines, I don't recall ever being asked, "What program
do you want Internet Explorer to use to run videos?" (assuming this should
have happened). Called Dell and was advised this was a software problem of
some type, not covered by its warranty. Called Microsoft and was told
there's no warranty its software from day one, but I could pay $79 to talk to
a service tech. :-( Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Don Varnau]

Hi,
[Wild guesses]
* Turn on the Windows Firewall (from Control Panel or Security Center) and
disable any third-party firewall.

* IE> Tools> Manage add-ons. Disable all add-ons to see if one of them is
the cause.

* If QuickTime is installed (Start> Programs> QuickTime) open QT> Edit>
Preferences> QuickTime Preferences> File Types> Video> uncheck AVI (if it's
checked.)

* Open Windows Media Player. You may have to click on the arrow (pointing to
the lower right) at the lower right corner to get a Skin Mode view. Click on
Tools> Options> File types> click Select All, then OK.

Don
[MS MVP- IE]