XP, Chrome & outlook Hyperlink

My Dell Optiplex 760 is running Win XP sp3, with IE6, office 2007 and google chrome .
After a routine HD check outlook could no longer open hyper links.
Reinstalling XP did not help
Chrome is set as default browser,
updating Chrome failed with dialog message box, could be because it is the same version as the resident.
Tried all the help suggestions on google to no avail
Does any of you have a suggestion, as I am getting desperate.

 

install IE8 and all its updates

use a different browser, chrome no longer supports xp

 

Thank you Elizabeth
For some odd reason IE8 32Bit did not think it was compatible with my hardware, so I went back to IE7 32Bit, this installed overnight, but could not install the latest update, when I tried to open IE7, the desktop icon disappeared and nothing else happened, neither could I open it from the program folder.
However, on the good side, chrome still works and the hyper links are active again.
Another point, I found that the automatic windows update button on the system properties dialogue box is greyed out and can not be activated, any thought on how to activate this ?
Kind regards
Erik

 

microsoft updates requires sp3 and ie8 to run.

try the link start/ all programs/ top right should be a windows update, click on that,it is a direct link, but if you do not have ie8 you might not get anything but a "cannot display page"

where did you get the IE8 download from?

go here , it is my public files at onedrive download the folders ie8, ie8 updates, and the installer folder.

may be grayed out due to no ie8 or a virus, or automatic updates service is disabled.

 

Hi Elizabeth
Thank you for the reply.
My attempt to upgrade to IE8 from Microsoft web site failed with a message that it was incompatible with my system.
your suggestion ' start-all programs,-update windows' just gave a short flick of the hour glass, then nothing, similar to when I click on the IE icon on the desktop.
Is your IE8 files compatible with 32 bit processor ?.

 

Hi again Elizabeth
I downloaded and installed IE8 from your one drive site. Whilst IE8 seems to work ok, the hyperlinks are at times flaky, ie some just provide a blank screen whilst others work ok.
Any thought ?.
And also, does the largest update file contain all updates ?.
Cheers
Erik

 

after sp3 there are approx 200 updates for xp/office 2003

when I do a fresh install, I set internet options to all default settings, and I only go to microsoft updates from the link at the start/all programs, (it says windows updates at first, then will ask if you want to update to microsoft updates), I have portup which has a cache of approx 2gb of updates that I install before I ever go online to microsoft updates, and that is the only thing I use IE8 for, my default browser is firefox and mypal/serpent are extra browsers.

 

Thank you Elizabeth
following the "all programs link" I downloaded and installed 124 updates
I am still using Chrome as default web browser, but it is flaky when it comes to opening some hyper links, whilst IE8 won't open them at all.
You mentioned that you are using Firefox, is that with IE8 and Win XP ?.
I did use Firefox earlier, but when a Skype update failed with the Firefox version I used and a Firefox update failed, I suppose due to my 32 bit XP and IE6, I changed to Chrome.
With IE8 now installed, can I safely revert to Firefox ?.
Thank you again for your assistance
Cheers
Erik

 

https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/52.9.0esr/

above is the last version of firefox that works on xp

chrome does not support xp any longer which is why it is probably buggy.

 

Hi Elizabeth
Thank you for the link
Alas, The zipped download was the full installed suite of files, about 250MB, which of-course could not be installed.
A subsequent installation of Firefox 25.9.0 from the Mozilla website would not run, just kept the hourglass ticking for about 5 seconds, n\then nothing.
Cheers
Erik

 

you only need

Dir win32/ which leads to the page to decide for language and then it will take you to the link below

https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/52.9.0esr/win32/en-US/

43 MB

 

Hi elizabeth
Thank you for the advise, I used en-us
Alas, same result, it installed ok as default browser, but when activated, I just get a couple of blinks of the hourglass, then nothing.
However I did notice that it got as far as the Windows task manager, where it just sits, another attempt at starting just adds another line to the task manager, where they stay until removed.
Cheers
Erik

 

have you run a scan? this is not normal behaviour, for me the browser takes about 10 seconds to load a page, I only have 4mbs download capability in my area, I believe that you must have an infection

 

Hi Elizabeth
I have both MalwareBytes and AVG Professional, none of which are reporting anything sinister

 

run checkdisk with the /r parameter at least twice, run from the recovery console or from within windows

open command prompt
type:

chkdsk c: /r

notice space between k and c and between : and /

then press enter, it will ask if you want it to run at the next restart , type Y for yes
then press enter and restart pc.

you can see log in event viewer/applications/ in right hand pane look for Winlogon for results, it will be a lengthy run and the percentages will go up and down, this is normal

if any errors are found, then run again until no errors are found.

 

Hi Elizabeth
I ran chkdsk /r and have attached the report,
Following the report directory structure, I can't find files referred to,
Should I just empty the temp directory ?,
I will run chkdsk /r again and see what happens.
Cheers
Erik

 

always empty temp files as they will slow pc down

start/ run/ type in %temp% then when folder opens, select all and delete

there should be no errors on the second run, were there, and do not worry about finding the files

 

Hi Elizabeth
This is getting bigger than Ben Hur !.
After completing the second chkdsk, on restarting the PC seemed to crash with just a blue screen, after about 15 minutes I turned the power off and re-started. A while after rebooting windows was complete I got the message that windows had finished installing programs.
Then after deleting the temp files, there were 38 folders left un-deleted, each had a very short name, three letters and one digit, with .tmp extension, each folder containing a single file named 'system.dll'. they could not be deleted, is that a problem ?.
Cheers
Erik

 

anything with a .tmp file should be deleted, try doing it from safe mode

when you go to start/ turn off computer/ of the three buttons shown if there is a little shield icon on the TURN OFF button this means that updates are waiting to install that will not install on a restart, when these install (lengthy and the numbers will conflict, this is okay) the pc will turn off on its own when done.

powering off a computer can cause file corruption, that is why you always try to do a proper shutdown from the dialog box.

if a blue screen shows, I need the 0X****** number and/or any file names, messages to try to analyze the issue

 

Hi Elizabeth
Did another chkdsk c: /r today, it all went fine until the restart and loading user settings, where it stopped, after about one hour I hit the power button.
The PC seems to work fine now, although I haven't as yet tried to delete the *.tmp folders using safe mode, some of the *.tmp folders have up to 3 *.dll files in them.
Thank you for your help in steering me through these trials.
Cheers
Erik