Australian PC World - Internet Explorer 4.0: problem child

Internet Explorer 4.0: problem child

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Just two weeks after Microsoft posted the final version of Internet Explorer 4.0 to its Web site, the company issued a patch to close a security loophole. The "Freiburg issue", discovered by researcher Ralf Hueskes of Freiburg in Germany, allows Web hackers to view, but not alter, files on your computer. For details and a patch, check out http://www.microsoft.com/ie/security/?/ie/security/freiburg.htm.
More troubling, Microsoft's online KnowledgeBase (http://support.microsoft.com/support) already lists dozens more glitches and incompatibilities in the browser and its Outlook Express mail and news reader. Microsoft says Version 4.01 will fix most of the installation glitches described below; see http://www.microsoft.com/ie/download/.
None of the confirmed bugs appears to threaten your data, though your sanity may be at risk. Browser bugs include incompatibility with the Microsoft Office Manager toolbar; vanishing Start buttons, taskbars, and desktop icons; and Dial-Up Networking connections that freeze during dialling. Outlook Express cannot read news messages that contain lines starting with a period; it crashes when exporting messages into Microsoft Exchange; and it sends all messages immediately, even if they're scheduled for later delivery.
These buglets aren't IE 4.0's only pitfalls. Any number of installation missteps can make Windows all but unusable. To minimise IE 4.0 headaches, follow these guidelines:
· Install Windows 95 Service Pack 1 before installing IE 4.0.
· Don't install old versions of Microsoft Network or QuarterDeck's CleanSweep 3.0 if you ever want to browse the Web again.
· Remove IE 4.0 before you try to install IE 3.0 or restore a pre-IE 4.0 registry backup.
Of course, uninstalling IE 4.0 causes problems too. If you installed Office 97 after you installed IE 4.0, hyperlinks you created in Office documents will no longer work, and the Internet icon may vanish from the Control Panel. The solution is to reinstall Office 97 and install the Office 97 Service Release 1 patch.
And the troubles don't stop there. IE 4.0 won't display Adobe Acrobat files if the Content Advisor is turned on (or even mildly aroused) and works only with the latest version of the Acrobat Reader (3.01), downloadable from Adobe's Website (http://www.adobe.com). Norton Utilities 2.0's Protected Recycle Bin breaks down after you install IE 4.0. Use the program's Live Update feature to download an IE 4.0 compatibility patch. And Compaq Presario computers with the Home Base user interface installed roll over and die after you install IE 4.0. Find CPR instructions and an IE 4.0 compatibility patch at http://www.compaq.com/athome/ie40/instructions.html.
- Scott Spanbauer

Category: Bugs and fixes
Issue: Mar 1998
Pages: 176