Why you should not be using MSconfig to control startups!! http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=149804 Many people frequently use MSconfig as a long term solution to control startup processes and services. You will also see many websites condoning use of MSconfig and teaching you how to use it for controlling startups. This is a very bad idea for many reasons. 1. MSconfig was designed to be used only as a temporary debugging/troubleshooting tool. It was not meant to be used for long term solutions. 2. MSconfig does not show all startups anyway. 3. If you uninstall programs while they are being disabled with MSconfig, they will not be uninstall properly and you will have to resort to manual registry editing to properly get everything removed. MSconfig will leave orphan entries if/when installed software is uninstalled while under the control of MSconfig . When/if MSconfig is turned back to normal startup, it will give errors on boot due to those orphan entries. 4. MSconfig and Services: o If you uninstall programs while you have some of the programs services being controlled with MSconfig, the programs will not be uninstall properly and you will have to resort to manual registry editing to get everything properly removed. o When you uncheck a service in msconfig, you completely disable it. If you uncheck the wrong one, you may not be able to restart your computer. o It is safer to control services by using Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services (this runs services.msc). 5. You can lock malware items into your registry that you may not see anymore until some point in time where you switch back to Normal Startup mode and now you can cause total reinfection of your PC with the malware. You need to remove the malware not mask it. If you still don't understand why not to use MSconfig, see what Microsoft writes here: The key point is stated as such: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310560

I am using Firefox. So far today things seem to be running ok. The pictures were not a camera photos but images of something found on a website by my friend. Usually she or I will find a cute idea to craft and will send a picture of it. No problem in the years or days past everything always opens. Even when my friend had sent me a link to a site all I got was that blank page. Maybe firefox caught up with the new Adobe reader. Iris I don't get anything like this in my e-mails. The images just always open. On my list is to buy a pictorial Windows 7 book. I could really use it. I thought I may do ok with this new widows but there are some things that is different or sofware like my music software that will not work as it was outdated and no longer being made. Still have to work this issue out.

Lynn, Are you using 'Windows XP', 'Vista', or some other operating system? You mentioned 'Superantispyware' removing "several spywares". Have you also run a full scan with your 'anti-virus' program? If not, update and run a full scan. Something else I overlooked when I read your initial post, I see you're using AOL 9.1. I'm still using AOL 9.0 SE, so there may be some changes to the way things are done in 9.1 as far as repairing the software. I'm not even sure they have the same features in 9.1 so let's forget about 'rebuilding the AOL adapter' for now. Someone else using that version of AOL will have to jump in here. If you have the 'AOL' icon down in the system tray (by the clock) you can right click that and see what options there are. System Restore is painless and if you don't get the results you want you just 'undo' the restore. If you had any kind of virus or spyware infection and you restore to a time when your machine was infected, yes, it will restore those infections, but you can always run your anti-virus and anti-spyware applications again to remove them. I can't say for certain whether or not 'system restore' will affect your bookmarks but it is always a good idea to back up anything on your computer that you cannot afford to lose or want the hastle of having to replace. There can never be enough said about the importance of backing up important data! I use Acronis True Image which makes an image of the complete hard drive, sector by sector, that will restore everything including operating system, programs, documents, pictures, data, etc. to the 'T'. This is on a second drive in my PC in case my primary drive should fail. I also have an external hard drive where I back up 'My Documents'. "I also ran ccleaner right after the updates (I thought at first that that was the problem) - should I rerun that as well?" No, running CCleaner again is not going to fix the problem, nor do I see where CCleaner would have created your problem, unless by chance, if you also used the 'Registry' feature in CCleaner, it may have removed something. Anytime you use any kind of registry cleaner it should have the option of making a backup in case things go wrong, which is exactly why most cleaners, some don't, have the backup option. Either that or create a 'system restore' point before you use it. Using a 'registry cleaner' is a hot topic. Some swear by them, others swear at them! I personally have use Macecraft 'Reg Supreme' for years with no ill effects. "There may have been an easier way to do this, but I just copied and pasted all the bookmarks I made_____". There is: Internet Explorer has an 'import/export' feature for transferring or backing up your cookies and favorites. Click on 'File' in the Menu bar at the top of the IE browser, select 'Import/Export', and follow the Wizard. You can save them to a file on your computer for retrieval later if you should need to do so using the same wizard. I made a folder called 'Backups' in the 'My Documents' folder where I store a copy of my 'cookies' and 'favorites'. In Firefox, I'm still using version 2.0.0.16, if you go to 'Bookmarks' in the Menu bar and select 'Organize bookmarks' and click on 'File', you'll find an 'Import' and 'Export' wizard. Drink some 'brave' juice and try the system restore first to see if that works. Witz

Okay.....I did both updates, and then I ran JavaRa and removed all old versions. But then I went to the Mozilla Plugin Check Page, and saw that it still listed my Java as old and outdated. So I said okay, and I clicked Update--whereupon we went through the installation process again. However, the previous time I selected the 64-bit version because that's what my computer is, and this time I chose the 32-bit version. Now Mozilla says all my plug-ins are current and secure. Of course, I still can't load MSNBC and assorted other sites with Firefox. :-/ Since we've made all these changes, do you think it would help if I uninstalled and reinstalled Firefox?