Internet Explorer Drama, I think ? Rant & Advice needed ?

[astronobob (Bob)]

Hi all,
Sorry if this is a Lame Post, But I just Dont 'Get' Puutas
Like, I can use Programmes, Basic astro, Photo shop, Adobe Illustrater ect, all these type things to some degree, No Dramas . .
But, the rest of the stuff Behind the scenes on PC's, well, Bout as usefull as an ashtray on a Motorcycle ?

Problem : Over the last couple months, about 4-5 times, I have started my 3-4yr old Desktop PC (acer aspire M3800, nothing Flash) and the Whole thing (Screen) looks different, 3/4's of my icons are gone, resolution has changed, background photo Gooone, IE does Not even have a my normal Home Page, just to mention a few ?

Now, in saying the above paragraph, I know if I want to, I could manually change some settings, eg, resolution, put my icons back, Replace my background, Internet home page ect, etc !
BUT, I dont understand, Why & Who on earth thinks that they have the right to change all my setting etc, with out my permission, This is OutRagious

Like if they ( Who are They) can do this, than I want to find out who they are, Break into their Mercedes, Re-upholster the interior to pink with purple dots, re-arrange all the controlls, not to mention, hide 3/4's of them, relace the nice tinted windows with clear glass, Paint Astro related Logos all over the body and signwrite a few favourite quotes on it, Like, BOORN FREEE & LIVE TO DIE, SMOKE WEED, even

Any's the Who, What I have been doing, and this is prob the Lame bit and that is, Ive just been doing a Systems Restore back to February, But somehow, this is not permanant ?

As mentioned, I think it has something to do with IE, Because, after these 'Illegal' changes, I mouse over the EI Icon and it states ( EI 9 ) Where As, When I restore, I have ( EI 4 ) ? ?
ALSO, I might add, I Do Not have 'Automatic Updates, Checked, or On, So It cant be a Windows thing ? Dont worry, I do a manual Windows Update evry 2-3 months, This is because, If I leave 'Auto Update ON, I get, 180MB of updates every time I turn the PC ON, Something else is adrift on that one, but I can manage this, as mentioned !

So, If any one can shed some light on this recent 'OverWriting' of my desktop and settings Etc, Id be very grateful indeed

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

I'm with you Bob!

Great when they are working well, frustrating when they're not! It always seems to be something to do with the internet that crashes the computer.
We have a stand alone for accounts at the business, never had a problem.
I would say though, you should do your updates more often. I was doing the same as you and the laptop slowed down to a point where it was useless.
I now do my updates regularly, it's worth paying for a little more internet time to do the updates and have less hassles.

Cheers,

Justin.

[astronobob (Bob)]

Cheers Justin, Do you think it is an update problem ? I only did one a few months back ? Could be possible, Ill look into it anyway, but that doesnt explain why my settings all change etc, Updates should Not change these things, I thought they are mainly designed to upgrade protection etc ? ? ?

Anyway, my PC is not crashing or going slow, everything runs sweet, I often do registry & hard drive cleans, also defrag automaticaly every two weeks, It is not cluttered with a thousand progs & a thousand web links ect, and after 4-5 yrs I have only used 1/5 of the hard drive space : ) Still runs as fast as new : )
The problem I have is that something/one is forcefully over-writing my desktop settings on start-up, My guess is, that its probably a conflick with all these new Internet arrangements going on out there, a lot of competition about, But which/what ? ?
Frustrating, as my updates are turn Off, as mentioned, so who/what is getting through this ? Almost sounds like a hacking caper, but I really doubt it ! More like IE forcing an upgrade of soughts ? ? With that in mind, I thought at least a few others may have been experiencing something similar ?

I hate going through these things, so I dont bother spending hrs going around in circles, cause I really dont have a clue ?
Thanx for your input all the same Justin, I could get my Son here and may shed some light on Updates or other etc, that I'm Not aware of ?
Anything worth a try at this stage mate

[martyn01 (Lane)]

If its not broke don't fix it, a lot of update start problems down the line

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

Originally Posted by astronobob

Cheers Justin, Do you think it is an update problem ? I only did one a few months back ? Could be possible, Ill look into it anyway, but that doesnt explain why my settings all change etc, Updates should Not change these things, I thought they are mainly designed to upgrade protection etc ? ? ?
Anything worth a try at this stage mate

Hi Bob,

I think that's one of those " How long is a piece of string question".

I really don't know, if updates will fix or make your situation worse. I can only go off the experience I had. Regular updates on OS seems to keep Win7 operating smoothly.

Cheers,

Justin.

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

Bob,
Are you still running under XP?
I have a similar aged set up and, touch wood, haven't experienced similar problems....
Running IE8..

[astronobob (Bob)]

Originally Posted by tilbrook@rbe.ne

Hi Bob,

I think that's one of those " How long is a piece of string question".

I really don't know, if updates will fix or make your situation worse. I can only go off the experience I had. Regular updates on OS seems to keep Win7 operating smoothly.

Cheers,

Justin.

Thanx again Justin, next time it happens I should just go with it, see what its about, just strange that it happens with Updates Off ? ?
Cheers also . .

Originally Posted by Merlin66

Bob,
Are you still running under XP?
I have a similar aged set up and, touch wood, haven't experienced similar problems....
Running IE8..

No, Not XP Merlin, whish was Win7, but have Vista Riska, could explain a thing or two, Lol. Ive found out that sometimes when I log off the little spinning wheel mouse pointer thingo keep on for over 5mins instead of 15-20secs, thats when things are changing for next startup ? So, I just Kill the switch before in finishes, ha ha, problem solvered
But Im sure all this isnt some disaster, Im going to run with it next time, just dont know how it happens with Updates Turned OFF
Appreciate you comment mate,
AvagoodN . .