Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Some links do not work in IE8 but do work in Firefox

Sep 13, 2010 12:09AM PDT

Some links don't work in IE8 that work very nicely in Firefox. I'm running Win7 Home Premium. Is there a patch fix for this from Microsoft?

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Not a problem that I have come across
Sep 13, 2010 4:48AM PDT

so I doubt there is any 'fix' from Microsoft.

You don't provide any examples, so we can't test for ourselves, but all I can say that my own IE8 behaves exactly the same as Firefox does when clicking links.

May be you have some IE Add-on that is causing a problem?

Mark

- Collapse -
Example of links not working in IE8
Sep 14, 2010 1:21AM PDT

You asked for examples of links that don't work. One of the links I depend on working is in my Hotmail account. They don't. Yet they do work when I open Hotmail in Firefox.

- Collapse -
I have the same problem with IE8
Sep 14, 2010 5:13AM PDT

IE8 really is the pits it locks up all the time if you get more than 10 tabs going but to the topic at hand. I have the same problem with some links. Go to http://www.flickr.com and take the tour after the first page when trying to go follow the "next" sharing with friends and family link, it fails with error on page in the status bar.

I crank up firefox and go right through the flickr tour with no problem. So don't pass it off on the op's system or configuration. IE8 is just plain garbage compared to the other browsers.

With IE8 I have problems with adobe's pdf addons as well.I have run it without enabling any addon's (which is stupid if you think people don't want to be able to use the addons) and still same kind of behavior. There is also no way to remove an addon that I have found?? You can only disable them which is yet another irritation with IE8! And if you try uninstalling it and reloading it. The setup reinstalls all the addons you had before you uninstalled IE8!

But I'll be watching this thread to see if someone has a work-around as I use IE8 for testing web site builds.

- Collapse -
Found the answer to my problem and possibly yours.
Mar 4, 2011 9:13PM PST

Go to the link below and in the second paragraph you'll find "checkout my ready to use code" underlined. That will take you to the code he wrote to re-register corrupted IE8 components. Pay attention to his statement about changing part of the code if you're running 32-bit instead of the 64-bit for which the code was written. Please don't hesitate to reply with any questions.

http://www.brighthub.com/hubfolio/arun-kumar-m/blog/archive/2010/08/29/troubleshooting-and-reinstalling-internet-explorer-in-windows-7.aspx#ixzz1EbTet3Si

cmfurgason

- Collapse -
The usual suspects
Sep 14, 2010 5:20AM PDT

are the add-ons.

There's no easy way to check this. You can try IE's Safe Mode, (Start menu > All programs > Accessories > System Tools > "Internet Explorer (Without Add-Ons)".

That runs IE without any 3rd party extensions and is useful for diagnosing add-on problems.

May be the easiest way to do this is to Reset IE. Open it as normal, goto Tools > Internet Options, then the Advanced tab, and click the Reset button. But bewarned, this may delete all your Favorites. cookies, history and any web site logins that IE has saved.

Mark

- Collapse -
IE without add-ons
Sep 16, 2010 7:41AM PDT

Sorry, running IE8 without add-ons didn't help.

- Collapse -
Then the next steps
Sep 16, 2010 8:26PM PDT

are Security options and malware scans

See if IE's Security settings are set too high, IE > Tools > Internet Options > Security tab. For example my IE security is set to Medium-high for the internet.

If that fails, maybe your system is infected? Make sure your anti-virus is updated and run a full scan, and then for good measure download, install, update and run full scans with both Malwarebytes' Anti-malware and SUPERAntiSpyware

Mark

- Collapse -
What is "a link in a hotmail account"?
Sep 16, 2010 8:37PM PDT

And what specific link ("one of the links I depend on") is it? Do other links in that account work?

Now in IE right click on that link, choose Copy Shortcut, paste it to the address bar and press enter. Can you post that link here (if doesn't intrude on your privacy)? Does it take you to the intended location? Then it works!

Kees

- Collapse -
New Update IE9
Sep 17, 2010 5:48AM PDT

Yes... i tried it .. with addones.. and now i have upgraded it.. it working now..

- Collapse -
Glad you got it sorted.
Sep 17, 2010 9:35PM PDT

That IE9 in only a Beta version, so expect some instability with it. But I hope it works well for you.

Mark

- Collapse -
Links not working in IE8
Mar 4, 2011 9:05PM PST

I found the reason. Some of the components of IE8 had been corrupted. Arun Kumar, MVP, posted a code (free to all) that re-registers the components and my problem was solved with a reboot after running the code.