My Problem with Nuisance Temp Files

Mike,

I'm still using IE 5.5.4807.2300. I tried the Me version of 6 but really
didn't like the strange things it did--especially, it made "bouncy whirly"
scrollbars in Windows Explorer, and caused highlighted-text in an email to
open a new message (with the highlighted text pasted in) when scrolled!
When I needed a new hard drive last year and had to reinstall Me, I was very
pleased to have 5.5 back '-)

I have a new modem still in the box--got it several weeks ago thinking the
complete breakdown of the old couldn't be that far off. Guess I need to get
it into the computer now and see what happens. Though I do it, I'm not
really keen on taking this thing apart :-b

I don't remember whether or not I played around with IE's Advanced
settings. For a while I was having big warning boxes pop up over some web
pages saying the page would not display correctly because of my ActiveX
settings. The only things missing would always be ads, so I concluded
SpywareBlaster had changed some security setting since it had been warning
me IE's ActiveX settings weren't safe. That's not happening anymore, and as
far as I remember I haven't altered anything, so I don't know what's
different--maybe the SpywareBlaster program itself was updated?

I did an Add/Remove repair on IE tonight thinking it couldn't hurt, and
reset the security options to default (Internet/Medium). I also discovered
this new twist: if I open IE first thing after a fresh boot--without being
or having been connected to the internet, no fff files appear in the Windows
folder. I opened and closed IE three times this way and no tmp files ever
appeared. When I closed IE, dialed-up and reopened it, then checked the
Windows folder again, there they were--two fresh fff's.

carol

"Mike M" wrote in message
...
Carol,

Could the modem be causing IE's response?

I really don't know and its a bit hard to diagnose what might be happening
with your connection without actually observing the fluctuations in speeds
and then checking with a second set of hardware to determine if the
problem is with your line or the hardware on your PC. Is there a chance
that you could borrow another modem from a friend to check this out?

I'm unclear as to why or how your disconnects then leads to other programs
locking up. This sounds awfully like unwanted malware of some sort but I
think not and am sure there is some other simpler explanation however as
to what that might be is beyond me. g

Returning to your fff tmp files. It would seem then that these are being
created by IE in some way and that this is probably controlled by some
Advanced setting or other. I thought that disabling script debugging was
all that was required but you have proven me wrong so some other setting
has to be involved as well. Out of curiosity what version of IE are you
running (Help | About should give you plenty of info here)?
--
Mike Maltby



caroloyl wrote:

Hi Mike

You're spot on! Working with your idea, I cold booted and waited five
minutes before running anything. Then I opened the Windows folder to
see if the fff files were in there but found nada. Then I opened a
few programs one at a time refreshing the Windows folder immediately
after each loaded to see if the fff's had appeared--but there were
still none after running a search, looking at pictures with PicaView,
opening OE and running a scripted stationery, and invoking the
dial-up. However, once online, as soon as I loaded IE there they
were!

Strange that I'd have had two fff's in January then no more until the
middle of April (and then a number of them every day since!) I think
my three-year old modem is on it's way out--very slow downloading of
late--sometimes stalling to a complete standstill, with heaps of
disconnects these last few months too. I know it's affected the
performance of IE and OE--especially after it's disconnected itself
and I've reinvoked it. Once that's happened both programs sometimes
lock up/misbehave until I shut down completely and reboot (a simple
restart doesn't fix). Could the modem be causing IE's response?

Carol,

None of the problems you mention you saw when you installed IE6 on your
Win Me box are a feature of IE6 and suggest that your install failed or
was incomplete in some way. I'm not sure what you changed to get the
Active-X warnings pop up - something I rarely recall having seen, I
primarily use SpywareBlaster to block access to unwanted sites.

It's interesting that you say the fff tmp files are not created if you
open IE immediately following booting your system and before connecting to
the net and that they only appear if you open IE when already connected to
the net. Sadly though I'm none the wiser as to what is happening here but
will see if I can find out anything from someone who knows more about the
workings of IE than I do.
--
Mike Maltby



caroloyl wrote:

Mike,

I'm still using IE 5.5.4807.2300. I tried the Me version of 6 but
really didn't like the strange things it did--especially, it made
"bouncy whirly" scrollbars in Windows Explorer, and caused
highlighted-text in an email to open a new message (with the
highlighted text pasted in) when scrolled! When I needed a new hard
drive last year and had to reinstall Me, I was very pleased to have
5.5 back '-)

I have a new modem still in the box--got it several weeks ago
thinking the complete breakdown of the old couldn't be that far off.
Guess I need to get it into the computer now and see what happens.
Though I do it, I'm not really keen on taking this thing apart :-b

I don't remember whether or not I played around with IE's Advanced
settings. For a while I was having big warning boxes pop up over
some web pages saying the page would not display correctly because of
my ActiveX settings. The only things missing would always be ads, so
I concluded SpywareBlaster had changed some security setting since
it had been warning me IE's ActiveX settings weren't safe. That's
not happening anymore, and as far as I remember I haven't altered
anything, so I don't know what's different--maybe the SpywareBlaster
program itself was updated?

I did an Add/Remove repair on IE tonight thinking it couldn't hurt,
and reset the security options to default (Internet/Medium). I also
discovered this new twist: if I open IE first thing after a fresh
boot--without being or having been connected to the internet, no fff
files appear in the Windows folder. I opened and closed IE three
times this way and no tmp files ever appeared. When I closed IE,
dialed-up and reopened it, then checked the Windows folder again,
there they were--two fresh fff's.