My Vista saga continues ...

[Ibex]

Hi there bored readers, or frustrated Vista operators.

(Oops, the title should have read "My Vista Saga continues ..." This problem has me rattled. I can't change the title once it has been posted. Anyway, I am having tons of hassles with both operating systems. It's a nightmare.)

I had put in a WiFi modem so that I could put my spare Vista Machine on the Net using a “dongle” in place of a wireless connection. (My desktop machine was not designed for wirless connections.) A physical connection would be out of the question because it would require a phone cable some thirty to forty feet long. Not a practical propostion.

Previously all elements transmitted to the machine were done via flash drive and CD/DVD disc. Some things just require a machine to be online for them to be introduced. So the Net it had to be. My phone company supplied me with a wireless dongle and installation disc. I was rapt. I was ready to get this machine connected. So I put the installation CD into the drive, connected the dongle as per instructions, and followed all the prompts for installing this device. Then came the usual downer with this machine. The browser had ceased to work! It was defective, which I new, but I hoped somehow that it would last long enough for me to make the connection, and then, HOPEFULLY, I could download another browser and everything would be sweet. NO SUCH LUCK!

OK, I used my XP machine, which also has a damaged browser, to download a Vista version of IE8 and also IE9. This went off without a hitch. I transferred both applications to my Vista machine via flash drive in a folder. I then went to install IE8, thinking that if I could install it successfully, then I could upgrade to IE9 - there is some method to my madness. Everything looked fine. The installation panel came to the screen and the “downloading” began. After an hour of this downloading I smelled a rat. I sensed that this would go on for ever without any result. So I cancelled the sham installation. What do I do now? It appears that I cant get onto the Net without a fully functioning browser. But I can’t get one till I am directly connected to the Net it seems. That's what they call a Catch-22. (I must really have ticked somebody off in a previous life.) Can anybody suggest a solution. I guess that I do have the option of reloading my OS, but that is a really drastic exercise. I would have to reinstall lots of files too, and I don’t know the Vista operating system all that well.

Thanks for your patience.

[Medico]

Did you attempt the whole browser download, or just the .exe download which then has to connect to the web to download?

Try this CNet site

There is also a link to download IE 9 there.

[Ibex]

Thanks for that info. I'll try that.

[Ibex]

No. That didn't work. CNET only directed me to the Microsoft site where I originally downloaded the teo IE versions.

[Just Plain Fred]

Ibex,
Hello...Seems that you could download Firefox to a flash drive (another PC) and install it on your "Problem PC". Regards Fred

PS: Personally i never use IE for anything..haven't for years, and always keep a copy (FireFox) just for this instance.