IE6 - red x - encoding (IE6)

**jwelch22** · 2003-02-04 16:34

Some images show, but some don't (red x). I have to keep going to the VIEW - ENCODING - and selecting "Unicode (UTF-8)" in order to see the pictures. "Show pictures" is turned on under multimedia. My security settings are low (perhaps inadvisably so). I also have auto select activated. I've seen some messages about this problem, but none that reference my repeated trips down the VIEW menu to show the pictures. I'm using Win XP home edition. Any ideas? Thanks

R2 · 2003-02-04 18:38

I have read about this problem since the advent of IE6. I have heard a bunch of different ways to "fix" this. Clearly, when there are a bunch of different fixes and explanations, then no one answer is right. Microsoft has not been able to shed any more specific light on this issue.

There used to be a laundry list of things you can try to fix this, but I have not seen it for several months...

**jwelch22** · 2003-02-04 19:06

I've seen these lists as well. I tried a few of them, but have met with disappointing results. I've also reinstalled IE, ran a scan using the Win XP installation disk - nada. My searches in the MS knowledge base haven't helped either (probably because the postings are over my head). I'm hoping someone has a good fix to report here.

R2 · 2003-02-04 19:34

Every item I ever saw on a list got put there by someone SWEARING it was the single answer... That includes the Encoding options and checking Show Pictures.

If you are hoping for one of us to SWEAR by a single "good fix", I would not hold my breath. To the best of my knowledge, no one has found it yet.

**SMBP** · 2003-02-05 22:02

Jwelch--
I had the same problem with my previous install, and with this clean install. It occurs on certain web pages no matter what I search for to try. It isn't often, but enough to want to fix it. Would welcome the answer.

SMBP

**jwelch22** · 2003-02-06 14:31

When I signed on this morning, I noticed an IE service pack appeared as an automatic update. Excitedly, I installed it. Still same problem (even after several re-boots). Maybe it will end some of the run time errors I've experienced, but it has done nothing to stop me from having to change the encoding language from "Western European (ISO)" to "Western European (windows)" or "Unicode (UTF-8)" in order to view images. If I could only set the default language choice, I think I'd be more than half-way there. Does anyone know how to do this? MS Frontpage is set as my HTML Editor under INTERNET OPTIONS - PROGRAMS. Could there be a setting in Frontpage that I should be looking at? The plot thickens. Thanks for any suggestions.
-Jack

**SMBP** · 2003-02-06 16:41

Does anyone know where there is a meaningful guide to the reasons for applying these different encoding languages and their contexts?

SMBP

**Leif** · 2003-02-06 17:37

IE Help > Contents and Index > Search (for "encoding") ?

R2 · 2003-02-06 20:06

Exactly. I have a very hard time rationalizing why language encoding has any thing to do with images failing to load anyway. To me, the encoding changes are likely just another red herring.

Microsoft describes the Encoding option thusly:

"Language Encoding

Encoding refers to the character set used to display a language. The United States is associated with the Western European character set. The Western European character set contains the letters and symbols for English, French, Spanish, and Italian.

To see a list of all the character sets available in Internet Explorer, click Encoding on the View menu, and then click More. If an uninstalled character set is chosen, the Install on Demand (IOD) feature prompts you to install it. This enables you to control the character set encoding being used to render a Web page."

I did find one MSKB article on the topic here:

Web Page Displays an Image As a Red X or Not at All

Now, you will note that the "Encoding" is mentioned early on, but at the bottom there is a little explanation:

"Most Web pages contain information that tells the browser which language encoding (the language and character set) to use. This is normally done by using something similar to "charset=" in the Web page code.

If the Web page does not include that information, and you have the Language Encoding Auto-Select feature enabled, Internet Explorer can usually determine the appropriate language encoding."

Regardless, I still don't see a connection that makes sense to me...

One of the issues that was clearly a problem was Norton's Firewall. MS used to have a MSKB article on that also, but I cannot find it quickly. If you have NPF, disable it and see it the images are displayed correctly.

EDIT: Ah, here is one article on Norton and the Red X:
Web Pages Display a Red "X" Instead of a Graphic

**SMBP** · 2003-02-07 03:19

Bet that's it. I do have NIS. Will try disabling it with the next set of red X's--I have System Works as well and there are a number of NAV entries in MSCONFIG start and Task Mgr. processes. If that nails it, then I'll disable Internet Security or at least the firewall portion, and use XP's somewhat vulnerable firewall, tweak it best I can and get a router as an adjunct.

Thanks,

SMBP

**jwelch22** · 2003-02-07 13:14

I flat-out uninstalled Norton Firewall, reinstalled IE6 and ran Windows Update to no avail. I've nearly worn out the "show images" and the Java machine options checkboxes under advanced options. Nothing seems to work. The default "Western European (ISO)" default seems to be my biggest problem. Does anyone know the difference between Western European ISO and WINDOWS? If there were a way to remove the ISO version, would the default switch to a functional language? I've used the help files in IE, but I didn't find any useful clues that were helpful to someone as in the dark about encoding as me.

**Phil Rabichow** · 2003-02-09 00:05

I noticed that the KB article you mentioned says that .jpg, .gif, & others should be associated by default with Iexplore.exe. That's strange because when I run IE repair on Win 98SE, those are reassociated with Microsoft Photo Editor. The repair function does seem to clear up my red x problem, at least temporarily. Oh, well--more mysteries.

R2 · 2003-02-09 03:18

Interesting. I don't think MS has a good handle on this problem -- there are too many potential causes....

**jwelch22** · 2003-02-12 18:33

Just a quick suggestion for those experiencing this annoying problem: It might be worthwhile to move the encoding icon in IE's toolbar up a few notches to give quick access to the "Western European (Windows)" or "Unicode (UTF-8)" option. Right click on the toolbar, choose customize, select the encoding icon and click the "move up" command until it's positioned in a more accessible location (I placed mine right after the refresh icon). Certainly not a fix, but it sure beats traveling down the view menu or the "show more" arrows at the far right of the toolbar.

R2 · 2003-02-12 20:46

You may want to check out this thread. I discussed this fix awhile ago and was told it did not work. Now, some people say it does. It is a familiar tale. Who knows...

http://www.pcqanda.com/dcforum/computer/55230.html

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