There are a few problems which I have encountered when using Internet Explorer 8. First, it occasionally locks-up for no apparent reason. Sometimes this requires me to restart the computer, but other times it will come good with the message “Your computer has lost the lease to its IP Address 10.0.0.1”. Internet Explorer also locks-up when I am viewing certain websites and a prompt appears asking me to download and install Adobe Flash Player. When I activate the download either the computer locks-up immediately or when the Adobe download web page appears. In any case, I am unsure why I need Adobe Flash Player anyway. Another problem is that I am unable to clear the in the Google Toolbar. The “Clear History” button at the bottom of the list has disappeared so I am unsure whether this can be done. Finally, an unrelated question regarding a strange keyboard problem. When I press the SHIFT key for double-quotation marks the @ sign appears instead, and vice-versa. I have tried a different keyboard but the same problem happens. The computer is running Windows XP Service Pack 3 with McAfee Antivirus.

Internet Explorer crashes and freezes (or lock-ups) are quite tricky to diagnose given that Internet Explorer is an integrated component in Windows. However, there are some common causes that we can explore which will hopefully point us towards the root cause of the problems. My thinking is that the random lock-ups and Adobe Flash Player lockup are probably related, since there is a highly likely chance that the websites which you are visiting when the random lockup occurs have a Flash animation which causes the issue to manifest itself. Before leaping into troubleshooting this potential cause of the problem I will take a moment to explain what is Adobe Flash. In their purest form, web pages are made-up of HTML code. This is essentially English-like syntax which allow various elements (such as text, images, tables, etc.) to be positioned in certain places on the web page canvas. However, there are limitations of HTML such as the ability to play videos and content with a high degree of interactivity (such as online games). There is a new version of HTML (known as HTML5) which is currently being developed that can address some of these long-standing shortcomings, especially because for the past decade we have been in need of such advanced features embedded within web pages. To address these shortcomings third-party vendors developed plug-ins for web browsers which allow code written in their language to run within web browsers. One of the most popular of these is Adobe Flash. This allows developers to write Flash content and then embed this within a web page. However, because Flash is a third-party add-on for web browsers (i.e. web browsers are not designed to render Flash content out of the box) they require a plug-in which essentially allows the web browser to render and display that content. Without the plug-in the web browser would just see a Flash object on the web page and have no idea what it should do with that object.

Since Internet Explorer is prompting you to download the Adobe Flash plug-in it seems that you do not currently have this installed on the computer, or it is an outdated version. Therefore, before proceeding any further we should attempt to update the version of Flash on the computer. It is likely that when Internet Explorer has been prompting you to install Flash it has been trying to complete an automated installation. Since this is failing and freezing the browser we will attempt a different tact to install Flash. Go to the following website: get.adobe.com/flashplayer/otherversions/ . This allows you to select the version of Flash that you wish to download. For the operating system select “Windows 7/Vista/XP/2008/2003/2000” and click the “Continue” button. You should now be prompted to select which version you would like to download. Select “Flash Player for Windows – Internet Explorer” and, assuming that you have read and agree to the licence conditions, click “Agree and install now”. A dialog box should appear asking whether you would like to Run or Save the file. Despite what the instructions on the Adobe website say, click the “Save” button and save the file to a memorable location on the computer (such as the Desktop). Once the download has completed completely close Internet Explorer. Then, find the Adobe Flash installer file and double-click to run the installer. Once the installation has completed, re-open Internet Explorer and browse the internet to check whether the problem has been resolved.

Should the problem continue we should check whether any other third-party add-ons could be conflicting and causing this behaviour. You mention (pertaining to a different part of your question) that the Google Toolbar is installed within the web browser. This makes me wonder which other add-ons you may have installed which could potentially be causing problems. Fortunately there is a relatively straight-forward way to check whether this is the problem. You can start Internet Explorer without loading any add-ons for troubleshooting purposes, which is exactly what we need to do in this situation. Go to the “Start” menu > “All Programs” > “Accessories” > “System Tools” and open “Internet Explorer (No Add-ons)”. When Internet Explorer opens you may notice some things missing, such as the Google Toolbar. There is no need to worry – these are still installed, but we have just opened Internet Explorer without loading these add-ons for troubleshooting purposes.

With Internet Explorer running in no add-on mode, use the browser for a while and check whether the problem continues. Most likely, you will find that the problem no longer occurs. Unfortunately at this point the problem is not fixed, as running Internet Explorer in no add-on mode permanently is not a particularly feasible solution, given that you often need to use add-ons in Internet Explorer (to view PDF files within the browser, to view Flash content, etc.). However, this has given us a very good lead, as the problem is now confirmed as relating to an Internet Explorer add-on. Now we need to track down the particular add-on causing the problem. Close Internet Explorer and then go to the “Start” menu > “Control Panel” and open the “Internet Options” control panel (you may need to first select the “Network and Internet Connections” control panel category). This Internet Options window allows us to control which add-ons will load in Internet Explorer. We are going to disable all add-ons and then progressively, one-by-one, start re-enabling the add-ons until the problem reoccurs. At which time, we will know the add-on which is the problem.

In the Internet Options window, click the “Programs” tab and the “Manage add-ons” button. In the left-hand pane of the Manage Add-ons window, click the “Toolbars and Extensions” add-on type. In the right-hand pane all of the add-ons which are installed in Internet Explorer should appear. Note down all of the add-ons which are currently enabled (you can tell which ones are enabled as their Status column will be Enabled). Select all of the add-ons (either by pressing CTRL-A or holding SHIFT and selecting all the add-ons), then use the button at the bottom of the window to disable all of the add-ons. Once you have confirmed that they are all disabled (the Status column for each of the add-ons should display “Disabled”), click the “Close” button and then OK to save and close the Internet Options. Open Internet Explorer as normal and none of the add-ons should load, as you have specifically disabled all add-ons. Confirm that all is still working correctly, then close Internet Explorer and go back into the Internet Options and Manage Add-ons window. Re-enable one of the add-ons that was previously disabled. If you cannot see the add-ons make sure the “Show” drop-down box underneath the left-hand pane is set as “All add-ons”. Once that add-on has been enabled, click “Close” and then OK in the Internet Options. Restart Internet Explorer and check whether the problem reoccurs. Keep repeating this procedure until the problem reoccurs, at which point you know that the most recently enabled add-on is causing the problem. In this case leave that add-on disabled and write down its name. Continue to proceed enabling the add-ons one-by-one, just in case there is another add-on which is also causing problems.

With all of the add-ons enabled, except the one (or few) causing the problem, you should have a functioning Internet Explorer installation. Now you will need to investigate those problematic add-ons further. If your research indicates that you don’t need those add-ons you could just leave them disabled. However, if you do need some of those add-ons you may need to conduct further investigations to see whether an updated version is available which fixes the problem being experienced. I suggest consulting the website of the add-on developer for this information.

In the event that the problem is unresolved after disabling all add-ons, then we will need to look further at some other possible causes of the problem. In this situation please contact me again for further advice.

Moving onto your next question regarding the history of websites in the Google Toolbar, this should be a fairly straight-forward process and I have found the following article on the Google website which explains how the history can be cleared: www.google.com/support/toolbar/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=9271 . In fact, the article makes specific reference to the situation where you may not have the “Clear History” link at the bottom of the list and how you can still clear the history in the absence of this link.

Addressing your last question about the keyboard problem. It is good that you have already taken the troubleshooting step of trying another keyboard, as this eliminates one possible cause of the problem. The most likely reason that this is occurring is because the keyboard layout configured on your computer does not match the keyboard. In fact, a few weeks ago another reader wrote in with a similar problem. I provided a fairly comprehensive explanation of the issue, and how it can be corrected, which has now been posted in the SK Archive on my website at: www.siliconkid.com.au/2010/10/keyboard-letters/ . In the unlikely event that you find the problem continues after trying the procedure outlined in the article then please contact me again.