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I am hoping that there is a computer guru on this site that knows about networking.

I have a laptop that I allow the kids to use. It is connected to the internet router (BT Infinity) wirelessly. The laptop has multiple user accounts on it which I have created using the admin account in the control panel of the Windoes 7 that is installed.

Something has happend to the laptop and now Firefox and Internet Explorer (the only two internet browsers on the machine) will not start.

I have checked the connection in the networks area of the control panel and it says the connection is fine. There is a weather app on the desktop that updates everytime the computer is logged onto.

If I create a new user account then Firefox and IE can both be used in the new account, until the machine is turned off and then that too does not work.

Rather than keep creating accounts does anyone know what settings need to be changed to the allow access back to the internet via Firefox?

Thanks in advance

I don't know Windows that well but a browser (Firefox or Internet Explorer) should not need an internet/network connection to work. They can happily open locally stored files. Thus, I suspect that the issues do not relate to network connectivity.

But afraid I can't offer other suggestions.

Ian

When you say FF and IE will not start, what actually happens when you click on the icons? Is there a message or just zilch?

An intriguing problem - the browsers work when you create a new user account but when you next log in they don't.

I assume you have tried the obvious things like switching on and off and checked you have all the latest Windows updates.

Assuming this, you could try to turning the machine back to the most recent system restore point. Which you can find by entering "system restore" in the "search programs and files" bar under Start.

Sorry I should have said that when I click on Firefox I get my egg timer but then nothing. If I then look in the task manager I can see the there is no application started but the processors have started.

Thanks for the replies so far.

Once the either program has failed to start, if you can see the relevant entry under "processes" in task manager you will need to click on the listing & do an "end process" to get rid of it before you may be able to run it again successfully.

My best guess is that an add-on has got problems. Internet Explorer can be started without add-ons like this

Internet Explorer help wrote:Turn off add-ons

Add-ons are apps that browsers use to interact with web content like videos and games. Incompatible or out-of-date add-ons might cause Internet Explorer to run slowly or crash, or prevent sites from displaying correctly. Before you turn off all add-ons, try starting Internet Explorer without add-ons to see if the problem goes away.

1.Click the Start button, and enter Internet Explorer in the search box.

2.Click Internet Explorer (No Add-ons) in the list of results.

If this seems to fix the problem, you might want to turn off all add-ons, then turn them back on only as you need them. Learn how to turn add-ons off by reading Managing add-ons in Internet Explorer.

(from "What to do when Internet Explorer stops working")

Firefox can be started without add-ons by holding the "Shift" key and clicking the icon to run it. (this page may give further help).

If that solves the problem then you need to try re-enabling add-ons one at a time to find the problem one (most likely the one that was added or updated most recently). If you can find the naughty one in one browser it is probably best to uninstall it from both, then reinstall t if you really want it.

Hope that helps.

Rick.

Thanks for all the advice that you have given me.

The problem still persists but has now got a complication.

I am still unable to use FireFox or IE I have now turned off/disabled all the add-ons and still they do not run.

RickH wrote:1.Click the Start button, and enter Internet Explorer in the search box.

2.Click Internet Explorer (No Add-ons) in the list of results.

Firefox can be started without add-ons by holding the "Shift" key and clicking the icon to run it. (this page may give further help).

Rick.

Rick, doing your suggestion did not start either program so I was lost as to what to do next.

I started the laptop in "Safe mode with networking" and downloaded Chrome.

Chrome seems to be working ok and I am able to use it again after turning the laptop off. This is a step forward. The problem I have now though is that I had a lot of web pages shortcuts in my favourites in Firefox so could do with them back (I prefer Firefox to Chrome but then I am more use to it).

Any other ideas?

Thanks