Filetonic / My Facebook and Myspace are all messed up. I’ve reformatted my computer and it hasn’t helped. Both sites randomly delete info, and delete friends. Neither site even allows me to add any friends. I’ve changed passwords, and run virus scans. I’ve heard that active X control errors might have something to do with it.

My Facebook and Myspace are all messed up. I’ve reformatted my computer and it hasn’t helped. Both sites randomly delete info, and delete friends. Neither site even allows me to add any friends. I’ve changed passwords, and run virus scans. I’ve heard that active X control errors might have something to do with it.

Kat Delong As it seems that only these two social networking sites are affected, the problem is most likely with something that you are running, either on your computer or with your Internet Service Provider. If you are receiving specific error messages, it might be easier to pinpoint problems with the websites themselves. Here are some suggestions that have worked with other users experiencing the same problems:

Switch computers or change your web browser. If you can access MySpace and Facebook from another system, it will confirm that the problem is with something you are running. Several users have reported an error called Transport Error #400 when using Firefox that disappears when they switch to Internet Explorer.
Delete your history and your cookies for both websites. To clear your history, log onto the Internet. From the toolbar, select Tools, then Clear Private Data. Make sure Cache is the only thing that is checked and then click on the Clear Private Data button. To clear your cookies for both MySpace and Facebook, log onto the Internet and click on Tools. Click on Options, then Privacy and then Show Cookies. Remove the cookies for Facebook and MySpace - don’t click on Remove All Cookies, because there is no way to undo it once they are removed.
Check your security software. This could be the result of java script being blocked by your security software, particularly Norton Internet Security. You can test for this by temporarily disabling your security software and see if you can access the websites without problems. Make sure that you only disable this temporarily because if you leave it off, you are vulnerable to many problems that will make your situation worse. You can set most systems to drop for a limited amount of time - an hour is probably the longest you want to go without protection. If this works, we can research ways to work around NIS permanently so that you don’t leave yourself vulnerable.
Check Parental Controls. You parental controls may have been set to block aspects of Facebook and MySpace - either on accident or on purpose by someone who is parental. IF you have access and can change the parental controls settings (such as if you are the parent), here is how to do it on Windows Vista. If you can’t change your parental controls, it’s time to go and talk to your parents about responsibility. Go to the Start button on your computer. Click on Control Panel, then User Accounts and then Family Safety. Click on Parental Controls. In the User Account Control Window, click Continue. Click on Parental Controls. Your Current Settings and Restrictions will appear on the right side of the screen. See if any of these include MySpace or Facebook. To check Parental Controls in Windows, go to My Computer then Control Panel and then Internet Options. Click on Content. Under the Content Advisor tab, click on Enable. Here you can adjust for acceptable exposure. It will prompt you to enter a password to save the controls.

I think that one of these solutions will work for your problem. If not, feel free to come back to us with specific errors, or contact tech support at: www.filetonic.com/support .