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I am trying to register for online banking but on one of the screens I can’t get to the bottom of the screen to press submit. Can you help me?

Oversized Web Forms

This sounds like the Web form is larger than your screen. You are only seeing the top portion of the form and it appears as though there’s more but it is running off your screen, correct? This is definitely an annoyance. It could be a problem with the programming of the Web site or your Web browser may not be compatible with the Web site.

Browser Compatibility

Web developers typically create their websites with specific Web browsers in mind, usually taking advantage of the latest browser versions and their technologies. While this is terrific for users who use the browser version that the site was designed for, it’s not so great for users of older or alternative browsers.

The first thing that I would try before switching or updating browsers is the zoom utility. If you have Internet Explorer, look at the bottom right corner of the window. See the magnifying glass? Click the down arrow and choose 50%. This will shrink the entire Web site, including the oversized Web form. You should now be able to see and click the Submit button.

Updating Web Browsers

Hopefully the submission form is the only part of the Web site where you will have to shrink the page. If you find that your online banking site doesn’t work very well with your browser, then consider updating to the latest version or trying one of the alternative Web browsers such as Mozilla Firefox.

Internet Explorer Update

The most current version of Internet Explorer is IE 8.0 as of this writing. One of its new features is a compatibility view mode. When Web pages are not displaying as they should, such as text running off the screen, clicking on the Compatibility View button allows you to view sites that were designed for older Web browsers. So, if you’re running Internet Explorer 8.0 and your online banking page isn’t displaying properly, it’s likely not designed for the version of Internet Explorer. In this situation, you would click the Compatibility View button (it’s to the right of the Address bar) and the site should display properly.

I tried to download Javascript and I am getting error that ActiveX is not functioning. Where do I get ActiveX or is part of my system that is not working?

Enable Javascript

In order to view content written in Javascript, you must enable your computer’s Web browser to do so, so let’s start there before moving on to ActiveX. Go into Internet Explorer and click Tools > Internet Options. Click the Security tab and then click the globe. Choose Custom Level and find the Scripting section. Find Active Scripting and choose Enable. If you use a different Web browser, view this article about enabling Javascript for more details.

What is ActiveX?

ActiveX is indeed a part of your Windows operating system. ActiveX controls are like small chunks of code that are shared between Microsoft programs. For example, if you are using Internet Explorer and encounter a Web site that contains .wmv video files, a built-in ActiveX control pulls up the code for Windows Media Player and plays the file directly in the Web browser. Similarly, an ActiveX control is responsible for playing Flash within the Web browser rather than launching the Flash Player directly.

ActiveX Settings

ActiveX is often restricted by default in Internet Explorer due to security issues. Viruses and Trojans have tricked users into installing them by posing as legitimate ActiveX controls. Of course, they weren’t legitimate. To protect against such intruders, several layers of security have been implemented. You may need to adjust your security settings to get the ActiveX control that you need working properly.

Again, you will go into Internet Options and click the Security tab. Click Customize and find the ActiveX control section. Look for “Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins.” Is it disabled? If so choose “prompt” or “enable.” There are other ActiveX options, but this is the one that is most likely blocking your installation. Be careful about enabling any of the options for “unsafe” or “unsigned” ActiveX controls. When in doubt, go for “prompt” instead of “enable.” By choosing “prompt” you will be notified on a case-by-case basis about whether or not to run the script.

My Internet browser won’t let me watch anything or listen to anything. When I click on Explorer it says that Explorer is currently running without add-ons. Under the toolbar it says that my Explorer is running with add-ons disabled. How can I fix this problem?

Internet Explorer and Add-ons

Internet Explorer on its own is an extremely basic Web browser. In order to get the most out of Web browsing, add-ons are added to the browser which add additional functionality. Microsoft Windows adds a few add-ons while other add-ons are added by third parties such as Adobe or Sun Microsystems. In some cases, you are prompted before an add-on is added; in others, the add-ons are added without your knowledge.

Internet Explorer No Add-ons

Your computer comes with two versions of Internet Explorer: the normal Internet Explorer and “Internet Explorer No Add-ons.”  The Internet Explorer No Add-ons is located in Start> Programs > Accessories > System Tools. This version is used for troubleshooting IE errors. For example, if your Web browser is not functioning as expected, add-ons are often suspected of causing the error. By running with no add-ons, you can test this theory. If the browser works fine without add-ons, then you know that you need to disable each add-on one at a time until you figure out which one is interfering with Internet Explorer.

Since your browser continues to display this message, it’s time to look at how you’re launching Internet Explorer. Are you using a Desktop shortcut? A shortcut in the Start menu? It’s possible that a shortcut was made from the No Add-ons version in which case you’ll want to use a different shortcut.

Creating a New Shortcut to Internet Explorer

If you no longer have a legitimate shortcut to Internet Explorer, you can create one by right-clicking the Start button and choosing Explore. Navigate to Program Files and Find Internet Explorer in the list. Right click iexplore.exe and choose one of the following:

• Pin to Start menu
• Add to Quick Launch
• Send to > Desktop
• Create Shortcut

Pin to Start menu creates a shortcut that displays in the list of favorite programs whenever you click the Start button. Add to Quick Launch creates a shortcut that is found next to the Start button. Send to > Desktop creates a shortcut on the Windows desktop. Create Shortcut creates a shortcut icon within the current folder. From there, you have to drag and drop the shortcut to the desired location.

When I go online, no backgrounds to anything show up. How do I fix this?

This is one of those questions that will take some troubleshooting to find and fix your problem because there are so many possibilities. Let’s take each one at a time:

• Are your security settings too high? Try turning down your security, removing third-party firewalls (as long as you have a Microsoft firewall in place) and disable ad-blocking programs and see if that makes a difference.
• Clear your temporary Internet Files. For Internet Explorer - go to Tools and Internet Options. Click on the General tab, go to Browsing History and click Delete. In the Browsing History box, check to clear all of the boxes except the one by Temporary Internet Files. Now choose Delete and OK to close.
• Make sure your Controls and Scripting is enabled. Go to Tools and then Internet Options. Go to the Security Tab and select the Default level for the Internet Zone.
• Auto Select your Encoding. Go to the Page menu and select Encoding. Make sure that Auto-Select is checked.
• Have you installed and updated the correct motherboard and video card drivers? The wrong drivers can cause display issues.
• Check your Accessibility Options. Go to Control Panel and click on Accessibility Options and choose Display. Make sure there is no check mark by High Contrast. Now go to Internet Options and Accessibility and make sure that nothing is checked.
• You can also try to make a new account and see if the same thing happens. Create a new user and try the same web pages. If they display properly, move your files to the new account and delete the old one.
• Is this a recent problem? It’s possible that deleting a program took something with it that your computer needs to display web pages properly. If so, you can try System Restore to bring your computer back to a time before this problem started. Go to Start, All Programs and then Accessories. Choose System Tools and click on System Restore. You will see a Welcome Screen. Choose “Restore my computer to an earlier time”. Click Next and then you will need to select a date to restore to - pick one that is close to, but before this problem started happening. Your computer will shut down and reboot.
• Although I haven’t heard of this specifically, it’s possible that you are having some sort of virus infection that is affecting your display. It can’t hurt to update and run your antivirus program to make sure that isn’t the cause.

Hopefully, one of these solutions will do the trick. If you are still having problems, let us know what operating system you are using and what you are seeing when you try to access a particular page.

How do I disable a proxy?

How to Disable a Proxy

Disabling a proxy is fairly easy and is done via your Web browser. Once you know what steps you need to take, it is relatively easy to disable a proxy server. However, the manner in which you do so depends not only on the Web browser that you are using, but also on the version of that Web browser. I’ll give you directions for several of the most current, popular browsers.

 To disable a proxy server in Internet Explorer 7.0, 6.0, or 5.0 follow these steps:

• Open Internet Explorer.
• Navigate to “Tools.”
• Select “Internet Options.”
• Select “Connections.”
• Select “LAN Settings” if you are using LAN. If you have dial-up or a private network connection, choose the proper connection and click on settings.
• Uncheck the box in front of “Use a proxy server.”
• Select “OK.”

To disable a proxy server in Netscape 8:

• Open Netscape.
• Navigate to “Tools.”
• Select “Options.”
• Select “General.”
• Select “Connection Settings.”
• Choose “Direct Connection to the Internet.”
• Select “OK.”

To disable a proxy server in Netscape 7:

• Open Netscape.
• Navigate to “Edit.”
• Select “Preferences.”
• Navigate to the symbol located to the left-hand side of “Advanced” and click.
• Select “Proxies.”
• Choose “Direct Connection to the Internet.”
• Select “OK.”

To disable a proxy server in Firefox:

• Open Firefox.
• Navigate to “Tools.”
• Select “Options.”
• Select “Advanced.”
• Select “Network.”
• Select “Settings.”
• Mark off the box in front of “No Proxy.”

To disable a proxy server in Opera 9 and 8:

• Open Opera.
• Navigate to “Tools.”
• Select “Preferences.”
• Select “Advanced” and select “Network sub-category”.
• Select “Proxy servers.”
• Delete proxy information.
• Select “OK.”

I am getting an error when I try to log into a certain Web site. The error says, “You may have a third party firewall that is not allowing BlackPeopleMeet.com to use cookies.” I’ve tried everything and I still don’t have access to this Web site (I pay a monthly subscription). I have already tried setting the site as a trusted site and have even turned off my firewall but still nothing. Please help.

BlackPeopleMeet.com’s Cookie Requirement

This Web site, like many, requires that your computer has cookies enabled in order to log into the site. Let’s start with the basics of enabling cookies and then move on to clearing the cache and adjusting the firewall.

Enabling Cookies

To enable cookies in Internet Explorer, open Internet Explorer and then click Tools > Internet Options. Click the Privacy tab followed by the Advanced button. Next, click “Override Automatic Cookie Handling.” And then choose Accept under both First-Party Cookies and Third-Party Cookies. Confirm your choice by clicking OK.

Clearing the Cache

To clear your browser’s cache and cookies, go back into Internet Options and click on the General tab. Find the Temporary Internet Files section and then click the Delete Cookies button, Delete Files button, and click the checkbox next to Delete All Offline Content. Click OK as needed to confirm your choices.

Working with Firewalls

Since the BlackPeopleMeet.com messages specifically suggested that the firewall may be interfering with cookies, let’s take a look. You may have several firewalls involved including Windows Firewall, the router’s firewall, and a firewall that is part of your Internet security software package. Since you’ve already added BlackPeopleMeet.com as a trusted site, in theory, you shouldn’t have a problem connecting to it. You might want to double check all possible firewalls to ensure that this site is not blocked. Because each firewall type is different, it’s impossible to go over all of the settings. For example, in Trend Micro’s Internet Security, setting an approved site is done through the Internet & E-mail Controls feature (not the Personal Firewalls Control feature).

Hopefully, clearing the cache and enabling cookies is all that’s needed and you’ll be able to start using the site. Since you are a paid member, if you continue having trouble, consider contacting the BlackPeopleMeet Customer Service department for help.