BleepingComputer.com: Having odd browser problems

I got a new office job a few months back and I inherited a computer that will not display various flash objects, and occasionally even HTML. This problem occurs on all my installed browsers, which are all the latest versions: IE, Firefox, and Chrome. I'm running on Windows XP Professional 32 bit.

Examples of my problem:
This youtube video displays
This youtube video DOES NOT display
NO flash objects display on this site - Screenshot
This Flash site displays 100% fine
The banner DOES NOT display on this site (HTML), and when I view page source, the <img src> code where the banner image should be is just a blank space. Screenshot 1 Screenshot 2

I'm used to just doing clean uninstalls/installs to resolve any issues, and I'm surprised it didn't work with this issue.
I thought for sure that doing this would fix my problem, but the problem did not go away. Here's what I did:

1. Downloaded installations for the latest versions of those browsers to my desktop.
2. Downloaded latest version of Flash to desktop.
3. Downloaded installation for Java.
4. Uninstalled ALL browsers, including IE.
5. Uninstalled ALL adobe products.
6. Uninstalled Java
7. Deleted all remaining folders in Program Files that did not get erased from uninstalation.
8. Ran a Clean-Up & Registry clean with CCleaner.
9. Restarted computer.
10. Installed the latest versions of all browsers
11. Installed latest version of Flash.
12. Installed latest version of Java.


I'm hoping to find a solution that isn't reinstalling the OS, because I'm almost at that point.

Many thanks in advance

This post has been edited by 420247365: 07 June 2010 - 01:59 PM

You need to uninstall the old version of Flash using the uninstall tool at this link. Then install the new version.






http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/141/tn_14157.html

frankp316, on Jun 7 2010, 07:20 PM, said:

I did that several times already... and when ithat didn't work, I decided to uninstall & reinstall everything that I know has anything to do with internet browsing.

I just tried it again anyway.... and all the issues remain the same~ thanks for trying to help though

Did you uninstall using that tool? Using Add/Remove programs will not work.

frankp316, on Jun 8 2010, 07:03 PM, said:

Yes, I did. Every time before this time I did, too. The first time I noticed this flash problem several months ago, I did a google search and the recommended solution was to use the adobe flash uninstaller tool, and then reinstall adobe flash. It didn't work, and then I tried uninstalling/reinstalling everything I could think of that could possibly be the root of the problem, with no success.

Could it be that your browser security settings are too high?

frankp316, on Jun 10 2010, 12:04 PM, said:

They are all on the Default settings. I appreciate you're help, but I'm afraid whatever the person before me did to this poor computer is probably not as simple to fix...

I've never had to ask a question on these forums before because I have always been able to find answers to every problem on my own, or figured out how to answer them myself.

After performing the steps I did, I am absolutely clueless as to why the problem still exists.

Lower your Browser security settings and see if that works.

frankp316, on Jun 11 2010, 11:25 AM, said:

Lowest settings -> Didn't work.

Lowest Settings, then clicked Custom button... Disabled all ActiveX restrictions -> Didn't work

Conclusion: Not an ActiveX issue

I REALLY don't want to reinstall the OS to fix these browser issues.

No one knows what could be my problem?

OMG it was the damn firewall this whole time. I turned it off and now everything works. Narrowed it down to the Ad-Blocking aspect so I'm just going to tweak those configurations until its all good.

This post has been edited by 420247365: 13 July 2010 - 01:54 PM