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About Mike Dacre
Expertise
I am proficient with all windows platforms. Installation and maintenance of home/business networks and servers. Windows 7, Vista 2000 and XP questions please. If your system is older than that, then the problem is your operating system is just too old to be using safely on the internet.

Experience
I grew in to computing as it became just that. My full background can be found through my website at http://tpsconsulting.com I have been managing and maintaining client computers since the internet inception which started allowing for remote services. A technical futurist, I am 100 percent GEEK!

Education/Credentials
I grew up fixing Bill Gates mistakes..you know computers don't make mistakes on the person programming the computer can do that...

You are here: Experts > Computing/Technology > Focus on Windows > Windows XP > Internet Explorer not recognising wireless broadband connection

Windows XP - Internet Explorer not recognising wireless broadband connection

Expert: Mike Dacre - 10/29/2009

Question
QUESTION: I use XP and have recently added a wireless broadband connection. The connection seems fine and with it I can download Windows updates and Anti-Virus updates. When I activate Explorer to do some internet surfing, all I get on the Explorer page is that I am not connected and am working offline. I have unticked "work offline" in tools.
Thanks for your help,
Dave in Oz

ANSWER: Hello,

First of all I highly suggest using anything but the internet explorer. I suggest the AVANT BROWSER since it emulates the internet explorer exactly (when you browse to a website using the avant browser, the website will think you are using the internet explorer)..

Next you are going to want to go to the control panel/internet options and to the 'connections' tab and then on LAN settings and make sure 'automatically detect proxy settings' is on.

That should do it.

What I would also suggest, since it is quite possible that your system has malware infected to the point that certain websites may be blocked. I suggest visiting my website at http://tpsconsulting.com and read the TIPS page on OPTIMIZING your computer and then go to the SOFTWARE/SUPPORT page where I suggest installing all the programs from the PINK section as they will help with the cleaning/removal and ongoing maintenance from the malware/spyware that causes so many problems and slowdowns.

Hope this helps,

Sincerely

Mike Dacre
http://tpsconsulting.com
follow me on twitter @tpsconsulting

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Mike,
I set the "automatically detect proxy settings" as you described but it made no difference. Explorer still states that I am working offline. I have made sure that working offline is unticked in tools.
I have noticed that when explorer is activated, the home page is microsoft even though I have it set to Google in Internet options.

Re spyware etc:- The computer has just been reformatted so this shouldn't be a problem. This is the first time I have tried to use it on the internet since the reformat.

Thanks for your help,
Dave

Answer
Hello again,

If you have just reformatted and reinstalled things, my guess is you will need to do a couple hundred windows updates. To confirm you are completely up to date, I suggest installing the "belarc advisor" which you can also get from the SOFTWARE/SUPPORT page through my website at http://tpsconsulting.com. Since there are so many security patches and such that repair the problems within the internet explorer, again, I can not express just how important it is to STOP USING THE INTERNET EXPLORER and go to any other browser. Obviously Firefox is number 2 but climbing fast. The only reason I don't push this browser as much is because of the various 'plug-in's that you need to truly get a good working browser. The AVANTBROWSER is the one I suggest simply because it does emulate the internet explorer exactly and so if you truly do need to use the internet explorer, then using the Avant Browser is the same thing. Then from within the 'internet options' which you can access through the program's "tools" you can adjust things accordingly, such as pop up blocking, etc.

Also be sure you have installed the latest JAVA and FLASH.

Sincerely

Mike Dacre
http://tpsconsulting.com
follow me on twitter @tpsconsulting

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