Internet Explorer 7 menubar flickering problem

Recently, due to my heavy use of Windows XP (I’m trying to brush up on my programming skills to get ready for 2008-2009 academic school year) I noticed that the menubar in IE 7 kept appearing and disappearing. More importantly this happened every time I opened a new tab, new window and when I refreshed window. The fact of the matter is, the menubar should only open if the ALT key is pressed, and otherwise should remain hidden. I’m pretty sure that most people (who use IE as their primary browser) will not get annoyed by the constant opening and closing of their menubar whenever they open a new tab and so on. However, I on the other hand get seriously annoyed when such ‘bugs’ exist, just like the blinking cursor problem in Firefox.

I also noticed this behaviour in other Microsoft applications such as Windows Media Player 11, when the menu would automatically pop-up when I switched to the media player window, without me having to press the ALT key. Clearly, there was some part of the operating system or the application somehow automatically pressing the ALT key.

After furiously searching the interwebs, with my faithful squire Sancho Google, I finally stumbled across a rather long, yet helpful article (IE 7 release notes) that explained why this happens.

As it turns out, when you install Microsoft Office in its entirety it also installs certain tools such as the On-Screen Keyboard and Handwriting Recognition. Now, the On-Screen keyboard somehow automatically presses the Alt key when a new window/tab is opened. Why exactly it does that I do not know, however removing it fixes the problem where the IE 7/Windows Media player menus quickly expand and collapse. So in order to do that follow the below instructions (these were copied and pasted directly from the MSFT IE 7 release notes website).

Fix the Internet Explorer 7 (and other Windows Applications) random menus opening and closing problem:

To work around this problem, disable the On-Screen Keyboard component of the Handwriting Recognition Service:

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Regional and Language Options.
3. Click the Languages tab.
4. Click the Details button.
5. Under Handwriting Recognition select On-Screen Standard Keyboard.
6. Click Remove.
7. Under Handwriting Recognition select On-Screen Symbol Keyboard.
8. Click Remove.
9. Click OK twice to save and exit changes.
10. Restart Internet Explorer 7.

Viola, no more super annoying menubar flickering problem.

Clear Passwords, Private Data, Cache, Cookies and History in Browsers

Often, browsers such as Internet Explorer or Firefox store data in their cache. Data such as browsing history, form data (your name, address, phone number etc. that you filled in while buying stuff from amazon!), passwords and snapshots of web pages are collected. Now, if you were a paranoid user, you'd probably disable all these features.

But they were simply put in there to make our life much more easier. Internet Explorer (or any other browser for that matter) stores our passwords so we'd never have to type them again. It stores our webpages so that we'd never have to wait for it again. It stores our name so that we'd never have to remember it again. Yes. That's how much we can leave to the computers to remember.

However, what do you do if you don't want the browser to remember it? This article explains how to clear your private data for Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 6, Mozilla Firefox and Safari.

Note: If you are using Internet Explorer or Firefox or Safari or any browser in a public setting (office, school, libraries, community centers), these tools menu and settings mentioned below are usually DISABLED! The only way to make sure that the computer doesn't remember your password when you're checking your e-mail is to make sure the 'Don't remember my password box' is unchecked! Most organizations make sure that your data is deleted every time you log off, but better to be safe than sorry!

You might also want to use this method to make Internet Explorer or Firefox run faster if you find that your browser is running too slow, and you're using Windows XP or Vista.

Clear Private Data, Empty Caches, Delete Passwords and and Remove Cookies in Internet Explorer / Firefox / Safari and so on.

Doing so is pretty simple for each browser:

How to clear private data in Internet Explorer 7

1. Open Internet Explorer
2. If you don't see the menubar it's probably hidden. Press the Alt key so that it will reveal itself.
3. Click on Tools and Click Internet Options

4. In the Internet Options Window click on Delete button under the 'Browsing History' Heading.

5. Then click on Delete corresponding to the information you want to delete.
6. If you want to delete everything just click on the Delete all button.

How to clear private data, passwords, cache and cookies in Internet Explorer 6

1. If you have the older version of Internet Explorer, I strongly urge you to update your computer. However, if you're using Internet Explorer in a public setting -- like a library or at your school/office.
1. In the Tools menu, select Internet Options... .

2. Click the Content tab, and then click the AutoComplete... button.

3. To remove stored passwords, click Clear Passwords.

To clear stored data that you have entered into forms, click Clear Forms.

4. Click OK.

To delete other internet cache data you'll have to use this method. Using disk-clean or CCleaner up will also clear your cache and other data that Internet Explorer had.

How to clear private data, passwords, cache and cookies in Firefox

Clearing private data in Firefox is even easier.
1. Click on Tools in the Menubar and then click on 'Clear Private Data...'


2. In the window that pops-up, choose the information that you'd like to delete. I always delete everything except my passwords, because its really hard to remember the password given the amount of sites one has to register to...

Clearing Private Data, History, Password and Cache in Safari

Safari on the other had has several different options that you can use to delete data.

Clearing only the history

To do this simply click on 'History' in the menubar and then on clear history at the bottom of the menu.

Clearing only the cache

If you only want to delete the pages that were stored in safari, you might want to click on 'Safari' in the menubar and click on 'Empty Cache'. This will only delete the cache.

How to clear everything including cookies, cache and history and reset Safari

To do this click on 'Safari' in the menubar and click on 'Reset Safari...'. A window will pop-up asking you what you'd like to clear. Simple check the checkboxes corresponding to the information you'd like to clear and click OK.

Opening IE 6 redirects you to IE 7 website

Has your homepage automatically changed to the "Internet Explorer Get it Now" download webpage? Well, you're not alone. Many others who are on Windows XP (or like me are using it on a Virtual Machine) and still using Internet Explorer 6 are getting the same message. Is this a virus or something you ask? Well, not really it's just that IE is letting you know that an upgrade to Internet Explorer 7 is ready because of you're settings. Before you change these settings, I would like to point out that it would be a good idea to update your browser or get Firefox, and make sure you have the latest in order to ensure the best security and proper standards.

Ok, I don't really care about updating - how do I change it back to my normal home page?

Well, going back to your normal home page is quite easy. Simply click on Tools in IE, then click Internet Options. Once the window pops up click on the Advanced Tab. Under Browsing, uncheck Automatically check for IE updates.
Once you do this, your normal home page will magically appear when IE is launched. Keep in mind though that by using IE 6 you are depriving yourself of a better experience on the web and putting your data at risk. Make sure your upgrade or let your nearest IT guru know that you want to upgrade to a better browser.

Back up Firefox and Internet Explorer bookmarks and settings

The highly digital lifestyle that we live in today requires us to constantly back-up, update and maintain our computers. One of the most important applications that we use today is a web browser. And backing up the data in it is just as essential as backing up the files in your computer. It's impossible to know when disaster is going to strike and the next crash is going to happen.

Here are a couple of ways you can back up your web browser of choice.

How to back-up Firefox bookmarks, profiles, extensions etc.

If you use Firefox as your main browser, and I highly recommend that you do, and you're on Windows, the tool you'll most likely want to use is called MozBackup. It's a nifty little tool that backs up all your settings, profiles, history and bookmarks. It even allows you to back up your cache and cookies. Very handy if you ask me. You can download it here.

If you're on a mac, you're kinda going to have to do a bit more work. First, you're going to want to download the firefox environment backup extension. Then you can save your bookmarks, if you still have it on your browser, by going to Bookmarks > Organize Bookmarks > File > Export. Then save the file to a safe location. Exporting it to Del.icio.us would be a wise decision.

How to back-up Internet Explorer bookmarks, settings and history

If you use Internet Explorer, then I highly recommend you switch to Firefox. It's better, trust me. And its most likely going to save you a lot of grief and trouble. However, if you are looking for an application to back up Internet Explorer, then I recommend Internet Explorer Backup. It's going to do the job for you without the hassle. If you do decide to switch to Firefox, it will automatically import all your Internet Explorer bookmarks and settings, and then you can back those setting up through the applications listed above.

Stop Internet Explorer from crashing

If you've ever experienced IE crashing.. you know its not a good thing. Here's how you can stop the famous Internet Explorer from crashing over and over..

If you have the latest version of IE and know that you shouldn’t be using IE all the time, please skip to the How to fix Internet Explorer section I apologize for the stuff about Firefox that you might already know…

First off, you really shouldn’t be using Internet Explorer 6 or even 7 a lot. Why you ask? Because it is less secure, slower and outdated, especially if you’re using the older version of Internet Explorer, IE Version 6.

I highly recommend you get Firefox... because its better go check it out!

Use it as your primary browser and only use IE 7 (that’s the latest version) only when needed. However, sometimes you might need to use Internet Explorer for things such as Microsoft Updates.

If you window looks like the picture below. Don’t even bother reading the article… unless you upgrade to Firefox first because it is secure, faster, and better!

Internet Explorer 6 is a really old browser, which was designed many moons ago. This only means that you will leaving your computer wide open so that viruses/spyware/credit card number stealing thieves/bad stuff can come and take advantage of it. If your browser looks like the picture below...

Please go to Microsoft and download Internet Explorer 7. You have no reason not to!

Ok, so once you know you have IE 7, this is what you normally need to do to stop crashes, especially if you get the sysfader.exe error occured problem. You need to have administrator privileges to do this. Or else you’ll not be able to open the Internet Options window.

Step 1
Press the ‘Alt’ key on your keyboard so that you can see the menu bar. Click on 'Tools', then click on ‘Internet Options…’.

Step 2
In the window that pops up, go to the ‘Advanced Tab’. Scroll down to where it says ‘Browsing’.

Step 3
Uncheck the check box beside the phrase that says ‘Enable third-party browser extensions’.


Click on OK and restart Internet Explorer.

This, in most cases this should stop Internet Explorer from crashing due to other extensions you might have installed. If in case you are getting a sysfader.exe error that should stop as well. However, this might not sure all the problems that you have with Internet explorer if other settings (such as cookies) were previously messed around with.

In that case, please try resetting the Internet Explorer settings. Click on Internet Options again (please see step 1 above and follow those steps first before reading more…), then go to the advanced tab again, and this time click on the reset button. Click OK and restart Internet explorer.

TIP If you constantly get sysfader.exe errors with IE, please take a look at the sysfader.exe error page. (link opens in a new window)

Also, please keep in mind that many crashes might also be caused due to malware, spyware, viruses and other bad stuff that can be on your computer. It is highly recommended that you get rid of all malware on your computer that might be causing the crashes. More on that stuff coming soon...