Really need help with save as/source options Win 98

[ChrichtonsGirl]

I posted before about this, but I still can't figure out what happened.

For some reason, when I right click to save an image off the web, the only option that comes up is saving it as a bitmap - this started after I used FrontPage 2000 for something, but I've gone through everything I can think of to change my settings, and I can't get it to offer me the usual options (like jpeg and gif). When I'm using PhotoDraw or Word, all the options are there - just not when I'm saving using IE 5.5.

The second thing that's bugging me is that I can't use the right click/view source option - I'd always been able to use it, then all of a sudden a few months ago after I used Notepad for some coding, it doesn' work - when I click on it, nothing happens, literally.

I asked a friend who does tech support, and his response was "well, that's Microsoft products for you - they just stop working for no reason."

Obviously, that's not good enough. Does anyone have any ideas about where I can look to fix this stuff? I have literally looked at all the settings I can think of. Do I need to do a reinstall of Win98? Would that help at all? I just did a ScanDisk/Defrag a couple of days ago, with auto-repair, and nothing interesting came up.

 

[jaywallen]

Hi, ChrichtonsGirl.



<< For some reason, when I right click to save an image off the web, the only option that comes up is saving it as a bitmap - this started after I used FrontPage 2000 for something, but I've gone through everything I can think of to change my settings, and I can't get it to offer me the usual options (like jpeg and gif). When I'm using PhotoDraw or Word, all the options are there - just not when I'm saving using IE 5.5. >>



Does this happen for all Web sites, or just some of them? Make sure you have the Address field showing on your IE 5.5 toolbar. What format does the http address take when you're having this problem -- http://usernameassword@site/default.htm or http://site_name/default.htm? If it's the former, this is a by design behavior AFAIK. To get around it you need to use the latter format for your shortcuts or address entries, OR you can just convert the saved images using a graphics editor.

Another possibility would be some improper settings in your file associations for the GIF and JPG / JPEG file types. Those can be a hassle to straighten out, especially if you have several different apps installed which tried to take control over the same extensions / file types.



<< The second thing that's bugging me is that I can't use the right click/view source option - I'd always been able to use it, then all of a sudden a few months ago after I used Notepad for some coding, it doesn' work - when I click on it, nothing happens, literally. >>



In Windows 2000 or NT4 this would be a sign of a problem with either the TMP variable in the environment or the TEMP folder. When you choose to View Source, the html file is copied from the TIF folders to the TEMP folder and opened in notepad.exe (or whatever else may have been set up for viewing html source in the registry). I'm not sure how you check this out in Windows 9X since I don't use those operating systems.

Also, if something or someone changes the registry entries to point to a nonexistent HTML editor, or the registry entry for this function is corrupted, you can have the same issue. The view source function can be restored to the default by creating the following REG file (pure text, filename = whatever.reg), then double-clicking on it.

--- File starts on next line. ---
REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Default HTML Editor]
&quot;Description&quot;=&quot;Notepad&quot;

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Default HTML Editor\shell]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Default HTML Editor\shell\edit]
@=&quot;&amp;Edit&quot;

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Default HTML Editor\shell\edit\command]
@=&quot;C:\\WINNT\\notepad.exe %1&quot;
--- File ends on previous line. ---

This is what I would do in NT4 or W2K, but I'm not absolutely sure what you do in Win9X. If you're comfortable with the registry editor in Win98 you could just navigate to those keys to see if they contain the entries listed in the REG file.



<< I asked a friend who does tech support, and his response was &quot;well, that's Microsoft products for you - they just stop working for no reason.&quot; >>



I guess if a problem is difficult to figure out it's easier to just blame the operating system than to do the homework to learn cause-and-effect. This stuff isn't magic or unknowable, it just takes time and effort. I hope he doesn't do &quot;tech support&quot; on that operating system. He's not going to be of much use to anyone who calls him unless that attitude changes.

To answer your last question, a fresh (clean) install of the OS would help, but it probably isn't necessary. (Naturally the OS should work right when it's first installed.)

If none of the above pans out (Remember, I'm coming from the perspective of a somewhat different operating system.) you should try searching on key words having to do with your problems at the Microsoft Knowledge Base (MSKB). It's here.

Hope you get some answers.

Regards,
Jim

Edit: Had to format the first http template so that the forum software didn't stick a big ol' smiley face in there!

2nd Edit: Well, dang! I don't seem to be able to get rid of the smiley face. There's supposed to be a colon and a letter &quot;p&quot; there.

 

[ChrichtonsGirl]

Thank you so much for the help, Jim. At the moment, my brain is aching from doing other work-related stuff, but I'm going to try your suggestions after a couple more cups of coffee.

(the right click/save problem happens literally everywhere I try to save an image off the Web - no matter what the address says)

I did try the MSKB, but it didn't seem to have anything that applied to my particular situation, and MS themselves wanted to charge me to just listen to my problem, ugh.

Thanks again, I appreciate your help tremendously. This has been driving me nuts, not knowing where else to look.

 

[jaywallen]

Hang in there! I'll be around in case you post back, and with any luck someone smarter than me (or at least someone with more experience with Win9X) will come along to help, too!

Regards,
Jim

 

[khtm]

Try updating to the latest version of Internet Explorer. Or, if you have the latest version, try reinstalling it.