I recently made the mistake of upgrading my IE to version 9. Bad mistake.
Not only do I find it to be laid out very poorly, there are fewer tools to customize the appearance and/or the functionality. In addition, with IE9 I cannot reply to quoted posts on the Trains forum, and I also have difficulties on other web sites as well.
I have since installed Google Chrome, which seems to work much better.
While I was working, my employer tried to migrate all users to Windows NT from 95/98. I managed to avoid it, going direct to Win2K when that migration occured. I know I avoided a bunch of headaches.
I've found the same thing with some Windows Office applications - tools I used to use on a regular basis are gone, and new tools made standard/automatic tend to be a hindrance rather than a help.
Newer isn't always better.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
I have IE9 and it works just fine. Some older sites like this one have compatibility issues. If you find one that does, just click on the icon at the right end of the address bar that looks like a torn piece of paper. That will cure it.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Actually I own a web design company, and I can say that Internet Explorer is definitely the problem child of all web browsers - that torn piece of paper Phoebe Vet was referring to is called compatibility mode, what Kalmbach should actually do is tell their web designers to put in the IE 8 meta tag into the forums that way compatibility mode will run by default and with no need for any user input, it's a very quick fix to make sure the site runs well on IE 9.
Installed IE9 on my lap top....it seemed to cause it to Blue Screen Crash several times...went back to IE8.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Phoebe Vet I have IE9 and it works just fine. Some older sites like this one have compatibility issues. If you find one that does, just click on the icon at the right end of the address bar that looks like a torn piece of paper. That will cure it.
Yes, that is probably the problem with posting replies. Same problem with several other web sites I visit. Setting IE-9 to "Compatibility Mode" for those web sites has cured all those problems for me.
I realize that the "Compatibility" icon is SUPPOSED to look like a torn piece of paper, but it certainly does NOT look like one to ME. It looks more like a double mountain range to me.
The icon is the 1st of 3 to the right of the text box where the website URL is displayed (where you would type one in, too). The other two are the "Chasing arrows" ("Refresh") icon and the "Red X" ("Stop") icon.
When you click that icon, the page will refresh and the icon will turn a bit "greener" than before; which for me is very hard to tell whether it is enabled or not. I sometimes have to click the icon a couple of times to see it change from a grayer color to the greener color, before I know in which mode the web site is being handled. The Greener color mode is when "Compatibility Mode" is enabled.
You only need to enable the mode once for any web site for all pages of that web site to be handled in Compatibility Mode. So once you are on ANY page of A web site, you can enable the mode and IE-9 will handle all pages from THAT site that way; and IE-9 will remember the setting for the next time you visit THAT site. You do have to enable it again when you go to a completely different web site that needs it.
There may be some sites that will not work properly in Compatibility Mode, so don't just automatically enable it when you go to a new site, but is something seems amiss, then try it.
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
I have IE9 on my new Dell laptop.
It works just fine and I've had no issues at all using it.
Im fact, I believe that it works much better than IE8.
Semper Vaporo Phoebe Vet: I have IE9 and it works just fine. Some older sites like this one have compatibility issues. If you find one that does, just click on the icon at the right end of the address bar that looks like a torn piece of paper. That will cure it. Yes, that is probably the problem with posting replies. Same problem with several other web sites I visit. Setting IE-9 to "Compatibility Mode" for those web sites has cured all those problems for me. I realize that the "Compatibility" icon is SUPPOSED to look like a torn piece of paper, but it certainly does NOT look like one to ME. It looks more like a double mountain range to me. The icon is the 1st of 3 to the right of the text box where the website URL is displayed (where you would type one in, too). The other two are the "Chasing arrows" ("Refresh") icon and the "Red X" ("Stop") icon. When you click that icon, the page will refresh and the icon will turn a bit "greener" than before; which for me is very hard to tell whether it is enabled or not. I sometimes have to click the icon a couple of times to see it change from a grayer color to the greener color, before I know in which mode the web site is being handled. The Greener color mode is when "Compatibility Mode" is enabled. You only need to enable the mode once for any web site for all pages of that web site to be handled in Compatibility Mode. So once you are on ANY page of A web site, you can enable the mode and IE-9 will handle all pages from THAT site that way; and IE-9 will remember the setting for the next time you visit THAT site. You do have to enable it again when you go to a completely different web site that needs it. There may be some sites that will not work properly in Compatibility Mode, so don't just automatically enable it when you go to a new site, but is something seems amiss, then try it.
Phoebe Vet: I have IE9 and it works just fine. Some older sites like this one have compatibility issues. If you find one that does, just click on the icon at the right end of the address bar that looks like a torn piece of paper. That will cure it.
"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics
MurrayI have IE9 on my new Dell laptop.
And that may be part of the secret - Windows programs in particular seem to get bigger with each iteration, making it difficult to run them on older machines that may not have the necessary computing power and memory to deal with them.
My home computer is actually set up for gaming - my laptop is not. I can tell the difference even during "normal" computing.
You're absolutely right Larry.
I still use Windows XP on my home desktop computer. As a result I use IE8.
Man I hate IE9 came with my POS computer. However my admin will not let me Download google or Firfox so I am Screwed.
Phoebe Vet Some older sites like this one have compatibility issues. If you find one that does, just click on the icon at the right end of the address bar that looks like a torn piece of paper. That will cure it.
Some older sites like this one have compatibility issues. If you find one that does, just click on the icon at the right end of the address bar that looks like a torn piece of paper. That will cure it.
Thank you very much! I have been using this technique over the weekend to clear up problems I had been having all over the place. Has this one suggestion ever made my life simpler.
Bruce
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.
"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere" CP Rail Public Timetable
"O. S. Irricana"
. . . __ . ______
I'm running Windows 7 and IE8, and it also has that torn piece of paper for "compatibility mode."
I had a similar problem posting replies on this site with IE8 until I downloaded the Windows 7 XP Mode patch from Microsoft's web site.
Quite a few people have warned me about IE9 so I won't let automaitc update install it. One person said it puts a menu bar down the left side of your screen for links to Twitter, Facebook, and other sites and that you can't get rid of it.
Better than Internet Explorer: Use Firefox
Best of all: Get a Mac
I normally use Firefox. But I could not figure out how to copy "hot links" into my posts, so when I needed to do that I used IE8. Then when the IE9 upgrade came along, the whole TRAINS discussion site went wonky until I found out about compatibility mode. I have had no problem with menu bars. I just disable the ones I don't want. It doesn't matter whether they are above the page or on the side or whatever.
This computer is running "Windows 7" with "IE 9". Smooth and powerful! If you are upgrading an older computer to "Windows 7" you might need more RAM than was installed, 2 gig minimum for "7", 3 gig is better, this computer has 8 gig.
Beware, most programs run "32 bit", most new computers run "64bit" or have both versions. Some programs such as links to "U Tube" require "Flashplayer" to run. Adobe is late in developing a 64 bit Flashplayer, but, they will let you download a Beta Test version of "64 bit Flashplayer". I have had no problems with it.
Remember to turn on windows "Compatibility Mode".
Don U. TCA 73-5735
To quote my own post on page 1 of this thread...
-------------------------------------------
Semper Vaporo To quote my own post on page 1 of this thread... ------------------------------------------- I realize that the "Compatibility" icon is SUPPOSED to look like a torn piece of paper, but it certainly does NOT look like one to ME. It looks more like a double mountain range to me. The icon is the 1st of 3 to the right of the text box where the website URL is displayed (where you would type one in, too). The other two are the "Chasing arrows" ("Refresh") icon and the "Red X" ("Stop") icon. When you click that icon, the page will refresh and the icon will turn a bit "greener" than before; which for me is very hard to tell whether it is enabled or not. I sometimes have to click the icon a couple of times to see it change from a grayer color to the greener color, before I know in which mode the web site is being handled. The Greener color mode is when "Compatibility Mode" is enabled. You only need to enable the mode once for any web site for all pages of that web site to be handled in Compatibility Mode. So once you are on ANY page of A web site, you can enable the mode and IE-9 will handle all pages from THAT site that way; and IE-9 will remember the setting for the next time you visit THAT site. You do have to enable it again when you go to a completely different web site that needs it. -------------------------------------------
To all those that replied with suggestions: thanks!
... snip ... "But I could not figure out how to copy "hot links" into my posts"
This statement always had me mystified until I remembered the 'secret'.
If you use either Reply option and highlight some relevant text, a 'Link' button appears (isn't greyed out). Click on it and you have a field to enter the URL in and an optional 'balloon' title.
For commercial forum software, the online help is pretty atrocious IMO.
Adobe not having a 64 bit version of their Flash Player shows how pathetic that POS is.
Now, back to IE9 related topics. Having to use compatibility mode doesn't sound right - I thought with IE8 Mickeysoft finally caught up with the other browsers web standards wise. I guess not ...
Links to my Google Maps ---> Sunset Route overview, SoCal metro, Yuma sub, Gila sub, SR east of Tucson, BNSF Northern Transcon and Southern Transcon *** Why you should support Ukraine! ***
Well... I must apologize if what follows is too simplistic for you personally, but SOMETIMES when troubleshooting blind like we are here the person I am helping has learned the wrong meanings for terminology or has a completely wrong idea of how things work and will get confused and give misleading answers while responding to inquiries of what is happening.
Since I can't see what you see and my descriptions might be terribly poor, let's verify some things just to be sure you and I are on the same wavelength...
You are using a PC, running Windows, either XP, Vista, or Win7, and we are discussing Internet Explorer 9?
I know I have altered the colors and borders from the "Standard" Winders 7, as supplied by Microsoft "out-of-the-box", so an image of "my" computer display may confuse the matter a bit... But, here is what MY computer shows... General placement of the items should be the same on your display but colors, sizes, etc. may be different depending on what "Theme" your computer is using.
The button you should be looking for is the one directly below the word " - Forums - " in the title bar (not that the word and the button are in anyway associated, just that in the above image they are adjacent).
Is that "similar" to what you see?
What parts are different? Is it just that button that is missing? Or are you missing major parts of the above image?
Semper Vaporo Well... I must apologize if what follows is too simplistic for you personally, but SOMETIMES when troubleshooting blind like we are here the person I am helping has learned the wrong meanings for terminology or has a completely wrong idea of how things work and will get confused and give misleading answers while responding to inquiries of what is happening. Since I can't see what you see and my descriptions might be terribly poor, let's verify some things just to be sure you and I are on the same wavelength... You are using a PC, running Windows, either XP, Vista, or Win7, and we are discussing Internet Explorer 9? I know I have altered the colors and borders from the "Standard" Winders 7, as supplied by Microsoft "out-of-the-box", so an image of "my" computer display may confuse the matter a bit... But, here is what MY computer shows... General placement of the items should be the same on your display but colors, sizes, etc. may be different depending on what "Theme" your computer is using. The button you should be looking for is the one directly below the word " - Forums - " in the title bar (not that the word and the button are in anyway associated, just that in the above image they are adjacent). Is that "similar" to what you see? What parts are different? Is it just that button that is missing? Or are you missing major parts of the above image?
It is those three buttons under "forums - trains" that are missing (compatibility, refresh, stop). In my URL box (far left) I have a magnifying glass icon, a refresh circle, and the red X.
I am wondering if you are running a previous version of Internet Explorer. That magnifiying glass Icon might be a Search Icon or a method to change the font sizes or simply magnify the content of all web pages to make it easier to read.
I wonder if you have a "Tool", "Add-On" or other enhancement installed that has usurped that tool bar at the top and has us confused.
Anyway, since nobody that knows what they are doing has jumped in here... let's try something else.
If you have that "cog wheel" icon on the extreme right, then click on it and select "Internet Options" from the menu that drops down... or click the Winders START button and select Control Panel and pick "Internet Options from that list.
You should get a dialog box with several tabs across the top. Click on the far right one labeled "Advanced" and you will see a scrolling list of checkboxes.
I made a image file of what mine shows using a program ("PicPick") that will scroll the window and take snapshots of the content after each scroll, then sew them together into one long image file. I then took that tall narrow image and split it in half and pasted the bottom half to the right of the upper half to make a smaller and squarish image. That image is pasted here:
The fact that it is a JPG file makes the text kind of hard to read, but you can at least make out which ones are "checked" and which are not.
I do NOT purport that the way I have it set up is in any way the BEST way or the WORST way or anything else. I do not think it is the Default as I vaguely remember modifying the list at some point in the past based on someone else's recomendation, but I do not remember what I changed.
Your list may be different -- it may have entries that mine does not, or it might be missing entries that mine has. Yours may have different ones 'checked'.
There is very little in the list that I have any sort of understanding of what it is for or what happens if it gets changed from 'checked' to 'unchecked" or vise-versa.
You might look through your list to see what is different. I'd like to know what you find. If it is drastically different or so much different that you don't want to type it all in, I can help you install that "PicPick" program and show you how to use it to capture the same thing on yours and then you can send me the image file. (Up to you!)
IF you decide to alter your list... PLEASE change only one item, and click OK then restart IE and go visit your usualy web sites to see what has happened. If something doesn't work right, then change it back and verify that things work as expected again. Then change another item and test it. Do them one at a time!
If you find one that you are curious about, please list it here and we can discuss it. I MIGHT understand it, (but don't count on it!) or someone else might come online here and explain it (hope against all hope!).
I just stumbled across another piece of info that might help folk.
If you Right-click somewhere in the area where the tabs show (but not on a tab or any other tool) you will get a Context menu that is a list of toolbars that you can enable to show. Click on the top one (Menu Bar) to cause a check mark to appear next to it (you probably won't actually see the checkmark because as soon as you click on it, the menu will go away and the Menu Bar will be added to the display, but if you recall that Context menu again it will show the checkmark).
The Menu bar will be the familiar one with "File, Edit, View, Favorites, Tools, Help". Click on the "Tools" entry to drop down that menu. Select the "Compatibility View Settings" entry to get a dialog box that will list the web sites that are being treated in Compatibility mode. You can also add to and delete from the list in this dialog box. Add, "Trains . com" to the list if it is not already there.
I have not found why the Compatibility Mode icon appears on some web sites and is not available when at others, or how to enable it to appear, I note that the menu entry is grayed (disabled) on some sites and not others, but the Settings entry seems to be available all the time.
Have fun!
Semper Vaporo I just stumbled across another piece of info that might help folk. If you Right-click somewhere in the area where the tabs show (but not on a tab or any other tool) you will get a Context menu that is a list of toolbars that you can enable to show. Click on the top one (Menu Bar) to cause a check mark to appear next to it (you probably won't actually see the checkmark because as soon as you click on it, the menu will go away and the Menu Bar will be added to the display, but if you recall that Context menu again it will show the checkmark). The Menu bar will be the familiar one with "File, Edit, View, Favorites, Tools, Help". Click on the "Tools" entry to drop down that menu. Select the "Compatibility View Settings" entry to get a dialog box that will list the web sites that are being treated in Compatibility mode. You can also add to and delete from the list in this dialog box. Add, "Trains . com" to the list if it is not already there. I have not found why the Compatibility Mode icon appears on some web sites and is not available when at others, or how to enable it to appear, I note that the menu entry is grayed (disabled) on some sites and not others, but the Settings entry seems to be available all the time. Have fun!
Thanks so much for the help!
And another little tidbit... I guess I knew this already, but I just "discovered" it again.
If you press and release the "Alt" key the Menu Bar will appear.
This saves the extra clicking in the Tabs area to get the Context Menu and then clicking the Menu Bar item in that menu, and then having to do it again to make the Menu Bar go away.
When using the "Alt" key, the menu bar will automatically go away after you select something from the menu.
If you accidentally hit the "Alt" key and the Menu Bar shows up; press it again and the Menu Bar will go away.
Sure would have saved a lot of typing in my previous post if I had remembered this!
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