Java Stopped Working,Won't Work in Anything Now

I'm running Win98se of course. My java stopped working after rebooting after a system crash. Java will not work in anything at all, NOTHING. Nothing with any java in it will show at all. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling about 10 times and still no go. I've tried older versions 1.2 clear up to v5. Not a hint of getting any better. Now , I gave it to a friend to try to help me fix it so, I can't tell you what he did but, it's no worse off anyway. I have Road Runner and I can't even get my E-Mail page to come up after trying to sign in ( java page of course). I get no error messages no freezing nothing, it's just like theres no java files but, they are all over. in Windows, Progarm files, Internet Options show it(and checked). On pages that will come up that just have java on them in an ad or something. I just get the page in the ad of the *Can't find This Page*, like you were not connected to the net and trying to get to a page or something. Hope this helps explane this freaky thing, never seen one like this before ! Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to provide ! !

 

In Internet Options > Advanced tab under Browsing make sure that Enable third-party browser extensions {requires restart} is checked. Under Java {Sun} Use JRE 1.X.X_X for <applet> {requires restart} is checked. Under Microsoft VM uncheck all three boxes. Click Apply > OK. Restart your computer.

 

Thank You !
I'm with you up to the Microsoft VM part.And everything was already set as you said. * At the rish of looking really dumb* I have nothing in in my Internet Options Advanced tab about VM at all.And FYI , I can't get any Microsoft's Updates because of course, it's a java page. I do have Windows 95 and 98 and the Upgrade to Windows98se disk's.

 

Are you sure it's a java problem and not a java script problem? The two are not the same. I don't believe the MS update page uses java. It's an active x control they use. My guess is that the page is heavy on scripting though.

This link has several links on it to different java applets. Check out a few of the links. If you can view the applets your java is working and your more than likely dealing with a scripting problem.

Can You view the applets? JDK 1.4 Demo Applets

 

Thank you Zander ,
You may very well have it there. I went to the page you put up and , I can view them all , no problem ! ALSO, I did go and get an older version of Microsoft VM installed it and Unchecked all 3 boxes in the Advanced tab of Internet Options. Okay so, if I can see these but I can't see ads or even get on my e-mail page, how can I fix that ? Also , I can't view any of the java script files I have saved on my computer. I do have ActiveX , I do have DirectX on here and now, Microsoft VM.... OH , what I mean by Microsoft's Update page is, I can get to the page but if you hover over the link to ,Check Now for Updates, it says it's a java or may say java script page * I'm not real up on the difference there so, excuse the dorkness there * Anyway, when I hit the link, it looks like it tries to go but, does nothing and will no look for updates...

 

A shot in the dark here. Click start>run and type "regsvr32 jscript.dll" (without the quotes). Also, try regsvr32 vbscript.dll. Restart your computer and then see if it works.

 

Well, it is surely getting better ! Now I can get into my e-mail but, it won't open anything * their all java script pages* won't open e-mail , folders or anything there, I can't even logout. I dont know if this helps or not but, in Road Runner mail they have an ad on the side that apears to be an ActiveX page. It will not show anything but the, * Can Not Find Page* deal. Thank you so much so far Zander ! You have made more headway in 2 posts than I have been able to find in 4 weeks now, Thank you ! You get me the rest of the way here and, I just may buy and send you a 12 pack LOL..

 

Internet Options > Security tab > Highlight Trusted Sites > Click the Sites button, uncheck https:// box at the bottom then add the site URLs above then click OK when done. While Trusted Sites is still highlighted click the Default Level button at the bottom while still on the Security tab.

See image at link.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v473/Whiskeyman7/Trustedsites.jpg

 

Thanks Whiskeyman for the try but, that didn't help anything. I hate starting all over. And it always happens at the worse times. I still can't even get Microsoft's Update to scan for updates. Can't open e-mail , their java script pages . Drivein me nuts. Well it's still not right so, any other help would not bother me a bit .

 

In Internet Explorer, click tools>internet options security. At the top, click on internet to highlight it. Then click the "default level" button. Then see if things work for you. If not, reboot and try again.

If things still don't work, maybe restoring a registry will do the trick. How long has this been since it happened? If it's been less then 5 days, (although from your previous post this doesn't appear to be the case ) boot to a DOS prompt. You do this by tapping on the ctrl key while the computer is booting. It will stop at a menu. If you're familiar with booting into safemode, it's the same thing. When it stops at the menu, select DOS prompt only. Then, at the prompt, type "scanreg /restore" (without the quotes). Note the space between scanreg and the /. A menu will appear with a list of cab files along with the date they were made. Choose a date that precedes when this happened. Then restart the computer and see if things work.

Note; if you do this and things are worse than before you may have to run the regsvr32 commands again. Also, you can go back to the way things were before you ran scanreg by booting to a DOS prompt and running scanreg again. When you restore a previous registry it'll back up the one you're currently using so you can select that one in the list. It'll be easy to identify. It'll be the newest one and it'll say "not started" to the right of it.

If after this, things still don't work, perhaps reinstalling Windows scripting would do the trick. You can download it at the link below.
Windows Script 5.6 for Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, and Windows NT 4.0

 

Well after the above, I did have to do the regsvr32's again that didn't work and did make it worse but, no biggie. It came right back. I did go to the link and reinstall Windows scripting as you advised. After doing the regsvr32's I am able to view my Applets on my computer now and on a site that I havent been able to view for a long time. But, that was it. What I have done now is, reinstall ActiveX and Mgr., DirectX and updated codeing and Internet Explorer6 SP1 . It said I already had the SP1 files installed but, I told it to replace them. NOW, I can scan for updates at Windows Updates, open , move around and logout of my E-Mail. This is the address of the page that comes up in the e-mail that I can not see, IF this helps any. http://servedby.advertising.com/site=684123/bnum=89091416/size=120600/tags=1/optn=1 . I can get around alot better but, it's still not right. I don't want to have to reload Windows AGAIN, that's getting old lol.. Thanks for all your help ! IF your not sick of this, keep trying, I'm listening LOL. I'll try anything to get this thing back to , so called normal.

 

Servedby Advertising is a spyware cookie. Many people that use a hosts file will have that in their list to block it.

 

Thanks for the reply Whiskeyman,
If that's the case here. How would I know if it's blocked or if somethings up with my system ? I have 3 other systems here and , all of the others show the ad. This is just an ad that's in my Road Runner E-Mail. It's always been there before just off to the side. Not that I'm crazy about ads at all but, I would like to know if somethings wrong here. I checked on my other system and , it is a Flash8 ad. I did go and re-download and install Flash8 , rebooted a few times but, no change at all.

 

My guess is that Whiskeyman's probably right about this. It sounds like an ad blocking issue of some type. Look in your windows folder for a file named hosts. There may be a couple of them but the one you want won't have an extension. Rename it, and then see if you can see the ad. If so, you can either leave the hosts file renamed (my preference) or open the hosts file in notepad and find the line that refers to servedby.advertising.com and delete it.

Some ad blocking programs use the hosts file for blocking ads. You may have one doing this that you don't realize. Spybot is an example of one such program that may do this. I say may because it's been a while since I've used it and when I did I never used the immunize feature so I don't know if this is the method it uses or not. My point is, any program that you have that has a setting for blocking ads may be using the hosts file. In my opinion it's totally unneccessary and just leads to confusion on the part of mosts users.

So, my suggestion is, if the hosts file has a bunch of addresses in it, either delete them all or or rename the file. If you choose to delete all of the web addresses in it, leave the one (usually at the top) that says:

127.0.0.1 localhost

You have to decide for yourself if you want to use the hosts file but if it turns out theres a bunch of addresses in it, you can expect to see things missing on web pages along with occasional page not found errors.

 

Wiskeyman ,
I'm so sorry. I did not understand what you were trying to tell me and turns out you both are right ! There are ALOT of us out here that think we know so much until times like this when we wish the heck we knew ALOT more than we do LOL.. Thank you alot for all your help ! Zander thank you so much for explaining this so I could understand it with ease. AND, Thank you so much for all your help ! This has been driving me CRAZY for months now. For everone else. I did have a few hosts files all over. Spybot , Windows and a couple others. I tried to delete all the servedby.advertising.com & serverby.advertising.wizard.com but, that did not help at all. BUT, when I renamed ALL the hosts files guess what ! ? You got it, everything works sweet now ! I see my stupid ad in my e-mail hahaa. I went to a few pages I know always had little ads that I could not see and, yep now I can see everything ! Sweet ! Thanks guys ! You're the bomb ! Last question hahaa..Now for me and everyone too. I'm guessing that files just a pain in the rump file and is not needed, correct ? All it does is block ads whoever thinks arent worth showing up right ? ...

 

A host file can also block malicious sites and ads. Instead of a hosts file you could use SpywareBlaster and IE-Spyad. These two programs are less intrusive but still offer great protection.

 

My opinion, for what it's worth, is yes, it's just a pain in the rump. The hosts file is not needed and everything will run just fine without it. It was never intended for this type of thing and the tracking cookies it blocks are harmless as far as I'm concerned. You can run your adware program(s) every so often and delete the tracking cookies then.

The hosts file was originally created for use on a network. Not the internet. It's just a way of saving a bit of time (albeit, a tiny bit) when connecting to another computer. It works this way. Every time you try connecting to another computer (clicking on a link, typing an address in your web browser address bar etc. ) your computer first looks at the hosts file to see if the numeral address for the site is there. If it is, it uses that and connects you to the other computer. If it's not there (or if there is no hosts file) it queries your ISP's DNS server (Domain Name Server) for the address and then takes you there from there. You save a bit of time if the address for the computer you're connecting to is in the hosts file because it's faster to get the address right off your hard drive than it is from the DNS server. Not a heck of a lot faster, but faster.

What happens when you use the hosts file for blocking ads is this. 127.0.0.1 is the address of your own computer. If you look at a hosts file that's being used for blocking ads, you'll see that all of the websites listed in the file are listed as having an address of 127.0.0.1. So, when you visit a website that has an ad on it that comes from a different site, your computer looks at the hosts file first for the address of the site. If the site is one that's listed in the hosts file and it's shown as having 127.0.0.1 for an address, it looks to your own computer for the ad rather than going to the website to get it. Obviously, you don't have the ad on your computer so the ad just never shows up on the page you're viewing.

This is fine if you don't want to see the ads but it can also cause other problems. Page not found errors etc. can be caused by this when you try to visit a site and it has links on it to sites that are listed in your hosts file.

You can choose to use it if you want, but IMHO, it's just exactly what you were wondering about. A pain in the rump and the tracking cookies it blocks aren't worth the trouble or confusion it causes for people that don't know about this. Just my two cents worth.

 

Well, I have learned alot here with this problem. Not to high a price to pay for some computer brain food lol.. It sure helps to know what it is and how it works , just in case of future problems on other systems. Now at least I understand what it's all for and about.
Thank you guys for all your help ! !
I would have never figured this one out with you !