I've been having a compatibility problem with Blogger and Internet Explorer for the past three months. Here's the error message I get:

Error: Possible problem with your *gwt.xml module file. The compile time user.agent (ie8) does not match the runtime user.agent value (ie6). Expect more errors.

Why would I have anything from ie6? My version of Internet Explorer is supposed to be ie8. Is there anything I can do about this?

I started using Google Chrome with Blogger because Internet Explorer stopped working and I was unable to post comments on other people's blogs. I've been trying for hours to post two new posts in Google Chrome, but there is a glitch in the draft window that creates random errors my text. So now I can't use either browser and it's driving me bonkers!

The problem comes about from some changes Google made. Try the solution here:

http://virtualdeveloper.blogspot.com/

If that doesn't work, post again and I'll suggest some other fixes.

Jeff/CompGuy

Thanks, Jeff! Unfortunately, I tried the fix on the blog and can't get past step 1:

1. Determine if the Google ChromeFrame extension is installed. Go to Tools->Manage Add Ons, and look for "ChromeFrame BHO", and ensure it is enabled.

I checked and it isn't there. The only Google extensions I have are Google and Google toolbar, both originally installed in December 2004 and last accessed today. There's no ChromeFrame BHO. What do I do now?

--Linda

P.S. I'd also love to know what's wrong with my Blogger draft window. I must have spent about 10 hours (no exaggeration) trying to enter a new blog post which I had already spent an obscene amount of time writing in MS Word. Then when I previewed it my text was mangled in the weirdest ways--not what I entered at all. I'd get paragraphs crunched together with a big chunk of the material missing, other paragraphs repeated when I didn't repeat them, etc.

The worst thing is that there was a witness to all this because I did have it posted briefly. I emailed someone who was very eager to read it, and he wrote back to tell me the text was messed up. By then I had discovered it on my own but couldn't get it fixed. This happened twice - totally embarrassing! Fortunately there was only one witness, since I hadn't emailed anyone else or posted the link on Facebook, etc. Of course I had to take the post down since I couldn't fix it.

Try these other approaches:

1. Clear your cache and cookies: https://support.google.com/adw...y?hl=en&answer=14776

2. Set security settings: https://support.google.com/adw...y?hl=en&answer=14776

3. Use a different browser, for instance you you can try free Google Chrome: https://www.google.com/chrome

Also, check the Add/Remove Programs control panel to see if Google ChromeFrame is installed. If it's there, uninstall it. If you don't see it there, remove it manually through these steps:

Locate the user-level Chrome Frame installation on disk, probably in
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\latest_version _numer\Installer\setup.exe

Then run it with the command line parameters:
setup.exe --uninstall --multi-install --chrome-frame

Jeff/CompGuy

Jeff,

I already tried everything you suggested as well as some things you didn't, and so far nothing has worked. I didn't try this, though:

quote:

Also, check the Add/Remove Programs control panel to see if Google ChromeFrame is installed. If it's there, uninstall it. If you don't see it there, remove it manually through these steps:

Locate the user-level Chrome Frame installation on disk, probably in
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\latest_version _numer\Installer\setup.exe

Then run it with the command line parameters:
setup.exe --uninstall --multi-install --chrome-frame

I tried to do it, but was probably going about it all wrong. I did a search of my entire C drive for "Google ChromeFrame" which took about two hours, but came up with nothing. Was I searching for the wrong thing?

I already use Google Chrome to access Blogger because I can't get any other browser to work with it. I began using it about two months ago when I was unable to post comments on other people's blogs.

The main problem I've been having is with my draft window in Google Chrome, or with the "translation" from the draft window to preview and post. The text always looks okay in the draft window, but after about three paragraphs I start getting error messages: "Your HTML cannot be accepted. Opening tag has no closing tag" and things like that. But I'm not entering any HTML--Blogger is supposed to be doing that for me!

The text always looks okay in the draft window, but when I preview it I find I have all kinds of random errors: Paragraphs duplicating or getting crunched together with big chunks of text missing, random changes in font size, too much space between paragraphs, etc.

I never expected this because Google Chrome is the browser I'm "supposed" to be able to use with Blogger. And yet I never had these problems with Internet Explorer when I was able to use it. But now I can't access my Blogger dashboard with IE either. Last night in desperation I tried using Mozilla Firefox, which I have on my hard drive but never use. I got a warning message: "This browser is no longer supported by Blogger" and suggesting that I try Google Chrome!

I tried Mozilla Firefox anyway, but the random errors were even worse than with Google Chrome. I was even getting changes in font color I hadn't put there.

I did put up a short three-paragraph post last night using Google Chrome, but I was unable to post the pictures I wanted to go with it. After I added the text I wanted, the pictures I had uploaded disappeared! So I posted it with the text only.

I'm getting pretty desperate at this point, since I'm unable to post to my blog using ANY browser I have available.

--Linda

Make sure you're using the latest version of FireFox. Try adding the scribefire add-on with it--the FireFox version is here:

http://code.google.com/p/scrib...ame=scribefire-4.xpi

Check your hard drive for problems.

Reinstall Windows.

Cleanly remove (add/remove control panel) Chrome, then restart, then reinstall Chrome.

quote:

I already use Google Chrome to access Blogger because I can't get any other browser to work with it. I began using it about two months ago when I was unable to post comments on other people's blogs.

Obviously this is a problem that's been developing for a long time. Why did you ignore it so long? It's only gotten worse.

I know you'll hate what I'm about to say, but others may benefit from it. I'm not going to bother suggesting that you restore your working system from your image backup because obviously you don't have one. I've been railing for years on the necessity of image backups. Hard drives are cheap; imaging software is cheap or free; it's only laziness that keeps people from having a full working backup of their system--a backup that can be updated daily and used whenever a problem like this comes up to put their computer back to the time when it was working perfectly.

I recommend Acronis TrueImage Home 2012 for the software--it's $25 from Amazon. A portable USB 250 GB self-powered external drive is under $60 these days.

Look at how many hours of frustration and aggravation you'd have saved if you simply had a good backup!

Jeff/CompGuy

quote:

Obviously this is a problem that's been developing for a long time. Why did you ignore it so long? It's only gotten worse.

The problem is with two different browsers. For over two years, I used Internet Explorer both to compose my own blog posts (with pictures if I wanted them) and to post comments on other people's blogs. Then about 2-3 months ago I noticed I was having more and more trouble posting comments. That's when I began getting the error message I told you about in my first post: "Error: Possible problem with your *gwt.xml module file. The compile time user.agent (ie8) does not match the runtime user.agent value (ie6). Expect more errors."

I composed my last post before this one in IE8 on December 2nd. That was also about the time I started using Google Chrome because of all the problems I was having with Internet Explorer. If you read the comments after that post, you'll see that Sean (Wugo) and I were kicking it back and forth because he was also having problems--but his were totally different from mine!

You might as well read those comments, so here's the link:
Do Not Lose Heart, We Were Made for These Times

The comments are mostly about the technical issues were having. They might tell you something they didn't tell me. In fact, I don't know why I didn't post about them here on the computer board at the time.

I didn't know about the problem with the draft window in Google Chrome because I never tried to use it for composing a blog post until about four days ago. That's when discovered it was full of bugs. That's also what made the IE8 problem so urgent all over again. I thought I had the option of using my Google Chrome browser, but it turns out I didn't.

--Linda

quote:

Make sure you're using the latest version of FireFox. Try adding the scribefire add-on with it--the FireFox version is here:

http://code.google.com/p/scrib...ame=scribefire-4.xpi

This is what I'm going to try next. I could very well have an outdated version of Firefox since I never use it. I'll let you know what happens.

--Linda

Jeff,

Okay, I upgraded to the latest version of Mozilla Firefox. Here's what happens now when I try to preview my blog: I am no longer getting the "not supported" message. However, the right-hand column with my profile picture, etc. ends up being CENTERED instead of being on the right side, and whatever text I just entered is not visible.

Also, the text is not being saved when I close the draft and then re-open it. The draft window just comes up with a blank screen. Here's the last warning message I got: Your HTML cannot be accepted: Tag is broken: W:SAVEIFXMLINVALSENTIAL

In other words, after I upgraded Firefox it stopped making the same errors, but it did start making new and different ones I haven't encountered in Google Chrome.

Even though you didn't tell me to do this, I also installed Scribefire in Google Chrome since there was a version available for it. It's working *somewhat* better and I haven't been getting warning notices, but the "Save" command doesn't seem to be working. When I try to save my draft and then close it, half the time I get a warning message telling me "You have unsaved changes that will be lost" even though I did save them...or thought I did.

--Linda

What about my other suggestions, such as checking your hard drive for errors? Problems in saving could be a result of hard drive problems. How much free space do you have on the hard drive you're using for the save? Are you sure you're saving to an available hard drive?

Reinstall Windows, update Windows after the reinstall using Microsoft's Windows Update, then update all the browsers you use to the latest versions and all the blogging tools as well.

The "tag broken" error says your HTML formatting has a problem. Usually it means you have an opening tag without a matching closing tag. Post the problem code here using the CODE tag (the last one in the toolbar when you post a reply).

Jeff/CompGuy

quote:

Originally posted by CompGuy:
What about my other suggestions, such as checking your hard drive for errors? Problems in saving could be a result of hard drive problems. How much free space do you have on the hard drive you're using for the save? Are you sure you're saving to an available hard drive?

Reinstall Windows, update Windows after the reinstall using Microsoft's Windows Update, then update all the browsers you use to the latest versions and all the blogging tools as well.

Jeff,

For the record my hard drive (my C drive) has a capacity of 92.9 GB, with 71.5 GB of free space. I just used the Disk Cleanup utility to free up a little more space on my C Drive. But this isn't a problem with saving to my hard drive. I don't use any offline blogging tools. I write the drafts for my blog posts in MS Word and I haven't had any problems saving changes to my drafts.

The problem is that the changes I make to my posts when I work online aren't getting saved, or not automatically or easily. Normally I go to my Blogger dashboard, and then if I want to post a new blog entry I open the draft window. Then I either type directly into it, or I copy and paste from my MS Word document. If all the features of the draft window are working normally, it auto-saves my changes approximately every five minutes. Plus I have the option of saving manually whenever I want to by hitting the save button. One of the main problems I've been having is that half the time (or more) it's been going through the motions of saving my changes without actually saving them. Again this is the online draft window. It has nothing to with my hard drive except that it becomes a temporary file when I'm actually working with it.

Just now, for example, I opened up the draft of the document I've been trying to post for the last five days. I was using my Google Chrome browser. The document wasn't TOO messed up, so I deleted the one accidentally duplicated paragraph and made a few other changes. During this process it auto-saved twice...but then it stopped auto-saving. I made a few more changes and tried to save my draft manually by hitting the save button. Then I tried to close the draft window (a process I've been using as a test) and again I got the "You have unsaved changes" pop-up. This happened a couple of times.

Then I previewed to see what actually DID get saved (via the auto-save) and discovered it was at least comprehensible--no duplicated or crunched paragraphs, etc. It wasn't exactly the way I wanted it but I decided to post it anyway. It's approximately half of a longer document. I'll post the other half as Part 2 as soon as I can get a "clean" draft of it. Hopefully it won't take me another five days to get it posted!

Re: Reinstalling Windows: I have NEVER done that with any computer I've ever owned and have no idea how to go about it. Plus I'd be flat-out terrified to do that even if I did know. I'd be afraid something would go wrong and I wouldn't know how to get it reinstalled. I know it's routine for you but it isn't for me. I'd be willing to let someone else do it if I thought they knew what they were doing, but I'd be afraid to do it myself. Plus I don't even know how! Would I need a recovery disk? If so, I have never had one with this computer.

--Linda

Jeff,

I posted the second part of my long blog post at about 5:30. Google Chrome seems to be the browser that is working best for me at the present time. It's working better than before but still has a LOT of bugs in it. My draft got auto-saved more often than when I was working on the first part, but when I tried to save it manually it often didn't work. I still got the "unsaved changes" message. I didn't have any more weird font changes this time, but still got some duplicated paragraphs.

I'd like to try checking my hard drive for errors like you said. Is there some particular program or utility you recommend for that? I used to have one on my old computer but can't even remember what it was called--Registry Fix, maybe?


--Linda

If you're using XP, open a command prompt and type;

chkdsk c: /F

then answer yes to the prompt that tells you since the drive is in use the drive can't be checked now and asks if you want to schedule a check at your next restart.

Geez, Linda--you have to be able to reinstall Windows. Didn't you get a Windows disk with your computer or some sort of recovery disk?

If you're so scared, I have to ask--what kind of backup do you have? If your hard drive died today, what would you do?

I didn't realize you were saving directly to the Web site. If you're having problems with that, I'd again look to browser problems OR your Internet connection itself. If the connection is too slow, you might be timing out before the save goes through, especially for a long post. Have you tried composing the post on your own computer, saving it, and then uploading it instead of doing it interactively?

If you don't have an always-on connection, you might even be disconnected if you're composing a long post--so you can't save to the Web until you reconnect...and that might take too long and give you a timeout message.

I bought a nice Dell GX280 desktop on eBay last month for $45 delivered. It may be time for you to get a different computer--one without all these problems...
Jeff/CompGuy

quote:

If you're using XP, open a command prompt and type;

chkdsk c: /F

then answer yes to the prompt that tells you since the drive is in use the drive can't be checked now and asks if you want to schedule a check at your next restart.

Jeff,

Okay, I just shut down my computer, restarted it and ran the check disk program as per your instructions. It took some time and seemed to be correcting some of the errors it found. I don't know how the Blogger draft window will work because I haven't tried using it yet, but my computer still seems to be running slow.

quote:

Geez, Linda--you have to be able to reinstall Windows. Didn't you get a Windows disk with your computer or some sort of recovery disk?

No, actually I didn't. This is a used laptop my daughter gave me, and it didn't come with a recovery disk. Is there some way I can get one? It seems like there should be. I want to be sure I get right one for my computer, but I guess you can tell me how to do that.

--Linda

What is the laptop--make/model? What version of Windows are you running?

As far as I can tell you have a software problem of some sort. I'd certainly try a Windows reinstall next.

Ask your daughter for the CDs/DVDs that came with the laptop. If she doesn't have them, see if you can borrow the right Windows version somewhere. I gather you don't want to spend any money if you can help it. I understand the feeling--but sometimes you simply have to weigh the time you're spending against the cost.

Jeff/Compguy

quote:

Originally posted by CompGuy:
What is the laptop--make/model? What version of Windows are you running?

Here's the system information from the System Properties window:

Microsoft Windows XP
Home Edition
Version 2002
Service Pack 3

Toshiba Satellite
Intel(R) Pentium(R)M
processor 1.73GHz
1.73GHz
504 MB of RAM

quote:

As far as I can tell you have a software problem of some sort. I'd certainly try a Windows reinstall next.

Ask your daughter for the CDs/DVDs that came with the laptop. If she doesn't have them, see if you can borrow the right Windows version somewhere. I gather you don't want to spend any money if you can help it. I understand the feeling--but sometimes you simply have to weigh the time you're spending against the cost.

As far as I know, my daughter never had the recovery disk. She got the laptop used from someone else, and if he gave her the recovery disk I'm sure she would have sent it. It did come with a carrying case which she sent me.

I'd be willing to pay for the recovery disk if I can find the right one. I spent FIVE DAYS getting this three-part blog post up there, which is as long as I spent writing it! And that was five days of pain and agony and frustration, not to mention annoying you with my computer illiteracy (again). So yeah, at this point the trade-off of time vs. money is well worth it. You are right that the problems have been building up for a long time, because I've noticed all kinds of bugs in other applications as well.

Since running the check disk program, I've been checking both Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox to see if their performance has improved. Both seem to be working much better now. I told you on January 24th after I upgraded to the latest version of FireFox:

quote:

I am no longer getting the "not supported" message. However, the right-hand column with my profile picture, etc. ends up being CENTERED instead of being on the right side, and whatever text I just entered is not visible.

I haven't had FireFox open since then, but a few minutes ago I opened it and tried writing a new blog post with it as an experiment. All I entered was the title for the new post, and then I saved it and previewed it. The preview displayed correctly, with the right-hand column on the right side of the screen the way it's supposed to be.

So the performance of Mozilla FireFox is improved and it actually seems usable now. Google Chrome seems to be improved also as far as I can tell--I made some small changes to existing posts.

--Linda

I still don't know the model number of your Satellite, but with a half GB of RAM and a 1.73GHz Pentium 4 processor, you're using a machine that's barely functional on today's Web. It's at least 6 years old, maybe older.

You're torturing yourself trying to work with this laptop.

Get a more modern laptop. You don't have to buy it new--there are great bargains on eBay and elsewhere.

Jeff/CompGuy