This is a doozy
The principal came to me with her laptop, (school issued) and said that on Saturday she was online with no problems, but when she turned on the computer on Sunday and clicked on the IE shortcut a box opened up asking what program she wanted to open the program with.
HUH?!
Well I started it up and sure enough got the same box. Tried other IE shortcuts on the desktop, tried from the start menu, tried from start>programs>Internet Explorer. All got the same box.
Then I went to c:\program files\Internet Explorer and found that the application was GONE. The folder is there, whatever else that is supposed to be there, is there. But the actual application, the "E", is missing.
Ok, I figured "something happened" and went to install IE6, but got a message that a later version was already installed. On to IE7, which for some reason is blocked by the proxy software from the board of ed. IE8 then, all was going well, right up to the point where it tries to update as part of the installation. You guessed it, failure. If there is no application it can not update, and without the update there could be no installation.
Finally I installed Firefox and with crossed fingers did an import. Thankfully all of her favorites were able to be imported and she can now get back online. And with Firefox set as the default browser her shortcuts now open using Firefox.
I have never seen anything just wipeout IE like that. Anyone seen this before? I will recommend a reimaging once school starts again, but for now she can work with it.
