TSGL: Changing browsers

[H Davis]

Sylvia & HB,

Try installing the Firefox add-on "IE Tab" 
(https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1419). The description 
on the page is poor. It's not just for web developers.

When installed (which takes only a few seconds) you will see an icon at 
the right end of your Firefox status bar. Normally the icon is the FF 
icon and FF operates normally. If you encounter a site that doesn't work 
correctly with FF you (left) click on the FF icon and FF will call up 
the appropriate IE routines to display the page while also changing the 
icon to the IE icon so you know what's going on. The change takes only 
the time to redraw the page. To the user it looks just like a page refresh.

Only the actual page is rendered using IE. The tool bars at the top and 
the status bar at the bottom are still FF. In fact there's no easy way 
to tell that the page is now being rendered by IE instead of FF except 
for the icon (and the fact that the previously dysfunctional feature now 
works).

If this is a page you visit regularly and you want it to be rendered 
using IE every time, you can right click on the icon and a window will 
come up allowing you to set several parameters for IE Tab including the 
URL of any sites you want to be always rendered using IE.

There is one anomaly you'll have to contend with however. If you use the 
password memorizing capabilities of FF to recognize a page that needs a 
password and to supply that user name and password automatically; that 
will not work because FF is not rendering the page and therefore does 
not recognize the password requesting html code. You have to enter it by 
hand. You might be able to get IE to memorize it but I haven't tried 
that so can't say if that will work.

IE Tab has worked flawlessly for me for a couple of years now. The 
author updates it pretty quickly when a new version of FF comes out. I 
have a credit card account that demands using IE and, of course, some of 
the Microsoft Update pages work only with IE, so I've set those sites to 
always be rendered using IE.

Of course if you're rendering the page using IE, you are subject to all 
of its security problems so keep your machine updated with the IE fixes 
and make sure your IE security settings are appropriate for your level 
of paranoia.

HTH

H Davis

HBCANON wrote:
> I too experience this. IE will work sometimes where FF will not. Often if I return to the
> same site much later using FF, it will work. Probably the result of FF fixes/updates.  So
> why do I continue to use FF?? Because like Mozilla, Netscape, one can use different
> profiles without having to sign on to the machine as a different user. Often handy when
> Mom has different cookie/bookmark file from Dad's, and/or DAD uses the company VPN to work
> from home, for instance. IE does not offer this.
> HBCanon
> Geneva, FL
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: list-bounces at tsgserver.com [mailto:list-bounces at tsgserver.com] On Behalf Of Sylvia
> Gould
> Sent: Saturday, January 05, 2008 12:01
> To: List at tsgserver.com
> Subject: TSGL: Changing browsers
>
> My computer is set up to automatically use Firefox. However, I find many times only IE
> will open a particular website. I was told there is an icon somewhere to switch browsers
> "in midstream" but can't locate it. I have tried copying  the address in a newly opened IE
> address bar, but that doesn't always work. Where do I go to make IE my default? Thanks.
> Windows XP, Home Edition
> Sylvia Gould
>
>
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-- 
H Davis   hdavis1 at gmail.com