I have windows vista home premium in a desktop.When I type a web page in the start menu and click search the internet I get internet explorer cannot display webpage.If I go to google and type the same address it goes to the webpage.I got on the chat line with HP and they said my help and support file was corrupted,so I uninstalled help and support and reinstalled it and the only thing that changed was I got a smaller icon.I still cannot go to the internet from the start menu.Anyone have any ideas? Thanks
How-To Geek Forums » Windows Vista
Tip: Click Here to Update All Your PC's Outdated Drivers (Sponsored Link)
cannot go to internet from start menu
(18 posts)
The Start /Search actually opens Windows Explorer (NOT WINDOWS INTERNET EXPLORER).What this means is that it looks for files already on your computer.If you want to go on the nets then open it from the task bar (INTERNET EXPLORER),or find Internet Explorer by left clicking on start and then right click on it and scroll down to (Send To-),choose desktop/create desktop icon.When it shows up in your desktop just double (left)click it.
I just tried this in IE7 and I get a similar result. Firefox is my default browser, so if I click "Search the Internet" from the Start Menu Search box it comes up just fine in Firefox. To simulate this with IE7, I type a search phrase into the *address* bar not the search bar. For example, if I type "howtogeek", IE7 churns on it a bit then puts up http://howtogeek/ with a full page message that starts with "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage".
Something is wrong with search from the address bar on my IE7, just like the OP. Under Tools -> Internet Options -> Search settings it shows Google (default) and says this is for *both* the address bar and the search bar. So, what's going on here? A search from the Firefox address bar works fine.
OK, I think I have a solution. But first you have to listen to how I resolved it. I started out testing IE7 on my XP SP2 system. Typing any text into the *address* bar worked exactly as expected -- it would display the results of a Google search. On my Vista system, IE7 gave the "cannot display" error. Both were set to use Google as the default search, so I thought I was looking at different results from identical setups.
Next, I found in the Help for IE7 that you can search from the address bar by typing "find", "go", or "?" followed by the text to search on. This worked fine on my Vista system, but "Search the Internet" from the Start Menu Search box was still broken. The next thing I did was compare all the IE7 settings from my XP SP2 system to the IE7 on my Vista system. All was looking the same until I happened to mouse over the search setting, "Google (default)" and noticed that the URL template was different between the two systems.
So, here's the fix that worked for me on my Vista box. In Search Settings, select another default such as Live Search which should always be there. Remove the Google search option. Now restart IE7 and verify the address bar search or Start Menu search are working as expected. If you like Live Search, you can quit here but Google is much better. Back in Search Settings, click on "Find more providers" and pick Google from the list. Make it the default, then restart the browser. Voilà, address bar search and Start menu search-the-internet now work in IE7.
hurtingbad, give this a try and see if it works for you too.
I'm not very good with computers,but the way I understand it is if you want search back,you have to get rid of something else in the right side menu.I am not good enough to get rid of help and support so I think I will keep it as it is.thank you for all your work.As I just got off work I am going to bed,but thanks again
Reply
You must log in to post.