The Thin Green Line.

[DavidA]

Something very odd has started to happen to my laptop recently,  and I was wondering if it is happening to anyone else.

I use Firefox. And (very recently) when entering a term in the search box found I couldn't access the results. Kept getting an Error 500 notice.

On close examination and with a bit of experimenting I found I could access one or two results that were close to the top of the list. Further closer examination reveals that there is a thin green line that extends from the left hand side of the list out to around the middle of the screen. All search results below this line give the Error 500.
It doesn't matter what the search subject is,  or which page of the results. everything below the line is out of reach.

Any Ideas ?

Dave.

[Stilldrillin]

Dave.
I use Firefox.

I entered milling machine, and all 724 hits are available.  No green line........ 

David D

[vtsteam]

What search engine does your search box hit on?

Try a couple others:

Ixquick
Startpage
DuckDuckGo

might prefer those anyway.

What version of Firefox?

Might have to reinstall FF.

[DavidA]

Thanks for the responses so far.  This is just a quick update.

I find that the problem does not occur when using my desktop machine; also running firefox.  So it appears to be specific to the laptop.

Both run XP and firefox (latest version).

As an aside.
I also noticed another odd thing.
If I enter a term in the search box on the laptop,  say 'hard boiled eggs''  and then changing to my desktop machine.  enter the 'h' from 'hard boiled eggs' into it's search box,  the term 'hard boiled eggs' is offered as a choice below the box.

Now, as I have to swap the Virgin LAN cable from machine to machine, this seems to indicate that the previous search was stored elsewhere. Probably on the server. I wonder what else is kept there ?


I'm going to run a complete virus scan on the laptop to see if that cures it.  To paraphrase Scott, 'I may be gone for some time'.

Dave.

[Stilldrillin]

VT.
I used the Search facility at the top r/h of this page....... 

David d

[vtsteam]

Thanks for the responses so far.  This is just a quick update.

I find that the problem does not occur when using my desktop machine; also running firefox.  So it appears to be specific to the laptop.

Both run XP and firefox (latest version).

Dave.

Yes, Dave, but do they have the same security settings, are you running the same additional software (antivirus, anti spam, anti-pop-up, browser add-ons, plugins, etc. and all with the same settings). and is the laptop version of Firefox possibly corrupted, all of these can cause differences in behavior, and aren't necessarily going to be picked up by anti-virus scans..

First thing to check is your security settings in the browser and associated software. Those could fully or partially block scripts needed by the search function.

I run all kinds of blocking, so I don' even get a dropdown in the search box either for madmodder site on this page or the search the web box in upper right of browser window. Stilldrillin -- it is possible to have both.

BTW, David, I'm not clear yet which one isn't working for you.

[Swarfing]

When was the last time you cleared your cache and history? Don't forget google remembers you no matter what machine you are searching from

[vtsteam]

I also noticed another odd thing.
If I enter a term in the search box on the laptop,  say 'hard boiled eggs''  and then changing to my desktop machine.  enter the 'h' from 'hard boiled eggs' into it's search box,  the term 'hard boiled eggs' is offered as a choice below the box.

Now, as I have to swap the Virgin LAN cable from machine to machine, this seems to indicate that the previous search was stored elsewhere. Probably on the server. I wonder what else is kept there ?
Dave.

Good suggestion from Swarfing.

Also if on a home network using DHCP to acquire an address from your ISP, you can turn off your cable modem every once in awhile ovrnight and acquire a new IP address in the morning -- assuming you don't enjoy being tracked without permission per above. If it doesn't bother you, leave it on.

[DavidA]

Thanks for all the suggestions.
I managed to get rid of the green line problem. I looked up error 505 and then installed PC clean.  Scanning with this has got rid of the line problem. No doubt it will bring it's own crop of problems.

I'll see how it goes.


What seemed to be happening is that when I entered,say, 'Diesel engines' into the search box,  it divided this general search up into further sub headings like marine, small, road etc. anything below this list of headings (links) gave a error505.  Selecting one of the heading gave a further sub-division set.  And so it went on.
Anyway,  it's sorted now.

Thanks again.

Dave.