I had to shut down my PC so that I could reset my modem, when I powered it back up I no longer have IE, I had to reset my homepage and the My Favorites folder has been emptied, I also don't seem to have mail. How do I get all the websites I had loaded in My Favorites back and what is going on with mail?

When you restarted, it may have applied a Windows Update.

Microsoft recently discontinued support for Internet Explorer, in favor of their newer Edge browser.

If that's the case, Internet Explorer is still loaded on your computer and available, but Windows likely defaults to using Edge now. Check which browser you're actually using. The Edge icon is basically identical to Internet Explorer, just a darker blue and slightly differently shaped E.


Or it may be some completely unrelated issue/error.

So, I've lost everything I had in My Favorites? And how do I get mail to work?

Your best bet is to get with someone local who knows about computers, like a friend or relative, who can come take a look at it in person for you and figure out what's going on.

Troubleshooting computer issues over the internet by forum post is generally not very workable.

But what do I do about emails???

What were you using to access your emails? Was it a website, or a separate email program?

Mail and Outlook. The Mail icon is still on the taskbar, however nothing happens when I click on it. 0-0 helped in the past with an issue, but I have no way to contact him now, with Mail not functioning.

Try navigating to the Mail program another way, either the Start Menu or using the Search feature.

There may be an issue with the Mail program itself, or it may just be an issue with the shortcut in your Taskbar.


Something else to try is to restart it again and see if that fixes the issues. Something may not have loaded correctly, and restarting could correct it.


Does your mail service have a web-based access? For example, if you were using the Mail program to send/receive emails from your Gmail account, you could just go to the Gmail website and log into your email there.

Well, I guess I'll try restarting. Fingers crossed.....

Can you do a System Restore back to a couple of days ago? That often clears up unusual problems.

flashguy

IT'S BACK! Hallelujah!! Everything is working just like it should, it's as though it didn't happen. PHEW! Thanks for the suggestions.

Just as a future reference for anyone reading: the first trouble shooting step should always be restarting your machine.

For decades I've always relied on the "Three 'R's of Microsoft problem resolution:"

1) Reboot
2) Re-install
3) Replace

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Just as a future reference for anyone reading: the first trouble shooting step should always be restarting your machine.

That may be a valid tactic for Windows-based computers about which I know little, for Unix-based systems (Linux/Mac), it can be worse than useless (by casting uncertainty on the issue and inhibiting diagnosis).

In my defense (sort of) may I state for the record it was shutting down and restarting my PC that brought about the situation that had me in my temporarily lowly state.

I had never had it do anything along the lines of what it did last night. I was NOT impressed.

quote:

Originally posted by OMCHamlin:
What do we know about MS Edge? Does anybody here use it? I am getting disgusted with Firefox...

Edge works just fine.
FWIW, it is generally wise to have multiple browsers available as the problem in most cases is not the browser so much as some particular websites are poorly written.
The easiest way to deal with it is to just change view with different browser.
Browsers are non intrusive so just try what works for you, if you don't like it or it doesn't work in your particular situation just either don't use or uninstall.