Shoutbox

Okay......let me tell you a story.

On Monday I decided it was time to reformat my computer, etc.  I'd been away from it at Uni for a while and so hadn't got round to it.

When Windows was done installing (only an SP1 copy, then updated to SP2 using Microsoft's exe........totally legal) i installed IE7 Beta 2 (which i'd had working on this machine before and also on my laptop) and after installing a few other things I went to change the IE homepage, but it kept defaulting back to http://uk.msn.com   After a bit of searching around I traced this to a registry key in Software->Microsoft->Internet Explorer->Main....and in particular the key "Start Page"  If youi try to edit this key in the registry it tells you that it can't be modified, even when the permissions are set so that my account has full registry control.

So I decided to reformat again......this time I changed my IE homepage straight away after loading Windows & SP2......but then a bit later when I came to load IE7 Beta 2 it refused, saying that the installation couldn't be completed.  I ran a registry checker programme which Microsoft suggests using to check the permissions of the keys that setup needs to alter, and sure enough it showed me in the log that "Start Page" was once again a problem, and now sure enough I can't change my homepage (not that I want to, as it's set to what i want, but it just proves that the same problem has occurred).

I then went to my laptop to try changing the homepage on there (IE 7 Beta 2 installed) and it does let me change the page.

I did (sorta) install IE7 Beta 2 by booting into safe mode and installing it, so it runs, but not entirely properly (when downloading a file the logo still shows as the old IE6 one) and if for the Start Menu i tell it to display "Internet Explorer" at the top of the first window (above recent programmes) it shows the old logo as well.

Gonna do a test later today on my mate's laptop, he just got a new one by Acer and can't change his homepage cos it's locked to acer.......i checked that same registry key and tried to alter it, checked permissions, etc, but no luck.......gonna see if IE 7 Beta 2 will install on his, or if it spews out that same error......i'll report back what happens.

Has anyone experienced this problem, or similar problems, or found a solution?

Thanks