I'm using Windows 7 with IE9. For the past 10 days or so, things that I have read have stopped changing colour. I've checked a few forums, and other people are mentioning the same problem, but no-one seems to offer a cure that works. I've been through tools, internet options, general, appearance, and made sure all the correct boxes are ticked. I've even removed and re-installed IE9. Anyone got any ideas (apart from using Chrome or Firefox)?

I don't use IE9, but when I tried the beta, I never saw that issue. I'm in process of changing to Firefox and haven't had any issues there.

I often see little or no difference in link colour either. I don't know what everyone else sees here but I find the difference in link colour is subtle in IE and no noticeable difference in Firefox and Google Chrome. Not something I've thought much about before but that's the way the links behave for me.

Sites/forums can stipulate what colour their visited links should be, or if links should change colour at all. I think many do make it so that there is little or no difference in colour between visited and unvisited links. I find that the link colours set by the site owner (or a setting in the forum software) can't be overruled by setting the visited link colour in the browser settings.

The difference in link colour on Google is noticeable though. Unvisited links are blue and visited ones are a dark mauve colour. Also, can you see a difference in the visited/unvisited links here?

The above link leads to my own site where I've made visited/unvisited links a very different colour. It should make for a definite test. If links change colour, then the browser is working properly. It would mean that other sites/pages where link colours don't change could be set that way by the site owner.

If the links don't change colour in Google or my own site, then there are a couple of settings you could look at in Internet Options.

* Go to 'General (tab) > Browsing history (section) > Settings (button)'. Make sure that the 'Days to keep pages in history' option is set to a number of days (20 is the default).

* Go to 'General (tab) > Browsing history (section)' and make sure the 'Delete browsing history on exit' box is not ticked.

I'm having the same problem with IE 9. I've been using it for awhile now but this problem just started recently. The difference in color between visited/unvisited links for me in IE 9 was quite noticeable. Blue for unvisited and purplish for visited. A bunch of my old visited links are still purple. It's just that the new ones that I click on don't change color. This issue is only a minor annoyance, but it would be nice to know the cause of this.

Have you checked out the above (the link too)?

I've checked your link; the colours don't change. My problem is the same as Direwolf's - links I visited a while ago are a different colour, but those I visit now for the first time don't change. So it's not a problem with differentiating between colours, it's just that newly visited sites (or threads on here) no longer change colour once they have been clicked on.

I'm trying the links with IE9. Although I don't notice a change in FunTrivia's link colours, the links on my site change colour markedly. I set them to be dark blue when not visited and red(ish) when visited. That information is not much good for solving your problem but shows that, all being well, the link colours should change in IE9 in accordance with the colours specified by the site.

I know that link colours can be History related, hence the suggestion to check the mentioned settings. I expect you must have tried deleting browsing history?

I think with earlier versions of IE, there was an option to override link colours set by sites with your own choice of colour but this doesn't seem to be present in IE9. There is a panel in IE9's Options where link colours can be set but the browser doesn't seem to respond to them.

One thing I have noticed about FunTrivia's link colours when using IE9. Visited links do change colour if viewing the forums when logged out. Not much ..but some.

I checked your link too and the colors don't change for me either. Also tried deleting browser history. Since this problem only started recently, could it be related to one of the various security updates for IE 9?

I don't think so. I have all the latest updates for IE9 and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit and the colour of links in my site change for me. Here's a screenshot:

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u78/Mart44/marts-graphics/links-1.gif

Edit: Have you tried a reset of Internet Explorer?

'Internet Options > Advanced (tab) > Reset (button)'.

I've just gone back to IE8, and the problem is still there. I've also just tried accessing FT with Firefox, and unread threads change colour there when I access them. Does that leave a reset as suggested above as my only option? Would that delete all my saved passwords?

(Edited for typo.)

I think you could lose your passwords on a reset. I can't put this to the test for you because the passwords I need aren't stored in IE9. Norton has password safe that stores and fills in the password details for me. A reset resets:

Home pages.
Search scopes.
Browsing history.
Form data.
Passwords.
Appearance settings.
Toolbars.
ActiveX controls.

Unfortunately, it's uncertain whether resetting would actually cure the problem but you seem to have tried everything else. If you are on IE8 now, this cure could be worth following.

OK thanks. I think I'll go back to IE9, and put up with it for a while in case Microsoft fix it in an update. It's clearly not just me and something I've done with my settings, otherwise Direwolf wouldn't have the same problem, and there are a few people mentioning it on forums as well. Thanks for your advice.

A mystery why the links change colour for me. Not that there's much of a change of colour on FT's links but the links on my site behave as shown in the screenshot ..and I can see the difference on Google links as well. Maybe we'll think of something else. I can't think that anything outside of the browser would cause the problem.

Thanks for trying to help telly. I thought about doing a reset but I would hate to lose all my passwords. I'm afraid I rely too much on IE's password auto complete feature and I might not have everything written down somewhere.

Like I said earlier, this only a minor problem. I should have enough brain cells left to be able to remember which links I've already clicked on.

That's OK. If I could replicate the problem it would help. I haven't been a big fan of IE in the past but I quite like IE9. I've added a free spell checker called 'Speckie' to it. There are also TPLs (Tracking Protection Lists) that can be added to it that can help block unwanted content.

Overall I like IE 9. It's way faster than IE 8 and crashes less too.

I'd like it as well but it won't work with XP... The previous version lasts an average of a week on the PC before it crashes, and also (which no other browsers ever have) loses all my history and auto completes at the same time, and half the time logs me out of every site I use as it loses the cookies as well. I've used it since getting the internet in 2000 and this is the only version which wipes its memory every time it fails. If anyone has a method to recover it I'll be very grateful but probably too late once it's happened to get anything back.

Check that 'Delete browsing history on exit' is not ticked. 'General (tab) > Browsing history (section)'

It can't be guaranteed to work but I'd say to try resetting IE, even though it would mean doing some setting up again (see above) 'Internet Options > Advanced (tab) > Reset (button)'.

It might also be worth considering using the sfc /scannow command. Copy and paste the bolded letters into the computer's 'Start > Run' box and press 'Enter'. Here's what that command does:

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/ht/sfc-scannow.htm

Edit: First suggestion modified.

Very odd, I tried all the IE settings when it first happened and although the box isn't ticked (otherwise it would wipe every day rather than just after a crash, or in the latest case a hissy fit) and it's set to store 20 days it reverts to default whatever the settings. I reloaded IE when it updated and it helped for a while but didn't last. Funnily enough I had major hanging issues on the laptop and needed a registry cleaner, most cost a bomb and if the scannow does something similar I'll give it a shot and also reset (as nothing to lose there as it's already been lost!) and report back. The laptop is on Vista and having to learn a completely new language to try and keep that under control as it's the first time since Win 98 that the arrangements have been altered.

One trouble with IE is that it is very much part of the operating system. So when it goes wrong, it can involve deeper problems than if it was a standalone browser such as Firefox, Chrome or Opera. Other browsers can be easily un-installed and reinstalled to cure problems with them. Not so with IE. Although you can often roll back to an earlier version, it isn't easy to get rid of it altogether and then make a clean start. Repairs of IE can involve repairing the OS. sfc /scannow is such a repair. Not saying it will work but worth a try.

The benefit of Registry cleaners is arguable. Some say they can cause more problems than they cure and advise against using them. There are some free ones I've tried over the years (my system is backed up with a disk image in case anything goes wrong). I have had them cause a couple of errors but think they are mostly OK. However, I don't often use a Registry Cleaner these days and can't say I've ever noticed any difference in performance from cleaning/optimising the Registry.

Just bear in mind that they can damage systems. Always use one that creates a backup so that it can put back the cleaned out entries if necessary.

Well I've run scannow, it took two hours but as nothing else was wrong I'll only see what may have changed next time IE crashes and rises like a phoenix, or better still if it simply doesn't crash. But it looks useful as I guessed Windows should have some sort of repair tool, and will run it on the laptop next unless my last effort fixed the hanging as that really had a major problem. I dumped the registry cleaner from it once it misbehaved and saw it was using a lot of CPU memory and seemed to fix the problem, but as it was doing it long before will try that as a second line of attack if needed. I'm glad you mentioned the registry cleaner problems as you've stopped me trying any more- AVG is meant to be the best but not spending more money on what's probably not warranted.

Update- possibly a record, it crashed in around 8 hours. I'm using Chrome now and intend to continue unless it plays up as well.

Is Flash Player up to Date in IE? It usually updates automatically but check it anyway. The latest version is 10,3,181,26. Using IE, check the version here:

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/155/tn_15507.html

It might be worth uninstalling Flash Player and then reinstalling it since it has been known to cause crashes. The Flash Player uninstaller can be downloaded from here:

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/141/tn_14157.html

When the uninstaller has been run, reinstall Flash Player for Internet Explorer. Here's the download link (use the top link in the table):

http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/fp_distribution3.html

If you use Firefox, also download and reinstall the Flash Player for Plugin-based browsers (same page as linked to above). It's been my experience that the uninstaller doesn't affect Chrome, probably because Flash Player is incorporated within the browser software.

Did you try the IE reset? Perhaps try that (again) after Flash Player is uninstalled and before reinstalling it.

If none of the above works, I think I've exhausted my suggestions, apart from reinstalling the OS entirely.

I got the Flash update a few days ago, but will work my way through the other suggestions and see what happens. Thanks for all your help, if nothing changes I won't uninstall the whole lot, that's what other browsers are for! I don't think I saw the reset bit but will do that first although it was doing it on the previous version and carried on when it updated. I'm more concerned over the fact my laptop's been hanging for months, it turns out Vista uses a different task manager system with the performance manager telling you far more, as it was the memory and not the cpu that was being overloaded at over 80% when it was happening. I'm not familiar enough with the new terms on it to understand what's actually using the memory the most and what to do when you find it (as you can't stop the processes from it) but had enough clues to remove a number of programs and so far it's been behaving. I'll report back if that goes funny again as it has been driving me mad as it's done it for more and more of the time. That was why I tried the registry cleaner and it did work better till the next day...