I have this issue on several of our agents machines, for some reason when 
Internet Explorer 8 is installed it still reports being IE6 to a website when 
browsing. The result of this is that some sites will not display properly 
(trying to display an IE6 optimized page even though we're running IE8) and 
some will not allow it to run at all giving a message that it requires IE7 or 
later. Platform for at least 3 of the machines is Windows XP sp3.

I've uninstalled/reinstalled both IE7 and IE8 multiple times with full 
reboots, I've removed anything under program files I've been able to as well 
as removed chunks of registry entries by hand to try and get to whatever is 
"stuck" in the system. I use Browserhawk as an easy way to check what version 
the browser reports but the websites use several sifferent solutions to check.

The obvious solution, ditching IE altogether for Firefox or some other 
browser isn't an option at this time since the primary work tool for these 
users runs only on IE7 and IE8.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, spent some hours waiting to get to MS 
support but every time I actualy get to talk to someone I get interrupted and 
have to try again another day.

> ...it still reports being IE6 to a website when browsing.

Which website(s)?

Open IE (only!) to this page: http://www.fiddlertool.com/ua.aspx. 
Highlight/select all of the red text at the top of the page and copy it to 
your clipboard. (Also scroll down to see if an issue has been detected and a 
possible resolution offered.) Open a reply to this post & paste the contents 
of your clipboard into your reply.

1. Does the behavior persist if you start IE in No Add-ons mode?

   => Start | (All) Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Internet 
Explorer (No add-ons).

Troubleshooting and Internet Explorer’s (No Add-ons) Mode [Applies to IE7 & 
IE8 in all OSS]
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/07/25/678113.aspx

2. Does the behavior persist if you Reset IE Advanced settings (RIES)?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923737

3. What anti-virus application or security suite is installed and is your 
subscription current?  What anti-spyware applications (other than Defender)? 
What third-party firewall (if any)?  Were any of these applications running 
in the background when you installed IE8?

4. Has a(nother) Norton or McAfee application ever been installed on this 
machine (e.g., a free-trial version that came preinstalled when you bought 
it)?


Jorgen wrote:
> I have this issue on several of our agents machines, for some reason when
> Internet Explorer 8 is installed it still reports being IE6 to a website
> when browsing. The result of this is that some sites will not display
> properly (trying to display an IE6 optimized page even though we're 
> running
> IE8) and some will not allow it to run at all giving a message that it
> requires IE7 or later. Platform for at least 3 of the machines is Windows
> XP sp3.
>
> I've uninstalled/reinstalled both IE7 and IE8 multiple times with full
> reboots, I've removed anything under program files I've been able to as 
> well
> as removed chunks of registry entries by hand to try and get to whatever 
> is
> "stuck" in the system. I use Browserhawk as an easy way to check what
> version the browser reports but the websites use several sifferent
> solutions to check.
>
> The obvious solution, ditching IE altogether for Firefox or some other
> browser isn't an option at this time since the primary work tool for these
> users runs only on IE7 and IE8.
>
> Any suggestions would be appreciated, spent some hours waiting to get to 
> MS
> support but every time I actualy get to talk to someone I get interrupted
> and have to try again another day. 

Jorgen <Jorgen@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> I have this issue on several of our agents machines, for some reason when 
> Internet Explorer 8 is installed it still reports being IE6 to a website when 
> browsing. The result of this is that some sites will not display properly 
> (trying to display an IE6 optimized page even though we're running IE8) and 
> some will not allow it to run at all giving a message that it requires IE7 or 
> later. Platform for at least 3 of the machines is Windows XP sp3.

It is not a good idea to detect the browser at the server side using
the useragent string that it sends.  This leads to all kinds of difficulty.
When you need to send different style info to IE6 users, it is better to
use a (client-side) conditional comment, like:

<!--[if IE 6]><link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/msie6.css" type="text/css"><![end
if]-->

This will load the msie6.css only when the browser is IE6.

I don't have access to any of the machines with this issue atm, I will go to 
that link when I get the chance. I just wanted to post that I appreciate the 
reply.

- Any website that checks apparently reads it as IE6, the ones that pop up 
suggestions for her to upgrade to 8 are for instance facebook.com and 
wrar.rapmls.com (real estate software). I tried using Browserhawk to see what 
it reported and as mentioned it only reported one string as 8, all the 
relevant ones still reported 6.

- I did try with no addons and after resetting the advanced settings (which 
I hate doing, always end up having to reinstall browser and anything even 
remotely browser aware).

- This particular computer uses Microsoft Security Essentials, at least one 
other with the issue uses Norton (either AV or IS). It is highly likely that 
all 3 machines have been infected by Norton or McAfee at some point. Unless 
they are active I uninstall what's left as a matter of course but I don't run 
the cleaners or manually clean the registry unless I need to put a new AV on 
that refuses to coexist with remnants of Norton or McAfee. On the machine I 
mainly worked on everything was turned off the last time I 
uninstalled/reinstalled IE8.

Jorgen



"PA Bear [MS MVP]" wrote:

> > ...it still reports being IE6 to a website when browsing.
> 
> Which website(s)?
> 
> Open IE (only!) to this page: http://www.fiddlertool.com/ua.aspx. 
> Highlight/select all of the red text at the top of the page and copy it to 
> your clipboard. (Also scroll down to see if an issue has been detected and a 
> possible resolution offered.) Open a reply to this post & paste the contents 
> of your clipboard into your reply.
> 
> 1. Does the behavior persist if you start IE in No Add-ons mode?
> 
>    => Start | (All) Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Internet 
> Explorer (No add-ons).
> 
> Troubleshooting and Internet Explorer’s (No Add-ons) Mode [Applies to IE7 & 
> IE8 in all OSS]
> http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/07/25/678113.aspx
> 
> 2. Does the behavior persist if you Reset IE Advanced settings (RIES)?
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923737
> 
> 3. What anti-virus application or security suite is installed and is your 
> subscription current?  What anti-spyware applications (other than Defender)? 
> What third-party firewall (if any)?  Were any of these applications running 
> in the background when you installed IE8?
> 
> 4. Has a(nother) Norton or McAfee application ever been installed on this 
> machine (e.g., a free-trial version that came preinstalled when you bought 
> it)?
> 
> 
> Jorgen wrote:
> > I have this issue on several of our agents machines, for some reason when
> > Internet Explorer 8 is installed it still reports being IE6 to a website
> > when browsing. The result of this is that some sites will not display
> > properly (trying to display an IE6 optimized page even though we're 
> > running
> > IE8) and some will not allow it to run at all giving a message that it
> > requires IE7 or later. Platform for at least 3 of the machines is Windows
> > XP sp3.
> >
> > I've uninstalled/reinstalled both IE7 and IE8 multiple times with full
> > reboots, I've removed anything under program files I've been able to as 
> > well
> > as removed chunks of registry entries by hand to try and get to whatever 
> > is
> > "stuck" in the system. I use Browserhawk as an easy way to check what
> > version the browser reports but the websites use several sifferent
> > solutions to check.
> >
> > The obvious solution, ditching IE altogether for Firefox or some other
> > browser isn't an option at this time since the primary work tool for these
> > users runs only on IE7 and IE8.
> >
> > Any suggestions would be appreciated, spent some hours waiting to get to 
> > MS
> > support but every time I actualy get to talk to someone I get interrupted
> > and have to try again another day. 
> 
> .
> 

> - This particular computer uses Microsoft Security Essentials, at least 
> one
> other with the issue uses Norton (either AV or IS). It is highly likely 
> that
> all 3 machines have been infected by Norton or McAfee at some point.

[I'll only address the computer running MSE in this reply.]

Download/run the appropriate removal tool on the computer running MSE:

Norton Removal Tool
ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/removal_tools/Norton_Removal_Tool.exe

McAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool
http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe

Notes:

=> Reset both IE8 Advanced settings (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923737) 
and Windows Update (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058) after running 
the removal tool; run the KB971058 Fix It in Default and Aggressive modes.

=> Ideally, you would have run the appropriate tool before installing MSE.

=> If the Norton or McAfee subscription (or free-trial periods) had expired 
before MSE was installed, see 
http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/msescan/thread/87058857-d181-4019-a723-efd9a49d9275


Jorgen wrote:
> I don't have access to any of the machines with this issue atm, I will go 
> to
> that link when I get the chance. I just wanted to post that I appreciate 
> the
> reply.
>
> - Any website that checks apparently reads it as IE6, the ones that pop up
> suggestions for her to upgrade to 8 are for instance facebook.com and
> wrar.rapmls.com (real estate software). I tried using Browserhawk to see
> what it reported and as mentioned it only reported one string as 8, all 
> the
> relevant ones still reported 6.
>
> - I did try with no addons and after resetting the advanced settings 
> (which
> I hate doing, always end up having to reinstall browser and anything even
> remotely browser aware).
>
> - This particular computer uses Microsoft Security Essentials, at least 
> one
> other with the issue uses Norton (either AV or IS). It is highly likely 
> that
> all 3 machines have been infected by Norton or McAfee at some point. 
> Unless
> they are active I uninstall what's left as a matter of course but I don't
> run the cleaners or manually clean the registry unless I need to put a new
> AV on that refuses to coexist with remnants of Norton or McAfee. On the
> machine I mainly worked on everything was turned off the last time I
> uninstalled/reinstalled IE8.
>
> Jorgen
>
>
>
> "PA Bear [MS MVP]" wrote:
>
>>> ...it still reports being IE6 to a website when browsing.
>>
>> Which website(s)?
>>
>> Open IE (only!) to this page: http://www.fiddlertool.com/ua.aspx.
>> Highlight/select all of the red text at the top of the page and copy it 
>> to
>> your clipboard. (Also scroll down to see if an issue has been detected 
>> and
>> a possible resolution offered.) Open a reply to this post & paste the
>> contents of your clipboard into your reply.
>>
>> 1. Does the behavior persist if you start IE in No Add-ons mode?
>>
>>    => Start | (All) Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Internet
>> Explorer (No add-ons).
>>
>> Troubleshooting and Internet Explorer’s (No Add-ons) Mode [Applies to IE7 
>> &
>> IE8 in all OSS]
>> http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/07/25/678113.aspx
>>
>> 2. Does the behavior persist if you Reset IE Advanced settings (RIES)?
>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923737
>>
>> 3. What anti-virus application or security suite is installed and is your
>> subscription current?  What anti-spyware applications (other than
>> Defender)? What third-party firewall (if any)?  Were any of these
>> applications running in the background when you installed IE8?
>>
>> 4. Has a(nother) Norton or McAfee application ever been installed on this
>> machine (e.g., a free-trial version that came preinstalled when you 
>> bought
>> it)?
>>
>>
>> Jorgen wrote:
>>> I have this issue on several of our agents machines, for some reason 
>>> when
>>> Internet Explorer 8 is installed it still reports being IE6 to a website
>>> when browsing. The result of this is that some sites will not display
>>> properly (trying to display an IE6 optimized page even though we're
>>> running
>>> IE8) and some will not allow it to run at all giving a message that it
>>> requires IE7 or later. Platform for at least 3 of the machines is 
>>> Windows
>>> XP sp3.
>>>
>>> I've uninstalled/reinstalled both IE7 and IE8 multiple times with full
>>> reboots, I've removed anything under program files I've been able to as
>>> well
>>> as removed chunks of registry entries by hand to try and get to whatever
>>> is
>>> "stuck" in the system. I use Browserhawk as an easy way to check what
>>> version the browser reports but the websites use several sifferent
>>> solutions to check.
>>>
>>> The obvious solution, ditching IE altogether for Firefox or some other
>>> browser isn't an option at this time since the primary work tool for 
>>> these
>>> users runs only on IE7 and IE8.
>>>
>>> Any suggestions would be appreciated, spent some hours waiting to get to
>>> MS
>>> support but every time I actualy get to talk to someone I get 
>>> interrupted
>>> and have to try again another day.
>>
>> .