Google Settings

[Just thinking]

I give up !!!!!

I cannot seem to change anything on my Google home page ... meaning my Google search settings.

First, I would like to disable Google Instant. FOREVER!

Next, I would like to get into the settings page without it saying that I must allow for cookies. I have tried everything mentioned to allow cookies and nothing works, the page keeps telling me the same damn thing ... I must enable cookies. I have XP SP2 with IE8.

Also, no location I enter is ever allowed ... not even my zip code. WTF is up with this?

Please ... any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Really ... THANK YOU if you succeed.

 

[SteveHamilton]

I can help with the cookies part, you need to go to your Internet Options, in tools, and go to Privacy from their, you should have a multi-level bar to choose from. my suggestion is being on medium. As for the others ill look into it.

ETA I reread what you stated, have you tried deleteing browsing history?

 

[SteveHamilton]

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Web Search/thread?tid=2f8b224aed75e9c2&hl=en

or try this

. Press the "Ctrl" and letter "N" keys to open a new Firefox browser window. Type "About:Config" in the address bar. Press the "Enter" key.


2. Read the warning. Press the "I'll Be Careful, I Promise!" button.


3. Type "Firefox" in the blank field labeled "Filter."


4. Double-click on the following entry to open a dialog box: "general.useragent.extra.firefox."

5. Type "www.google.com" into the blank field. Click the "OK" button to close the dialog box. Exit out of the browser window.


6. Open a new Firefox browser session and navigate to Google's search engine page. Begin typing in search terms and notice that the "Instant Search" feature is disabled and not showing.

 

[Just thinking]

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Web Search/thread?tid=2f8b224aed75e9c2&hl=en

or try this

. Press the "Ctrl" and letter "N" keys to open a new Firefox browser window. Type "About:Config" in the address bar. Press the "Enter" key.

I do not have FireFox ... all this does is re-open this existing window. Typing your suggestion into the address bar does nothing but give an address error.

Yes ... I have on occasion deleted my browser History.

 

[Just thinking]

I can help with the cookies part, you need to go to your Internet Options, in tools, and go to Privacy from their, you should have a multi-level bar to choose from. my suggestion is being on medium.

Done that ... results in no change at all.

Sorry.

 

[rjh01]

I suggest you use a browser other than IE. For speed use Chrome.

 

[Little 10 Toes]

Go to Google's home page, click on the gear in the upper right hand corner, next to the words "Sign in". Scroll down and select your Google Instant settings.

 

[Oliver]

I do not have FireFox ...

But you could try it just to see if it's a browser-related problem, right?

 

[Just thinking]

Go to Google's home page, click on the gear in the upper right hand corner, next to the words "Sign in". Scroll down and select your Google Instant settings.

And as soon as I go to that page, it states [in a bold wide box] that I must enable cookies. Then I do EVERYTHING very carefully and methodically what it spells out to do in order to enable my cookie settings. I then go back to the settings page and guess what appears ... right --- the big, bold wide box again claiming that I must enable cookies. It won't even accept anything I put in for my location.

If I haven't done the above at least 10 times ...

But thank you for your suggestion.

 

[Just thinking]

But you could try it just to see if it's a browser-related problem, right?

Sure ... which is why I don't have it. It messes things up with my computer. Causes crashes, pages won't load, very very slow, etc. Trust me, of all the other browsers out there [including Opera], I have found IE to be the best for my system. And it's not that great either ... but at least it gives me the least amount of headache.

 

[Little 10 Toes]

In IE, have you tried Tools >> Internet Options >> Privacy tab >> Sites button ?

 

[Sherman Bay]

I do not have FireFox ...

There's part of your problem. Ditch IE for either Firefox or (I prefer) Chrome. You'll be glad you did.

In my main Google page, at the upper right corner is a "gear" symbol, which stands for Options. Click on that, then select Search Settings. Scroll down and disable Instant Search ("Do not use Google Instant"). Save and exit the page.

There's also a Location box, which should have your ZIP code. Next to it is "Learn More." Click on that and you may learn more.

Works for me.

 

[Dancing David]

There are a lot of goofy reasons, permissions being the biggest, so are you on an administrator account or a user account?

It could also be that you have cookies turned off:
http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?answer=61416

Do you have a cookie blocker somewhere in your programs, like as a spyware tweak?

Now as a side issue:
Why haven't you updated your WinXP to SP3?

I am sure you have a reason i am just curious.

ETA: the other thing to try is resetting the IE8 settings. It will remove any tweaks you have.

 

[The Norseman]

Once again, Dancing David has it nailed.

Sure ... which is why I don't have it. It messes things up with my computer. Causes crashes, pages won't load, very very slow, etc. Trust me, of all the other browsers out there [including Opera], I have found IE to be the best for my system. And it's not that great either ... but at least it gives me the least amount of headache.

And reading this tweaks my alarm bells a tad. There's gotta be something -- a deeper issue that's causing those kinds of problems other than some browser settings. Not saying or speculating it's a virus or some sort of malware... just that it's not normal operating system behavior from my experience with XP.