Three issues with IE8 (#1 can't display - #2 blank page - #3 tab question)

[Bob in St Louis]

I've recently moved from other browsers to IE8 on two PCs due to compatibility issues with my ISP. I now have a new crop of issues with the new IE8 software, some of which may or may not be "bugs", but I'm looking for some solutions if they're are available.

I tried to play by the rules and download the "ToolBarCop" as the moderator asked in the sticky thread, but after two attempts of D/Ling and receiving error messages for invalid information, I gave up.

The wife and I are both running DELL P4's with XP SP3 with IE8 through a DSL connection. My unit has IE7Pro. The ISP is AT&T. The router/modem is a 2WIRE 2701HG-B.

Here are the issues I'm (we're) having:

#1 Her machine:
- Often gets an error message "Internet Explorer can not display the webpage"" while surfing the net.

#2 My machine:
- After clicking on a link, or opening a new webpage it will appear to load. She can see the [load] message in the lower left of the screen, the progress bar looks like it's accomplishing something. Then....she gets a blank white page and the message in the lower left says [done]. After multiple [refreshes], She'll eventually get where she needs to go.

- I belong to several forums (not PC related), and it's very common for me to have a couple dozen emails a day from topic replies. That being said, here's how I would like to, and have been able to view the new replies.....I open the browser, then open the first email of topic reply (all is fine). I then hold the [Ctrl] button while I click the link embedded in the email to view the forum in a new tab (all is still fine). After reading the first thread, I then go back to my email account, erase that email, then find and open the next email of topic replies. At this point I'd like to right click the address for that topic reply, go back to the tab of the already open forum page, paste the address in the address bar and click 'go'. Now in the past (with Google Chrome), I'd then be directed to the newest forum post in that thread. That's GREAT, that's the way I like it. However, now with IE8, it opens a second tab. That's a pain. That's what I'd like to fix. I'm looking for a way for IE8 to open the link I've pasted in the address bar, replacing the first page without loading a second tab, leaving the first one open. The constant opening and closing of tabs is a LOT more work than I'd like to deal with.

If I could get those three things fixed, my wife and I would be very happy. Sorry for the long post.

Thanks folks!
Bob

[Bob in St Louis]

Whoops.... ......I forgot issue #4 with my machine:

Occasionally, I click on a link, or click on an email and all appears to be normal. The page loads normal, everything looks great. I'll start reading the text of the email or webpage, then within 10 or 15 seconds, I'll hear the "click" from the speakers like I've clicked a link, then I'll get a Dell/Google search page telling me "Sorry, we couldn't find http________.com" and, "Here are some related websites:".

I can then click the back button to see where I was at, then repeat the process. It usually gets me where I wanted to go at that point.

I'll work on posting a screen shot. I'll post if I'm successful.

Thanks again,
Bob

[Bob in St Louis]

I went to my PhotoBucket account. The page loaded normally, looked like it loaded the entire page in fact. Then, several seconds later, I get the Dell/Google failure page asking if I'd like to pick from these pages since they could find where I wanted to go.

Here's a screenshot:

[Bob in St Louis]

Um...So are these issues so rudimentary that any idiot would have figured them out by now and you're all laughing at me? Or are these issues so hard that nobody knows?

Sorry for the shameless thread "bump", but I'm at my wits end. My wife doesn't think I'm cool anymore. (haha)

Bob

[Bob in St Louis]

I bought "The Ultimate Troubleshooter" ("TUT") and installed it on both PCs.
On mine, it helped eliminate a few items that were slowing down the PC during start up, but other than that it still has the same problems.
No difference on my wifes PC.

Bob