Windows Live Toolbar and Crashes (Many Crashes)

It sounded easy. It looked easy. The editor wanted an article about toolbars. There were three to compare - Yahoo, Google and Microsoft. I thought this would be a quick and painless assignment. It just goes to show that what looks like a ‘walk in the park’ turns into a ’saunter through disaster’.

The Yahoo toolbar experience was not too bad. I managed to install and test it before I found that it was far too restrictive. Then came the Google toolbar disaster. After five days, neither I nor a team of people (in real life and online) can figure out why I can’t make the Google toolbar install. It simply refuses to recognize me as the administrator of my own computer, which I am. So, as far as the Google toolbar is concerned, I am at the install stage - still.

Now, the Windows Live Toolbar does install and I can have the ‘Windows Live Toolbar’ experience. Let me sum it up this way: it crashes Internet Explorer and, ironically, the crash is so extensive that it is not possible to open Internet Explorer again. The only way to have Internet Explorer function again is to do a complete reboot of the system.

Having three crashes of Internet Explorer within the hour is enough to convince me that further review of the Windows Live Toolbar is not in my best interests - nor is it good for my mental health. This is a stable Windows 2000 machine - with 2 GB RAM. It easily achieves uptimes of eight weeks if necessary. Therefore, it is a stable system that causes little trouble. - I should qualify that statement. The machine gives me ‘little trouble’ unless I want to try out and review some toolbars. Then, it is time for an increase in blood pressure…

Catherine Forsythe

[tags]toolbar, google, yahoo, microsoft, crashes[/tags]