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Why am I getting Object Errors on Windows 8 when I visit ESPN and Yahoo Sports?

Question: Why am I getting Object Errors on Windows 8 when I visit ESPN and Yahoo Sports? I have Windows 8 and get the object error pop-up on ESPN and Yahoo Sport sites that prevent me from doing anything including closing the site. Many help areas for this often lead to ads guaranteeing the change of add-ons to Internet Explorer because I have Windows 8. It does nothing to right-click on IE tile to change add-ons as it does in Windows 7.

Okay, so the question is a little bit confusing. What I think you’re saying is that in Windows 8, you’re unable to right-click on anything or to control the add-ons that appear in the browser.

I totally get that.

And the reason is a very obscure one that I didn’t realize for the longest time. Windows 8 actually comes with two different versions of Internet Explorer.

  • One version that you access from the tiled Start menu.
  • Another version that you access from the desktop.

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IE from your tiled Start menu

IE From the Tiled Start Menu
IE From the Tiled Start Menu

My understanding is that the version of IE that you access from the Start menu is almost an Internet Explorer light. It doesn’t really have all of the functionality that regular desktop-based Internet Explorer has. Maybe it will someday but it certainly doesn’t have the user interface that you’re looking for such as control add-ons.

That explains why you might be getting some of the errors. These typically reflect a problem with your browser. Your browser doesn’t have the support – whether it’s the latest version of Flash to something internal to the browser -to do what your web pages are attempting to do. But like I said, the tiled browser is different.

IE from your desktop

IE From the Desktop
IE From the Desktop

In Windows 8, you can access your desktop from the tiled Start menu by clicking the Desktop tile. The desktop still looks like your old Windows 7 or Windows previous  desktop. Once there, you can click on the IE icon and open the full-featured Internet Explorer version 10.

So, bottom line: my recommendation is that you fire up the desktop-based version of Internet Explorer. Go to your sites and see if you still have the problem. My guess is that you will not.

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