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Internet Explorer doesn't report it is running on Windows ???

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mwb1100:
Here's a web page about User Agent fields (mostly with pointers to other docs) by Eric Lawrence who develops the free HTTP sniffer, Fiddler:

http://www.fiddlertool.com/useragent.aspx

There's a reg script on the page to set your IE User Agent to say you're running IE 6 on WinXP (there's also an undo reg script).

Carol Haynes:
I don't think this is anything to do with the user agent field - I have changed it in the registry and also tried the AdMuncher approach but both of them yield no help at all - Windows Update still thinks this is a Mac.

There are a load of pages at MSKB that relate to a problem with Windows 98 when WU thought W98 was a Mac and it turned out a number of DLLs needed to be reregistered - but I can't find anything relating to Windows XP.

Carol Haynes:
Solved the problem.

Check http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=817144

I used the registry method (4) to delete the user agent info from the registry and that seems to have fixed it!

For some reason the registry had an extra value in that field:


--- ---Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\User Agent\Post Platform]
"MathPlayer 2.10b"=""

I have got MathPlayer installed (as part of MathType for publishing mathematical equations on webpages - which is the full version of Equation Editor supplied with MS Office). I don't know what that key does but removing it certainly solves the problem of accessing the BBC downloads and Windows Update.

Cheers

Dirhael:
It's strange though, because the post platform string only gets appended to your UA string and does not replace anything. Because of this you should still have been able to access those websites. Also, it doesn't (or at least shouldn't) matter what that string is set to if using the Ad Muncher workaround I posted previously, as AM would have overridden anything sent by your browser(s).

Anyway, good to hear you were able to solve the problem! I'll make a mental note of what solved it for you, in case I encounter a similar problem in the future :)

J-Mac:
Carol,

Also seems to have been noticed here:  http://news.softpedia.com/news/Microsoft-Windows-XP-SP2-Mac-OS-X-62569.shtml

Jim

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