!pick one ,
http://browsers.evolt.org/

I use IE 6. I discovered the SBC Yahoo Connection Manager "fix" after I bought a new HDD and started reinstalling stuff. IE worked fine until I installed CM and went back to the Red Xs just after, so I uninstalled it and it's been fine ever since.

IE will connect without CM, you just have to set it up to not try to dial-up. you lose the status check and connection help, but it really didn't help me much anyway. I don't miss it a bit anymore.

I included win98 in my search phrase, so all my hits were w98. I didn't realize this is an XP issue too! I've been planning to upgrade to XP once MS decides if they will or won't support it, their decision to stop supporting 5-years-or-older software worries me since win2k and xp are about 5 years old now. New OS? or continued support? I don't want to upgrade and have to REupgrade right away. too many issues. BUT I was looking forward to XP permanently solving the Red X issue even if it created other problems. I guess I can't rely on XP to solve this problem after all.

I hope you find something to help you! I too noticed that the SBC browser didn't solve the problem either AND won't let you set encoding.

I've had other IE/W98 conflicts with the drivers for my Sound Blaster sound card. I wonder if that is a contributing factor - does anyone else with this problem have a Sound Blaster?

I uninstalled the Connection Manager (from ADD/REMOVE Programs) and connected with IE and still have the red X problem, rats! Perhpas I need to uninstall all of the SBC software and leave out CM when reinstalling. Although I don't recall ever being able to "custom" install certain componants.
I have a different sound card than you, I believe it's ATI Rage Lite Pro or something similar, but no problems with IE sound.
I have my DSL modem (Speedsteam 5100) installed, along with a Linksys router, on my Win98 pc. I have a new XP pc, which is connected to the router, that also uses SBCyahoo browser and it works perfectly. It doesn't use Connection Manager because XP has it's own ethernet adapter and network connector built right in.
When I was searching the net for solutions, I was searching for "internet explorer red x". At the time, I didn't know about the encoding. The results that mentioned XP didn't say anything about encoding or SBC, it was just general problems caused by things unrelated to our circumstances. My XP pc works too good, hehe, meaning... my son and hubby want on it. I need to get theirs fixed cuz I don't share well with others.
Upgrading the OS sounds too scary to me. My Win98 pc is made up of devices, componants, drivers, etc. that are compatible with Win98. I'm no computer tech, but upgrading to XP sounds like opening a door to a world of problems, although I know people do it everyday. When XP first came out, they had so many compatibility problems, that Microsoft was actually furnishing, free of charge, compatible components/devices to them. I know of a couple people... one got a free printer, another got a monitor. I'm assuming most of the incompatible devices were originally designed for Win98. I'm just not computer-savy enough (nor do I have the patience) to dive in and deal with the problems that I think I will have with my antique devices.
Keep me posted! ;O)

I may have abbreviated too much - once I figured out the problem, I uninstalled all the SBC software and reinstalled IE. if you're using a router, you don't need any of the SBC stuff. your connection is basically always on, and connection problems are solved at the router level instead of the PC level.

like I said, I still have problems - I will be happily browsing along for hours without problems, and suddenly I get the Red X attack and have to repair or reinstall IE. then everything is fine for a month.

it's odd that so many people have this problem and no one has come up with a true, permanent, solution.

Hey, I'm so happy to finally be able to report that I have fixed my problem with the red x's! :cheesy: I actually fixed it about 5 days ago, but I've been holding out on posting about it, had to be sure the problem didn't reoccur.

It's a little ironic how it happened though... I was tired of wasting my time trying to fix that crappy browser and decided to download a new browser, Opera. After installing Opera, I opened IE browser to access some bookmarks and noticed all my pics and graphics were back. I opted to add the latest java version to the Opera download, so the java update itself, had to be what fixed my red x problem. This is great because that pc is my husband and son's and they aren't "change" friendly. I think the Opera browser would have been an excellent tool for them, but they were really "boo-ing" it. I wasn't looking forward to listening to the constant complaining about how the old browser was so much easier to use, not to mention me having to redo all of their bookmarks, etc.

The information on the version of the Java update that I got is as follows...
This is what's under ADD/REMOVE Programs on my pc:
Java 2 Runtime Environment SE v1.4.2_06
This is what the folder is named:
j2re1.4.2_0

I think it's worth mentioning that the encoding still constantly switches between Unicode, Western European (ISO) and Western European (Windows), even though 'Auto Select' is NOT "checked". Perhaps the switching itself, isn't really the root of the red x problem. All pages appear to be normal, regardless of the encoding that it "shows" it's using.

I hope this is a fix for everyone. If you try this, please post your results here, I'm interested in them.
Good luck! ;O)

I just read this post (the quoted one here, by hartshaped). After reading it I downloaded and installed "Opera", It seems my red x in place of the pictures and the encoding trouble in my IE6 are also fixed.

It was easier than manually editing the registry too. If all keeps working I may uninstall "Opera", since it requires money to remove the ads.

Thanks Hartshaped!!!