Additional troubleshooting 

If your PC does not meet our compatibility and set up requirements, our additional troubleshooting instructions may help.

 

Internet connectivity

Your PC must be connected to the internet, ideally by broadband. A dialup connection will work but will be slow and may be unreliable.

 

Your PC needs to have one of the following Sun JRE (Java Runtime Environment) versions:

a.      Sun JRE v. 1.3.1 (supported with IE 6.0)

b.      Sun JRE v. 1.4.1 (supported with IE 6.0)

c.      Sun JRE v. 1.4.2.04 (supported with 6.0)

d.      Sun JRE v. 1.5.0_11 (recommended with IE 6.0)

e.      Sun JRE v. 1.6.0_01 (recommended with IE 7.0)

 

Please note that users of Microsoft JRE need to switch to Sun JRE. 

 

To check that you have one of the above versions of Sun JRE, please go to one of the sites listed below.

 

http://www.javatester.org/version.html 

Click on the link above and scroll down to the pink box. The version of Java your PC is currently using will be displayed in the pink box. The pink box will be empty if Java is not installed. To download the latest version of Java go to www.java.com and click on the 'Free Java download' button.

 

http://java.sun.com/applets/other/Bubbles/index.html 

If your PC has one of the correct versions of Sun Java (listed above)  bubbles will be displayed once you clicked on the link above. If you get an error message, you will need to download the latest version of Java.

 

Please go to www.java.com and click on the 'Free Java download' button.

 

Your Internet browser needs to be Internet Explorer version 6  or above  

Please note that no other Internet browser can be used. If you are still experiencing problems with using the Online marker applications, below is a list of problems you may still need to correct.  

 

Enabling pop-ups

If pop-up blockers are active on your Internet Explorer, you will not be able to perform your online standardisation and benchmarking exercises. You can choose to switch off pop-up blockers for all websites or specifically for standardisation and benchmarking.  

 

To switch off pop-up blockers for all websites, select 'Pop-up Blocker' from the 'Tools' drop down list and click on 'Turn Off Pop-up Blockers'.

 

To switch off pop-blockers for standardisation and benchmarking specifically, you need to be logged in to the online standardisation / benchmarking application. Once you are on these pages, you will see the 'Pop-up blocked' message. Place your mouse over the message, press the right button on your mouse and then select 'Always Allow Pop-ups from This Site...'.

 

You will also need to switch off pop-up blockers on any other software you may have installed that blocks pop-ups (such as Google toolbar, Norton, McAfee etc.).

 

Your PC is running slowly

If your PC is running slowly, close all programs except Internet Explorer.

 

If you cannot connect to the Online marker applications

If you cannot connect to the Online marker applications, try connecting to another website you know normally works. If this site does not work, then the problem is with your connection to the internet.

 

Reloading the page you are viewing 

If you need to reload the page you are viewing, press the 'F5' button on your keyboard. If the 'F5' button does not work, check the status bar at the bottom of the screen. If the status bar displays a JavaScript error, refer to Java instructions above.

 

Switching between secure and non-secure items

When you switch between secure and non-secure items - usually when a script page contains an image - a 'Security Information' dialogue box pops up with the following message: "This page contains both secure and non-secure items. Do you want to display the non-secure items?". Click on 'Not to display the message again', then click 'OK' in the 'Warning' box. This can be turned off permanently by changing settings in 'Internet options'. 

 

Some links with white fonts not visible

If you cannot see a link this may be due to the white background colour of in-line displays, click on 'Tools ' in the Internet Explorer. Then, select 'Internet Options' and click on 'General' in the 'Colors’ (US spelling). Then select the 'Use Windows Colours’ option and 'OK' to complete this instruction.

The background colour will then default to grey and you will be able to view the white fonts.

 

'408' or '500' error messages

If you receive '408' or '500' error messages on your screen when trying to access any of the Online marker applications, close your screen and log in to the application again.

 

Internet Explorer JavaScript error 

To view the JavaScript error you need to first locate yellow flag in the bottom left corner in the browser status bar. The yellow flag signifies a JavaScript error. Double click on the yellow flag to see the error description.  Use the ‘Previous’ and ‘Next’ buttons to navigate to the next or previous errors.

 

Questions for the marker helpdesk

If you are still experiencing problems running and using the Online marker applications, please call our marker helpdesk on 0870 1614529. To help the marker helpdesk deal with your call effectively, have the answers to the questions listed below.

 

PC (CPU) problems:

i.  What error messages appear on your screen?

ii.  Are all connections/cables secured to your PC?

  

Browser problems:

i.   What Operating System (OS) and browser are being used? Are they compatible with the Online marker applications?