Hard drive threat hits Compaq

Tens of thousands of Compaq PC users face potential compatibility problems with Microsoft's recently released Internet Explorer 4.0

Tens of thousands of Compaq PC users face potential compatibility problems with Microsoft's recently released Internet Explorer 4.0 (IE4).

Users could be forced to remove IE4 by either working through a laborious reboot process or wiping their hard drive.

The incompatibility occurs with a piece of software, known as Home Base, that Compaq used to bundle with some of its Presario PC range. It is not yet known whether this application was shipped in Europe or only in the US.

A US spokesperson said Compaq hoped to produce a patch with Microsoft.

In the meantime, Compaq has been forced to add a section to its US Web site warning users about the incompatibility and explaining how to rescue their PC.

The company suggests that certain models should not install IE4 for now.

Compaq also recommends a much higher minimum configuration of PC than Microsoft. The minimum requirement for IE4 is at least a Pentium 100, the company advises, countering Microsoft's claim that it runs acceptably on a 486/66MHz processor.

Microsoft's updated browser has also caused problems for a number of non-Compaq owners, with some users forced to remove the software or even wipe the hard drive following crashes resulting from compatibility problems.

Martin Gregory, Microsoft Internet product manager, said: 'For any software product released in these kind of volumes, there's always going to be rare configurations that may have a problem, but from the majority of customers we are getting very positive feedback.'

?Report by VNU Newswire.