John,
I realise just how frustrating it can be for guys who just cannot get into a place because of stupid problems beyond their control.
To make life simpler, its best to never use ie, use the browser called ace explorer, and its free and will take over all your ie stuff without you doing anything.
IE is yesterday, it crashes and is prone to all kinds of hacks etc., ace is built around a simple browser by computer buffs.
Keeping Java updated saves further probs, as Java runs on your comp, not theirs.
I learn by my own mistakes :p
ste
_________________________
Whoever stole the Sun, put it back and we'll drop all the charges!