Norton Internet Security Software and Zone Alarm Pro each have their own, behind-the-scenes pop-up blocker that does not seem to be detected by the WebCT CE6 Check Browser link. If WebCT users experience problems when posting to the Mail and Discussions tools, the problem may be that these products are blocking required pop-ups (in effect disabling portions of WebCT that use the HTML Creator, the Content Manager, and the File Manager). Students and instructors should be advised that they do not need to disable the entire application. Norton IS (Zone Alarm Pro too) actually proxy incoming traffic and remove a lot of JavaScript, such as is required for WebCT to function properly.

Information on enabling and disabling pop-up blockers with Norton Internet Security is available on their site.

Information on adding a trusted zone or site (e.g. not restricted by the firewall included in Norton Internet Security) is also available on the Symantec site.

A second reason that students and instructors may not be able to successfully use the Mail and Discussions tools is encountered on systems running Windows XP service pack 1 and using Microsoft's Internet Explorer. If you watch the bottom of the browser window, you may see an indication that there are "errors on the page." The solution is to upgrade to SP2 or try a different browser, the former solution is strongly recommended.

Additional solutions and suggestions for properly configuring a web browser to work with CE 6 are included at http://students.jccc.edu and at http://web.jccc.net/edtech/notes/get.asp?DocumentID=126 ("Trusting Pop-ups in WebCT 6") and http://web.jccc.net/edtech/notes/find.asp?words=java ("Installing Java on Your Computer for WebCT 6").