unable to order products on website - suspect unknown PC problem

I have been using the same notebook PC for 15 months for internet browsing, internet shopping, gaming, and other tasks without significant problems. However, I discovered earlier this week that I am unable to order products from the replacement parts section of the Lionel trains website ( www.lionel.com). Similar to many website sections for ordering products online, this section lists the parts available for order, with a brief 1-line description, box for quantity, and an "add" button to activate to add the part(s) to the cart. It comprises over 100 pages, as there are over 5,000 products available. Once the desired parts have been added to the cart, the buyer activates a "check-out" button to go to the check-out section where the shipping and credit card information are entered. I can access the product section easily and read the descriptions of the available parts. However, when I click on the "add" button, nothing happens--the part is not added to the cart, which remains empty. I am baffled and befuddled because I have not had this problem or other problems ordering products from other websites, such as Amazon and Newegg. More confusingly, when I access the same site with the family desktop PC on the same network, I have no problem ordering from it.

I cleared my browsing history, temporary internet pages, and cookies to no effect and as per the Lionel staff's recommendation. I tried ordering at various times throughout the day, during both busy and quiescent periods, again to no effect. The Lionel staff had no other suggestions. My notebook PC connects to the family internet network by Wi-Fi. My anti-virus and anti-spam software are updated and run regularly. I clean and defragment my hard drives regularly and update my Windows Vista whenever updates become available. I have not encountered any problem like this or otherwise on other online shopping websites, and have no problems in general with any other internet website using the same PC. Since I was able to use the family desktop PC, which is hard-wired to the same internet network as my notebook PC, to successfully order products from the same Lionel website, I suspect something in my notebook PC's configuration or other aspect of the PC is interfering with the website functions, but I do not know what specifically.

Any suggestions as to where to begin investigating and trouble-shooting?

Thank you for reading and any suggestions and opinions.

 

Make sure your JAVA is up to date. Make sure you allow cookies session or 1st party. Should not need 3rd party. Do you have pop-up's blocked?

 

Thanks for your advice. The site does not use pop-up windows; all functions remain within the same window and I am not prompted to unblock pop-ups for this site. My internet security allows cookies 1st party; I updated my JAVA and rebooted my PC to validate the update, but I am still encountering the same problem, basically unable to order items from the site by clicking on the "add to cart" button beside the desired item(s). However, I just discovered that if I point my mouse to the "add to cart" button and physically push the "enter" key 2-3 times, I can successfully add the item of interest to the site's virtual shopping cart and can check out and pay normally. I also noticed that to successfully add the item, I have to push the "enter" key at least twice; pushing "enter" just once does not work. Although I am glad that I found a way to successfully order products from the site, I'm still puzzled that I cannot order using the normal PC keyboard sequence of simply pointing the mouse pointer to the add to cart button and clicking it without using the "enter" key as well. I have ordered from many vendor sites without problem using the same PC; this is the only site to date that has given me this problem.

In case this information is helpful, the site I am ordering from is www.lionel.com (the electric train company), under "replacement parts". When I access the site, I point the mouse over "customer service", which activates a drop-down menu, with "replacement parts" one of the choices. I then click on "replacement parts" to open the section to order these items. The director of repair services for Lionel confirmed that this section is functioning normally and he could not reproduce my problem.

Thanks for reading and any additional suggestions/opinions.

 

ummm, browser?

As in, which one are you using--if you want good answers, you need to give good information.

The site uses javascripts not java and I suspect that is the problem.

If using Internet Explorer
Start > control panel > Internet Options > Advanced tab. click the RESET button on the bottom right, restart your browser.

try again

 

Thanks for the tip. I tried to provide what I thought was relevant information, but I overlooked a fundamental datum--yes, I am using Internet Explorer.

 

I know,,,sometimes it's the most basic stuff that get's overlooked....did that do it?

 

Agreed. It's best to be as specific as possible and even include versions too. And speaking of versions, isn't IE9 beta out?

 

Thanks for your advice. Admittedly I have not tried it yet, as I am hesitant to reset my previous settings and add-ons. I was able to order the items from the recalcitrant website by pressing the "enter" key 2-3 times when the mouse pointer was on the "add to cart" button and subsequently check out normally. Later this week I will reset my IE settings as you suggested and see if this rectifies the problem--and I will post the results here.