Some websites no longer load

[elhazard5000]

Up until about a week ago, the websites dailytech.com, anandtech.com, and forums.anandtech.com were working fine. Now, however, they refuse to load altogether. I've tried running them on different browsers (IE, Firefox, and Opera), and on my sister's laptop, but to no avail. Could the servers for those websites just be down? Or is it something else?

 

[kimsland]

All those sites are up and running

Try CCleaner to clear all your web cache

The Start-->Run-->CMD
And type each line below followed by enter (ie 6 enters):
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /registerdns
ipconfig /renew
net stop "DNS Client"
net start "DNS Client"

Try the page(s) again

I do find it strange that 2 computers are doing the same thing though.

 

[elhazard5000]

Thanks, but that didn't solve the problem.

 

[xxdanielxx]

well since that did not fix your problem if you want to we can check to see if you have any infection on your computer. You can start by following the malware removal guide in my sig it is the text in red then post back with the 3 logs here

ComboFix
MBAM
HijackThis

 

[kimsland]

I do find it strange that 2 computers are doing the same thing though

This may be a router or port block from your ISP
I would suggest to call your Internet provider and ask if they are blocking these pages.

Also I forgot to mention to turn off your firewall (in some cases you may need to uninstall your personal firewall fully)
If you only have a windows firewall going on, you can also turn that off (temporarily) in control panel

Also if you have any other protecting programs going on (Spybots S&D and others) please stop th protection on them as well

 

[elhazard5000]

Well, okay. I'll call my provider to see what they can do. Thanks for the help, though!

 

[Bobbye]

I was able to load all three in Firefox 3 with no redirect messages:

http://www.dailytech.com/
http://anandtech.com/
http://forums.anandtech.com/

Anandtech comes with multiple Cookies added by 'Fuse Talk'. "FuseTalk is a high performance Internet forum and weblogging software for the corporate, government and educational organizations available for ColdFusion (version 6.1 or compatible) or Microsoft's .NET Framework (version 1.1). The current FuseTalk edition is V3.1 (Basic, Standard, Education and Enterprise) in both ColdFusion and FuseTalk.Net". (Wiki)

It's possible that you may need but don't have the Microsoft .NET Framework (version 1.1). (althought I don't have it)

Check Restricted Sites in IE and Exceptions in Firefox and make sure none of these sites have been added by the resident computer gremlin! ( same on the 'blocks senders' in email without asking!)

 

[elhazard5000]

Well, I've decided to hold off on the call for a while, to see if I can figure out the problem myself.

I have .NET framework 3.5 installed, and none of these sites are restricted/blacklisted.

Anyone else have an idea of how to solve this problem? And is it possible for me to change my IP address, or is it static? (I have a Westell modem, and the provider is Verizon)

 

[Bobbye]

Well, I've decided to hold off on the call for a while, to see if I can figure out the problem myself.

Why? It could solve your problem or at least limit the problem.

 

[elhazard5000]

The thing is, I'm not sure if they will understand my situation. For example, I tried the Verizon live chat yesterday, to no result.

 

[Bobbye]

Call on the phone> request second level support. There are several people giving you suggestions and calling the ISP is one of them. You may have more control on the phone than in live chat.

You need to tell them:

Up until about a week ago, the websites dailytech.com, anandtech.com, and forums.anandtech.com were working fine. Now, however, they refuse to load altogether.

to learn if there is any blocks on the sites.

 

[DelJo63]

Now, however, they refuse to load altogether. I've tried running them on different browsers (IE, Firefox, and Opera), and on my sister's laptop, but to no avail. Could the servers for those websites just be down? Or is it something else?

how much does load and what's the status of your browser when (I assume) it stalls?

I've seen good sites stall before such that clicking STOP and then REFRESH causes
the page to load correctly.

Loading a web page has three basic stages;

1. contacting the site
2. transferring the content
3. getting/saying "it's done"

Failures @ stage [1] indicate tcp or DNS issues (eg timeout or domain not found)
Never getting to "Done" is sometimes an issue with dynamically created content
(eg page urls ending in xxx.php, yyy.phtml and zzz.pl)
where the page generator doesn't tell the browser just how much data is coming down the connection.

What does YOUR page look like?

 

[pianodude]

Does the error occur only in one browser? are there any other strange things going on?

 

[elhazard5000]

Ok, I guess I'll try calling them, and ask for second level support.

 

[elhazard5000]

To jobeard:

What happens is this: I type in the website, then press enter, and at the bottom of the browser, it says something like, "waiting for www.anandtech.com". It just stays like that for several seconds, then I get an error page saying "The connection was reset".

 

[DelJo63]

AHHH! Connection Reset occurs from the webserver side.

Have you emptied your browser cache and deleted all temporary browser files?

 

[Bobbye]

Here are some considerations and places to look:

1. From Notebook Review:
There may also be restrictions placed against the block of IP addresses that your ISP uses.

2. From Wiki Mozilla: (Firefox)
The connection was reset
The connection to the server at %address was reset while the page was loading.
* The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few moments.
* If you are unable to load any addresses, check the computer's network connection.
* If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.

3. From Tom's Hardware:
You must have a modem or a router somewhere. Try (if you have both) unplugging your router and waiting 30 seconds. Plug it back in and wait for it to boot up. Retry your connection.
Also, navigate to your browser options/preferences and make sure that some cookies/javascript are allowed, and those sites are not blocked.

4. Chicago Tech Troubleshooting:
FTP Folder Error - The connection with the server was reset
I/O Error - Connection reset
Event ID 10 - User administrator at host x.x.x.x has timed-out after 120 seconds of inactivity
Symptoms: When trying to access Windows FTP server, you may have following situations.
1. You receive “FTP Folder Error – An error occurred opening that folder on the FTP server. Make sure you have permission to access that folder – The connection with the server was reset” if you use Internet explorer in a PC.
2. You receive I/O Error - Connection reset.
3. The server Event Viewer lists ID 10 - User administrator at host x.x.x.x has timed-out after 120 seconds of inactivity.

 

[xxdanielxx]

try this link it sounds like the problem you have

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/community/columns/ietopten.mspx

 

[DelJo63]

That article is from 2005

The comments on Edit the HOST file are questionable.
Today, mvps.org provides an excellent hostfile
to block bad adverts by inserting their domain names into that file.

Download hostfile, move it to system32\drivers\etc and set properties to read-only.

Items (6-10) are good

 

[kimsland]

move it to system32\drivers\etc and set properties to read-only.

The batch file (included) does it all for you automatically
No need for set to Read only either:

IF EXIST %windir%\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC\HOSTS*.* ATTRIB +A -H -R -S

This command sets the hosts file Read Only (it's included in the batch file, after the new hosts file is copied)