[RESOLVED] Website Odd Behavior - [Help Needed]

[modpluz]

good day all,
i have been experiencing a weird behavior for quite sometime now, i am unable to visit some websites(mainly microsoft.com) on my OS(Windows XP Professional SP2).

however, i have no problem visiting other websites.

it keeps telling me website cannot be found, at first i thought it has to do with my web browser(FF3), but then i realized its the same result with other browsers(Opera, IE7, Safari, even Chrome).

what do u think can be responsible for this?

[Pino]

Sounds like it might be your ISP have you contacted them?

[modpluz]

no, but what possible reason would they have to deny access to microsoft.com?

[Pino]

Nameserver issues?

Try Pinging the domains you are having problems with see if you can get a reply

[modpluz]

you are absolutely right, i can't even ping the domain microsoft.com.

it returned with "Ping request could not find host www.microsoft.com. Please check the name and try again."

how annoying...

but can you be more clear on the Nameserver issues stuff you mentioned earlier?

[gep13]

Hey,

Your nameserver (or DNS) is the place that your computer will look to when you type in www.microsoft.com to resolve that domain's IP address so that it will be able to find it. The fact that you can't ping microsoft.com means that your computer can't resolve the IP Address from the domain name via the nameserver.

You normally get the nameserver from your IP, but there is nothing stopping you overriding the default nameserver with another one.

Gary

[modpluz]

thanks for the responses, i just discovered something else - i am the only person on the network who cannot go to microsoft.com.

all other computers could visit microsoft.com, my OS is Win XP Pro(while others are Windows Vista).

could this have anything to do with my OS?

[Hack]

Have you reported this to your inhouse admins? Your PC may need to be restaged.

[Atheist]

What DNS servers are reported if you open the command prompt and enter "ipconfig /all"?

Do you have the possibility to check what DNS servers are reported on the computers, in the same network, that has no problems?

[gep13]

To follow up on what Atheist has suggested, can you check whether the DNS Server is automatically assigned, or whether they are manaully assigned.

You can check this by going to control panel, network connections. Then right click on your LAN connections and go to properties, scroll down until you find TCP/IP select it, and hit properties.

Gary

[modpluz]

@gep13
thanks, the DNS is automatically assigned(if this helps, am connecting using a wireless network).

Do you have the possibility to check what DNS servers are reported on the computers, in the same network, that has no problems?

i don't understand what you mean.

[gep13]

Atheist means go onto another computer that is working, open up a command prompt and type:

ipconfig /all

Then read the DNS settings. Compare that to what you are getting on your machine. Are they the same?

Gary

[modpluz]

yes, they are the same(i just checked).

[gep13]

Hey,

Are the machines that work also connected via a wireless connection, or hard wired?

Gary

[modpluz]

@gep13
thanks for the quick reply - some of them are wired, while others are wireless.

[gep13]

Okay, out of interest, can you hit this:

http://207.46.232.182

This is the IP address for microsoft.com.

Gary

[Pradeep1210]

thanks for the responses, i just discovered something else - i am the only person on the network who cannot go to microsoft.com.

all other computers could visit microsoft.com, my OS is Win XP Pro(while others are Windows Vista).

could this have anything to do with my OS?

By any chance, are you using a firewall and is it misconfigured to block some legitimates sites? I had this issue once and I found that there was an entry in the firewall's blocked list corresponding to wikipedia.com which was being blocked by my firewall.

Try disabling your firewall and then visiting that site?

[modpluz]

Okay, out of interest, can you hit this:

http://207.46.232.182

This is the IP address for microsoft.com.

the ip above seems to be going at first, but as soon as it resolves to microsoft.com - it stops going.

By any chance, are you using a firewall and is it misconfigured to block some legitimates sites? I had this issue once and I found that there was an entry in the firewall's blocked list corresponding to wikipedia.com which was being blocked by my firewall.

Try disabling your firewall and then visiting that site?

thanks, but it's still not going - even with my firewall disabled(i am using ESET Smart Security).

[gep13]

Hey,

The only other thing I can think of is that microsoft.com has made it onto your restricted sites in Internet Explorer (or the equivalent in other browsers).

Is it possible for you to check this?

Gary

[modpluz]

Hey,

The only other thing I can think of is that microsoft.com has made it onto your restricted sites in Internet Explorer (or the equivalent in other browsers).

Is it possible for you to check this?

how do i check for this?

[gep13]

Are you using Internet Explorer?

If so, go to Tools, Internet Options. Then go to security, click on restricted sites, and then hit sites. Are there any entries in there?

Gary

[modpluz]

thanks for the reply, i am using FF3, but i did check with IE7 - it does not have microsoft.com in the list.

i did check with FireFox also, i could not find any listed site.

[gep13]

I am stumped then, I can't think of anything else that could be causing this problem, unless perhaps a virus on the machine is stopping it from accessing the site.

Is it possible that you can run a full virus and spyware scan on your machine?

Gary

[modpluz]

yes, 'll do that - thanks all for the time.

[Pradeep1210]

Since the problem is happening with all browsers on your machine, something they use in common is wrong.
Probably your hosts file might be screwed up.

Goto folder C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc and look for a file named "hosts". First backup this file to some safe location, less we run into more problems.
Then open this file in notepad.
Remove anything that is there in that file except this line, (or comment them out by putting a # before them):

127.0.0.1       localhost

Then save the file and try opening that site in the browser again.

[Nightwalker83]

@ modpluz

What programs/plug-ins have you got installed on your computer?

Try a system restore and go back to a date when you know the computer was operating normally and see what programs/plug-ins you had installed.

[modpluz]

Since the problem is happening with all browsers on your machine, something they use in common is wrong.
Probably your hosts file might be screwed up.

Goto folder C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc and look for a file named "hosts". First backup this file to some safe location, less we run into more problems.
Then open this file in notepad.
Remove anything that is there in that file except this line, (or comment them out by putting a # before them):

127.0.0.1       localhost

Then save the file and try opening that site in the browser again.

i did check this file, and as it appears, this is the only thing i have there.

127.0.0.1       localhost

this is not funny any longer.....this issue has been stopping me from doing some downloads from M$.
pls help...

[modpluz]

@ modpluz

What programs/plug-ins have you got installed on your computer?

Try a system restore and go back to a date when you know the computer was operating normally and see what programs/plug-ins you had installed.

i have series of apps installed and it's hard to say which is responsible or to know the date when this problem started(i just discovered this some few days ago)...

and i did the virus scan like gep13 suggested, but it still would not solve my problem.

[gep13]

Hey,

Okay, the only thing left that I can think of to try would be to start up your computer in "Safe Mode with Networking", you should be able to do this by hitting F8 during your computer boot sequence.

Once loaded into safe mode, try hitting microsoft.com. If that works, then that means it is definitely a piece of software on your computer that is stopping access to that address. If this is the case, then start using msconfig to do a restrictive start up of applications and services, and this should point out the culprit.

If on the other hand, you still can't hit microsoft.com, this means that it is definitely something on your network that is stopping you from having access, and you will need to speak to your IT department.

Gary

[modpluz]

i tried to start windows in "Safe Mode With Networking" and it keeps returning the "The Blue Screen of Death", then it restarts the system.

am going nuts here....arrrrrrrrrrgh

[gep13]

Hmmm, that is very strange, that certainly shouldn't be happening!

When was your computer last rebuilt?

[modpluz]

When was your computer last rebuilt?

what do you mean? i do i find this out?

and also, where are temporary files downloaded on the system?

i am trying to download Visual Web Developer Express edition, and since it won't download from my computer, i am using a colleague's system to download and am wondering - if i know where this file are downloaded temporary, then i can copy and install them manually.

Thank You

and oh...my colleague's OS is Vista

[gep13]

Hey,

What I mean is, when was the last time the OS of the computer was re-installed? Over a period of time a computer's performance was get worse, and odd things might start happening, so I will decide that it is time to re-build, and I will do a fresh install of the OS. Do you know whether this has been done recently on your machine? It is not a small undertaking though, and one which you will have to think about a lot, but it might be an option, rather than spending any more time trying to resolve the issue that you are having. Just a suggestion.

As for the download location, did it not prompt you for a place to download to? I would think that it should have?!? If not, have a look in the "Download" folder in your colleagues "Document" folder.

Gary

[gep13]

Hey,

I have just done a quick google, and it doesn't look like you are the only person with this problem:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r221...com-or-msdncom

Having read that thread, it definitely looks like it is a virus/spyware problem.

What anti-virus package are you using? Do you have any spyware programs, if so, what are they?

Gary

[modpluz]

the only time i can think of the re-build was when i bought the machine(it came with Vista-then i drove it back to XP.that was 4 months ago - and it wasn't easy doing it as there are driver issues and so on).

as for the download, i had downloaded the installation file "vwdsetup.exe", it is this installation file that is doing the rest of the download itself, so i need to know where this "vwdsetup.exe" is downloading those files temporarily(so i can copy them).

[Nightwalker83]

what do you mean? i do i find this out?

and also, where are temporary files downloaded on the system?

i am trying to download Visual Web Developer Express edition, and since it won't download from my computer, i am using a colleague's system to download and am wondering - if i know where this file are downloaded temporary, then i can copy and install them manually.

Thank You

and oh...my colleague's OS is Vista

In WinXP there is a folder called "Temporary Internet Folder" located in the Windows directory. I'm not sure where the Vista equivalent is located.

As for the download location, did it not prompt you for a place to download to? I would think that it should have?!? If not, have a look in the "Download" folder in your colleagues "Document" folder.

On some systems (XP, 2000, Vista?) it allows the user to save to the location you had previously saved to. It saves the files in the location automatically.

[modpluz]

Hey,

I have just done a quick google, and it doesn't look like you are the only person with this problem:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r221...com-or-msdncom

Having read that thread, it definitely looks like it is a virus/spyware problem.

What anti-virus package are you using? Do you have any spyware programs, if so, what are they?

Gary

i am using ESET Smart Security v4x and also the url above dslreports did not open either.

[gep13]

Hey,

I am not familiar with that application, I personally use a combination of the following applications:

AVG Anti-Virus
Spyware Blaster
SpyBot Search and Destroy
MalwareBytes
ZoneAlarm

This may seem a bit like overkill, but in my experience, one package doesn't protect you from all the threats. I would recommend trying some of the above packages to see if there is a problem on your system.

As for where the setup is downloading the rest of the setup to, it's hard to say. Try searching the hard drive for files over a certain size, as it is likely that it will turn up in that list.

Gary

[modpluz]

hey,
ok, i just download and installed ESET NOD32 Antivirus v4x and i am currently doing a system scan.

Guess what? i tried to visit M$ again, it went through like magic!

i am more than happy guys, thanks a trillion.

[gep13]

Hey,

Glad to hear that you got it working, looks like it was some spyware causing you problems.



Remember to mark you thread as resolved.

Gary