ie Problem - can anyone help?

[KasinoKing]

I've had a bizarre problem with Internet Explorer on my laptop for about 10 days which I can't fix...

Has anyone here had a similar problem?
And more importantly, does anyone know how to fit it?

The Symptoms:
When I try to visit certain sites (e.g. my own , or even Microsoft (below)) the browser does not even attempt to find the site on the internet - it just instantly gives the page shown below.
Other sites (like this forum for example) work perfectly normally.
My laptop is a Toshiba Satellite Pro running Windows XP.

On my wife's laptop, using the same browser (ie8) all sites work normally.
On my own laptop, using FireFox all sites work normally.

What I have tried:
Full system virus scan. (Nothing found).
Upgraded my browser from ie7 to ie8.
System restore (seemed to work very briefly).
Cleared the cache.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions / tips!

KK

 

[Perc]

First, right-click on the grey space above (beside the tab or anywhere around there) and select 'Menu Bar'.

Then try going to Tools > Diagnose Connection Problems

Start there and see what you get.

Edit: Just re-read and noticed other pages work fine. Check your user agent string and see if there is an issue with it here: http://www.fiddlertool.com/ua.aspx

 

[Perc]

Edited my post. The 400 error is a server response, so there is a problem with the request sent by IE. Go to "http://www.fiddlertool.com/ua.aspx" with IE and see what it tells you about your user agent string. If there is an issue, it tells you how to fix it.

 

[chayton]

Maybe a corrupted DNS cache? But that would affect all browsers wouldn't it? Since it's IE, maybe take a look to see if there are any automatic Windows updates that you got in the last little while just before the thing went wonky. If there was one, google it and see whether there are known conflicts with something you have installed on that computer.

I lost the ability to even connect to the internet after a Windows update once, it turned out that one of the downloads conflicted with my firewall. What a hassle that was, since both my computers were on automatic update, and I couldn't connect with either one of them to try to research the problem!

 

[silcnlayc]

Did you accidently download IE8? I have uninstalled IE8 from many computers due to it constantly crashing. That was one of the symptoms that it had (your screenshot) All worked again after removing it.

.

 

[tat00]

im a computer techie. this is what i do first on any IE problems

1. open up ie
2. go tools- internet options- advance tab-
3. reset IE setting.
4 reboot

if that still dont fix then its not ie

 

[vinylweatherman]

This can happen if an anti malware problem has "vaccinated" your hosts file to prevent access to certain websites. An entry is inserted that tells your PC to look on the local drive for certain URLs. Host file entries are evaluated FIRST, before the URL is sent to a DNS for conversion into an IP address. Since these websites do not exist on your local drive, you will get the error message for "site not found".

I have actually DONE this to trick my "evil nephew" into believing that certain websites are unavailable. I have also done it to cause MY website to load in preference to another URL typed into the browser.

This fits SOME of the symtoms, but not all. Other browsers should also be affected if they use the same hosts file as IE. It is worth checking the hosts file to ensure that the sites you cannot reach are not listed there as additional entries associated with a local IP address, such as 255.255.255.1

It should also be possible to repair a suspect hosts file by writing over it with the "default" supplied with a new Windows installation. A knowledge base article gives instructions on how to do this.

Beyond this, it could be a firewall or anti-malware application blocking access to certain websites, with the error message being what IE shows you as a result. IE error messages are not always a good guide to the problem, and the true cause could have nothing to do with what the error message seems to be saying.

The "diagnose connection" tool is worth a try. It tries to connect to Microsoft's own servers, and tries a number of connectivity tests. Since these servers belong to Microsoft, they are able to code these tests such that they work whenever there are no problems connecting to the internet.

I have had a similar problem, where I have PARTIAL access to the internet. URL requests for EVERY site return this 400 error, BUT I can STILL log on to a MGS casino, and download emails into Outlook.

I do not know exactly what the problem is, but onset is sudden, and can be cured by restarting the router only on some occasions. It affects ALL PCs at the same time, not just one.

Since this only affects the laptop, and only IE, we know quite a bit already about what applications have gone wrong. A complete reinstall of IE from scratch might help, as might downgrading back to IE7, or even trying the IE9 beta.

If system restore worked briefly, whatever happened must have followed the date of the restore point used, and must be automatic, such as a windows update, because the problem quickly reappeared.

It could be an IE update that triggered this, one that conflicted with something else installed on the laptop to trigger this problem.

 

[ksech]

Not aure if this will help much, but I do know some of my Windows updates appear listed in my add/remove programs. You can perhaps check the dates of the updates against the last system restore that worked for you.

 

[KasinoKing]

Thanks to everyone for the great replies!
I'm a bit of a computer "thicky" these days (I used to do my own programming on my Commodore VIC20 and C64s, but that was a completely different era! ), but I will try your suggestions if I can work out how, to see if anything helps.

Did you accidently download IE8? I have uninstalled IE8 from many computers due to it constantly crashing. That was one of the symptoms that it had (your screenshot) All worked again after removing it.

Not accidentally - I went to Microsoft's site (using FireFox ) and tried to re-download ie7, but ALL their ie7 download links went to ie8, so I didn't have a choice...

But remember I had this problem with ie7, before I tried ie8. Nothing changed at all - the issue is exactly the same.

KK

 

[felicie]

I had the same thing a few months ago. soooo frustrating. Or 'link is broken'. I scanned and cleaned for 7 days and 7 nights not to mention a million other things and then on the 7th day it was just back to normal. very strange. I also had no problem getting here to CM which made no sense at all. I had some great help in here though and maybe I can find a link to that thread. I doubt it but I'll give it a shot.

 

[felicie]

While we're on IE, mine says at least 4 times today already 'ie has quit working - no solution available .......whats that? on strike? pissed off? vacation? So long IE .......again.

I knew I wouldn't be able to do the link thing.grrr but it was on july 24 this year in the '
Ask Casinomeister' thread. good luck stay cool.

 

[KasinoKing]

im a computer techie. this is what i do first on any IE problems

1. open up ie
2. go tools- internet options- advance tab-
3. reset IE setting.
4 reboot

if that still dont fix then its not ie

That didn't work...

This can happen if an anti malware problem has "vaccinated" your hosts file to prevent access to certain websites. An entry is inserted that tells your PC to look on the local drive for certain URLs. Host file entries are evaluated FIRST, before the URL is sent to a DNS for conversion into an IP address. Since these websites do not exist on your local drive, you will get the error message for "site not found".

I have actually DONE this to trick my "evil nephew" into believing that certain websites are unavailable. I have also done it to cause MY website to load in preference to another URL typed into the browser.

This fits SOME of the symtoms, but not all. Other browsers should also be affected if they use the same hosts file as IE. It is worth checking the hosts file to ensure that the sites you cannot reach are not listed there as additional entries associated with a local IP address, such as 255.255.255.1

It should also be possible to repair a suspect hosts file by writing over it with the "default" supplied with a new Windows installation. A knowledge base article gives instructions on how to do this.

Any chance you could quickly explain exactly HOW I do that in layman's language?

Cheers!
KK

 

[footdr]

Too bad.........

With all the money Microsoft has made Bill Gates you would think they would provide support to those purchasing their program.

Once you buy it you are on your own. What a crock of you no what.

 

[felicie]

That didn't work...


Any chance you could quickly explain exactly HOW I do that in layman's language?

Cheers!
KK

Hey kk sorry it still sucks I am link-stupid so why don't you go back to aug. 24 of this year in the Ask Casinomeister thread and find my 'this link appears to be broken' .
Had some great help from those guys and you might find something there you haven't tried. to this day I still don't know how why it all came down.
Good luck.


Hey footdr where ya been? good to see you.

 

[Smokeycasino]

Thanks to everyone for the great replies!
I'm a bit of a computer "thicky" these days (I used to do my own programming on my Commodore VIC20 and C64s, but that was a completely different era! ), but I will try your suggestions if I can work out how, to see if anything helps.

Not accidentally - I went to Microsoft's site (using FireFox ) and tried to re-download ie7, but ALL their ie7 download links went to ie8, so I didn't have a choice...
But remember I had this problem with ie7, before I tried ie8. Nothing changed at all - the issue is exactly the same.

KK

IE7 stays on your pc no download needed.
It just gets replaced with updates, you can get it back by removing the update in your View Update History folder them uninstall the IE8 update.

Hope this helps you and others.

 

[anniemac]

Just so you won't feel alone, KK, it's been happening to me for about a month. Thought it was my crappy internet connection but have just gone to satellite internet and it's still doing it. Matter of fact, when I tried to open CM just now, I got the error message.

I'm running IE7 with all upgrades on a relatively new laptop. Haven't had this problem before. Started about a month ago. Doesn't effect me much cause I just try again and it work.

Now, I can't download any MG casinos and that really sucks. I can download any other software though. What a pain in the butt!

 

[same_old]

I wouldnt be uninstalling any of those service packs KK- if you do it will cause more shit for you. if you just uninstall a service pack it conflicts with the other info on the system and you get a whole heap of extensions that wont work.

it sounds like cache as Chayton was saying. Can you do a complete temp fil clean along with a complete cookie clean.

Do you have a registry cleaner as well?-if so you may want to run that as it sounds like you have a few corrupt file paths that is causing that.

 

[anniemac]

I run IObit (paid for version) and deep clean my computer once a week. Plus I have all the other stuff that came on the computer.

I just got the HTTC404 error when I tried to access a link here in one of the posts just now.

As for the MG downloading, worked on the problem with casino for about 3 days and they ended up telling me it was a connection error on my end. So I changed internet providers and it still doesn't work. I don't think it's on my end, I think it's on theirs.

 

[chayton]

You could also try disabling any IE add-ons. I had IE8 but went back to 7 cause I found 8 was too much of a resource hog, but I'm pretty sure it's in the same place, open IE and under Tools>Manage Add-ons>Enable or Disable etc.

Can't hurt to try anyhow, and you can always enable everything again if it doesn't help.

I wonder if you go to the site using a proxy if the error would still be there? Have you tried?

 

[chayton]

I run IObit (paid for version) and deep clean my computer once a week. Plus I have all the other stuff that came on the computer.

I just got the HTTC404 error when I tried to access a link here in one of the posts just now.

As for the MG downloading, worked on the problem with casino for about 3 days and they ended up telling me it was a connection error on my end. So I changed internet providers and it still doesn't work. I don't think it's on my end, I think it's on theirs.

Have you tried downloading with a different browser? I have a bunch of different browsers for testing websites, but a couple days ago I was trying to download a zip file with some Photoshop stuff, every time I did it with IE I got a 'corrupted zip' error and wasn't able to extract it. I tried downloading with Firefox and it came through no problem. Or if you don't like Firefox you could try Google Chrome or Opera.

 

[KasinoKing]

I did another "system restore" last night, only I went back 2 weeks further than before.
The first thing that happened is that Internet Explorer would not work at all! (It would open in a new window, but vanish after 2-3 seconds).
So I re-downloaded ie8 again, and in the set up I set everything I could to minimum security levels... and it was working!

My computer did an automatic update this-morning and I feared it would screw it up again, but touch wood everything is working normally right now!

Thanks again to everyone for your helpful suggestions!

KK