Cannot access SOME web pages

[jem2112]

This is odd, but hopefully someone can give me some suggestions.

My friends PC is Windows2000 Pro and I've installed all the latest updates. He can access most web pages that he wants with no problems, but some sites will not open at all, and of course, the ones that he needs to get to. These sites will not display any errors, but look as though the site is trying to open for long periods of time, never getting anywhere. If I stop the page load after a minute or so, it may display a small portion of the page, but that's it and the links that do display, if selected, will show the same symptoms. I've tried other profiles, new profiles, resetting all default settings, security and content settings, etc. It doesn't look to have any firewall software on it, and I would assume that there would be some sort of indication that it's being blocked by it, or blocked by something. He does have a lot of superfluous software on the PC, and I'm assuming there is something on there doing this. I'm stumped at this point and somewhat frustrated. Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated.

-Jim

 

[rfr100]

Have you tried to pathping any of the affected sites ?

I've seen this before and found a downed router.

Some (rubbish) ISP's routers won't find a route round a downed router leaving some parts of the internet unreachable.

In past experience if you can get a name off the router that's causing the problem, you can generally find who owns it. If you pass this info on to your ISP they will either work to get the router back up or find another route round it.

 

[jem2112]

I've pinged the address successfully and also tried using the IP number to get to the site, with no luck. I didn't think of pathping but I'll have him try it tonight and display the results here afterwards. Thanks for the tip...

 

[bcastner]

. Adjust the MTU and RWIN values of the client. Discover these through testing. The broadband reports tweak test is excellent:

http://www.dslreports.com/tweaks

Use the sites DrTCP too to make the changes.

See:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;319661

http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article04-107

. A troubleshooter:

http://www.mvps.org/inetexplorer/answers2.htm#blank_windowsks

 

[cdogg]

Could you possibly give more information on your friend's setup:

1) Is there a router?
2) type of connection
3) exact version of IE (under Help->About)
4) whether it's ever worked before from this PC
5) what sites are we talking about (could be an SSL issue)


~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind"
[tab][tab]- Aristotle
[navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[jem2112]

1) There is no router.
2) It is a broadband connection provided by AT&T.
3) IE6 (I don't have his PC in front of me and won't until tonight, hopefully...so I can't provide the exact version).
4) It has worked before, but when asked, he couldn't tell me exactly what he did just before this became a problem.
5) The site he needed specifically is installs.com, but others, such as redsox.com, gmc.com, etc show the same symptoms, but sites such as ca.com or anandtech.com come up without a problem...

To all the others who responded, thanks for the tips but I haven't tried them yet because I couldn't get over there last night...hopefully I can tonight and give some more feedback if the issue remains.

Thanks again guys, I appreciate the help.

-Jim

 

[cdogg]

It definitely sounds like a firewall issue to me with privacy settings getting in the way (blocked cookies, javascripts, etc).

However, it could also be that the Java isn't properly enabled (Tools -> Internet Options -> Advanced) or not even properly installed (Command Prompt -> type jview and hit enter to find out).

Also take a look at the browser security settings and make sure nothing is higher than medium on the internet and that all cookies are allowed for now.


~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind"
[tab][tab]- Aristotle
[navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[jem2112]

First of all, thanks to all of you guys who offered suggestions to fix this problem, but because of time constraints and sanity issues, I ended up rebuilding the PC. I tried all of the tips that were made, but none helped. I tried uninstalling a lot of junk software, virus software and using regcleaner to clean up some more stuff but nothing helped at all. I brought over my laptop, plugged it in and not surprisingly, everything worked fine. He 'had' so much junk software on that thing, it was just a relief to me and him to clean the thing up, and I believe it's a good thing to do on an occasional basis anyway if it's convenient. I'm disappointed that I couldn't find a fix for this, but I was spending more time than I should trying to fix this problem.

Thanks again.

-Jim

 

[cdogg]

In that case, it was likely a spyware or adware infection causing the trouble. Oh well, glad you got it sorted!