Cannot find server from IE6 or FireFox in XP Home

[GrandpaCarl]

Past Ref: thread608-64 1870 IE cannot find server

After hibernation for a while, browser usually cannot display DNS web site upon awakening.

I, have "enjoyed" this freakish problem for several weeks now. The problem appears after I have placed in full hibernation for an extended period, usually overnight, then wake it up. Using either IE6 or Mozilla Fire Fox browser to try to reach a web site yields the "Cannot find server" or "Cannot display page" error message.

Using the numeric IP address allows display of the web site, but not when trying to use the DNS address.

Restarting XP will cure the problem for the present, but a lengthy time in hibernation MAY cause the problem to recurr.

I found information on WinsockXPFix, downloaded and ran the program, and everything seemed to perk up and ran faster. The next morning, glee turned to sadness, as the problem appeard once again. I have tried other suggested cures gathered from the internet, only to have either no effect or to make it worse and require running WinsoxXPFix again.

I have used all the tricks and troubleshooting procedures I have learned in the last 55 years working with every aspect of computers, but to no avail! The problem did not always appear after a long hibernation, but usually would.

Since the problem would disappear if Zone Alarm were shutdown, I suspected it might he a recently revised update. I tried 3 different versions of ZA, but this made no difference.

I am in hopes that there is someone out there who can determine the cause and share the solution with us. I intend on continuing my search and experimentation, and if I find a solution, I will be back to share.

OS: XP Home Systemell Inspiron 1200 notebook(1.3GHz, 512MB Ram)
Browser: IE6 and Mozilla FireFox. Firewall: Zone Alarm 4.5, 5.5, and 6.5, Router:BEFSR41 ISP: AT&T DSL (PPoE)

 

[porkchopexpress]

Does your router handle DNS? If so have you got the allow DNS query in the secure zone box checked in zone alarm? (I think that's what it's called i'm not at a box with ZA installed).

Last time i upgraded zone alarm this became unchecked and browsing became very erratic.

 

[porkchopexpress]

Found it in Firewall - Main - Advanced Settings - Allow outgoing DNS/DHCP in internet zone on high setting. Or just allow the IP address of the ISP's DNS servers to be a bit more secure. (Of course i might be barking up the wrong tree).

 

[GrandpaCarl]

Thanks Porkchopexpress for your comments. Unfortunately this doesn't help.

 

[porkchopexpress]

Hi,

If you don't shutdown zone alarm but just move the Internet and trusted Zone Security sliders to off does that make any difference.

When you say lengthy time in hibernation are we talking hours?

Also are you connecting wirelessly of via cable?

Thanks.

 

[GrandpaCarl]

HI PORKCHOPEXPRESS,
I will do what you suggest, but it will take several days to find out its effect. The amount of time in hibernation for the problem to occur varies from one hour to overnight. This makes it very difficult to know whether a given change makes a difference. I have even had a change or procedure seem to cure the problem, since all is well the next morning. Then, the second morning shows there has been no improvement.

Normally, one might think that things that take hours to shoe up would be due to temperature changes. I have placed the notebook in the refrigerator for 4 hours and not seen the problem upon waking it up. I have intentionally kept the system warm from exterior heat overnight, and still seen the problem.

If the problem were due to a missing or damaged file, you would think the problem would be consistent. If the problem were due to the router or modem, then the problem should occur in other systems on the LAN, but they don't.

I made a slight change in the state I left the computer in before hibernating last night. This morning, I woke the notebook up and all was well! I will repeat the test tonight and see if I have a winner.

Searching through old forum posts, I found one member who cured his similar problem by just reinstalling his Zone Alarm. I reinstalled version 6.5 twice, including a clean reinstall, installed 5.5 clean, and finally 4.5, but there was no noticeable effect.

What adds to the confusion is that the problem only started happening several weeks ago with no major program changes, other than a few Microsoft updates. If the updates were at fault, I would not expect the length of time in hibernation to make such an effect.

I keep hoping someone will come up with a solution.

My next step is to pull the hard drive, Install XP fresh in a brand new drive, and see where that leads me.

Thanks for your thought efforts.
GrandpaCarl

 

[porkchopexpress]

Ok keep us posted. Like i say i had a similare issue that was related to my wireless adaptor and another where ZA was intermittently blocking DNS resolution, in this situation like you i could view a site via IP but not DNS.

When you are the IT director, it's your job to make sure the IT works. If it does work they know already and if it doesn't, they don't want to hear your pathetic excuses.

 

[GrandpaCarl]

HI PORKCHOPEXPRESS,

I tried you last suggestion, but it did not seem to make a difference so I put them back to medium. It does seem that the inability to connect to a DNS occurs more often with shorter hibernate times. For me, if the error shows itself more often, then I can try something else.

I did experiment with variations of IPCONFIG (Go to Run window and enter IPCONFIG /? to see some of the possibilities. Normally I would run this in a CMD window, but the first time through, I just ran them in the run window while the problem was happening:

IPCONFIG /flushdns
IPCONFIG /release
IPCONFIG /renew
IPCONFIG /register

Then I tested a few DNS like google.com, Microsoft.com, etc. To my surprise, the problem was removed! Unfortunately I found it did not last!

I decided that I should try running the above 4 stems in a CMD window the next time the problem returned. This time it did not remove the problem, even momentarily. Going back to running the steps individually in the RUN window worked every time.

I will shortly put this problem on the sheft for a while and do a clean reinstall of XP Home on a fresh new hard disk. I will keep the old disk in tact, just in case you or someone else reading this forum come up with any new possible solutions to try.

GrandpaCarl

 

[porkchopexpress]

I had those CMD's in a .bat file as well when trying to sort my issue but it didn't solve the problem either.





When you are the IT director, it's your job to make sure the IT works. If it does work they know already and if it doesn't, they don't want to hear your pathetic excuses.