Can't see particular websites; or the curious case of my PC

[Tiriol]

I have a pretty strange problem: for some unfathomable reason, my computer refuses to show SDNet (both the forums and the actual website) and a particular, different website (Freewebs). I checked it using Firefox, IE and Safari and nope, won't work. I tried to re-set my net settings to default, no effect. I tried to re-set the computer's (I use Windows Vista) settings to an earlier date, no effect. I checked for possible malwares with Spybot and Ad-Aware and for possible viruses with AntiVir and Avast! to no avail. I'm now trying to contact my service provider to see if the fault is at their end (and right now I'm typing from work). Does anyone have any experience about a thing like this? Or any advice? It's bugging me something fierce.

[Zac Naloen]

It's highly unlikely, but your host file might have a redirect for those sites in it.


Would have required someone/something actively going in there any modifying it though.

Not beyond the realms of some malware, but it seems a bit too targeted.

Have you done anything with regards to your dns?

[Alferd Packer]

Check C:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts (hosts is the file name, you'll need to manually open it with notepad) for any entries. No idea why they'd be there, unless your sysadmin friend decided to fuck with you.

Assuming that's clean, open a command prompt and do a DNS lookup of the sites in question: nslookup bbs.stardestroyer.net as an example. If this times out, or returns no response, the problem is your ISP. You'll need to manually add DNS servers in your TCP/IP settings. Not sure how to do that in Vista, specifically.

If you're getting a reply (that is, an IP address for the sites), you can try to ping the sites you can't reach: ping horsecock.com or whatever the site is. No response here would suggest some weird problem with your networking stack, or that the server in question doesn't respond to ICMP packets.

If you can ping, next thing to try is a direct HTTP connection to the server via telnet: telnet bbs.stardestroyer.net 80 . Let it sit and you should get raw HTML spewed into your terminal after a few seconds. If you get a timeout, then again, it's definitely a weird problem with your network stack.

Finally, if you can connect via telnet, but you can't browse in your browser, remove and reinstall the browser. Alternatively, download an entirely new browser (Chrome, Opera, Safari, whatever) and try it from there. And if that still doesn't work, then I'm stumped. Might just be better off blowing the box away.

[Vertigo1]

Assuming your host isn't trying to fuck with you, as previously mentioned, try using OpenDNS. I really recommend that anyone not already using opendns, should be doing so. I've been using the service, which is free btw, for the last three years and I have never since encountered a resolution error due to old IP addresses and the like. (note: If you are behind a router, put the DNS entries into your router, and set your router's IP as your primary DNS in windows. Let the router do the work, instead of your computer. Not only is this a bit more reliable, but your page loading times will drop like a stone.

[Haruko]

You said you checked for malware using Spybot and Ad-Aware. I did that too when I had a malware (didn't know it at the time) that caused several symptoms including blocking me off from some websites, and they came up with nothing. And then I downloaded Malwarebytes and it found malware. I deleted it. Computer back to normal.

In short, use Malwarebytes or SuperAntiSpyware because they detect particularly nasty malware that those more popular ones miss. Unless they've drastically changed since a few months ago when I stopped using them.

[Lord Revan]

I have a pretty strange problem: for some unfathomable reason, my computer refuses to show SDNet (both the forums and the actual website) and a particular, different website (Freewebs). I checked it using Firefox, IE and Safari and nope, won't work. I tried to re-set my net settings to default, no effect. I tried to re-set the computer's (I use Windows Vista) settings to an earlier date, no effect. I checked for possible malwares with Spybot and Ad-Aware and for possible viruses with AntiVir and Avast! to no avail. I'm now trying to contact my service provider to see if the fault is at their end (and right now I'm typing from work). Does anyone have any experience about a thing like this? Or any advice? It's bugging me something fierce.

I had a similar problem a while back what ISP are you using?

[Korvan]

Place I worked at a couple of years ago had a similar problem with certain websites just not showing up, the company's own site being one of them. Never was quite sure what the actual reason was, but simply replacing the router the office was using cleared up the problem. It was a small office so we were using Shaw Cable's business internet service.

[Joviwan]

Yeah, this problem occasionally crops up when a router gets its knickers in a twist over something. Try resetting the router and see if that fixes it first.

[Tiriol]

Sorry for not answering quicker, but I've been busy entertaining my girlfriend and doing work.

The problem has disappeared all by itself, which I find rather suspicious: one day the websites simply worked again. Since my laptop also had the same issues, not only my main computer, I suspect the problem was ISP or the service provider itself.

[Lord Revan]

Sorry for not answering quicker, but I've been busy entertaining my girlfriend and doing work.

The problem has disappeared all by itself, which I find rather suspicious: one day the websites simply worked again. Since my laptop also had the same issues, not only my main computer, I suspect the problem was ISP or the service provider itself.

sounds like exactly what happend to me, all the sudden SDN didn't work at (I got "can't find the server at address..." error) and some other sites worked barely (I got loads of "connection has timed out" errors and even when I didn't get those they were slow as hell) and some seemed unaffected (and WoW worked just fine). Then just as suddenly as it had appeared the problem went away by itself.

[Spyder]

ipconfig /flushdns