Can't Access Certain Sites or perform certain functions

Hello,

I have just recently bought a new latop which has Internet Explorer 7
installed and Vista and I can not access certain websites, or perform certain
functions and I do not know why. In particular www.hotmail.com does not load
the screen just goes blank and stays like that. Occasionally it comes up
loading but then just keeps doing it. On www.facebook.com it loads ok and
works ok but if I try to reply to a message it does nothing, I click send and
nothing happens.

I have another desktop on the same router running XP and that works fine,
but it must be an explorer setting? I have tried changing loads, I have
removed my firewall and turned off the microsoft one (although I don't like
doing it) but still no joy, anybody got any idea what setting it could be?

 

NEVER operate your computer without a firewall. While it's true that a
router can act like a firewall under certain circumstances, you still
need to have a 'real' firewall.

Experience has shown that virtually all problems reported here
concerning Internet Explorer 7 are not caused by the browser.
Third-party add-ons for Internet Explorer, such as ActiveX controls and
browser toolbars, can cause problems if an add-on is damaged or if it
conflicts with Internet Explorer 7. To determine if your problem is
caused by an add-on, run Internet Explorer 7 in 'No Add-Ons' mode:

Start > type Internet Explorer in the Start Search box > click Internet
Explorer (No Add-Ons)

Test Internet Explorer to see if it works correctly. If the problem
still occurs, move on to the next step. If the problem no longer occurs,
one (or more) add-ons is causing the problem. In this case, use the
Manage Add-ons tool to determine which add-on is causing the problem:

1) Open Internet Explorer 7 > Tools > point to Manage Add-ons > click
Enable or Disable Add-ons.

2) In the Show box, select 'Add-ons that have been used by Internet
Explorer' to display all add-ons that are installed on the computer. For
each item in this list, select the add-on, and then click Disable under
Settings. When you have disabled all the items in this list, click OK.

3) Exit and then restart Internet Explorer 7 > Tools > point to Manage
Add-ons > click Enable or Disable Add-ons. Now enable a single add-on,
then exit and restart Internet Explorer 7 to see if it works properly.
Repeat until you determine which add-on causes the problem to occur.

After you have used this process to determine which add-on(s) causes the
problem, disable that add-on or uninstall the software that installed
the add-on. In any case you should contact the vendor that provided the
add-on for a solution, which usually includes uninstalling the add-on
and replacing it with a version that is compatible with IE 7.

A performance issue or an error message may be caused by inappropriate
configuration settings, which can be fixed by resetting Internet
Explorer 7 to its default (i.e., original) configuration. Although this
solution is quick, it will also disable any add-ons, plug-ins and
toolbars that are installed. If you want to continue to use any of those
add-ons in the future, you'll have to reinstall them. To reset Internet
Explorer 7 settings:

Open Internet Explorer 7 > Tools > Internet Options > Advanced tab >
under Reset Internet Explorer Settings, click Reset.

Still have problems? Keep going:

Many third party security applications (security suites, anti-virus
programs, anti-spyware programs, firewalls, ad-blockers, etc.) interfere
with Internet Explorer's normal operation in an attempt to protect your
computer from malicious software. Review your security software's
settings to see if this may be happening to you. If so, you'll have to
adjust your program settings.

Issues with Internet Explorer 7 can also be caused by the presence of
viruses or other malicious software.

Finally, issues with Internet Explorer can also be caused by unsupported
and unwise changes you may have unwittingly made to your computer.
So-called registry cleaners often damage a computer, sometimes
irreparably. If you were using a registry cleaner and it has an undo
function, try undoing the changes that may have caused your problems to
occur.

 

Thanks Leonard I tried all of that with no change.

I also tried the nslookup as I saw that somewhere else and got the below
info, not sure if this helps

nslookup www.hotmail.com

Server:
Address: 192.168.2.1:53

Non-authoritative answer:
Name www.hotmail.com.(router name)
Addresses 195.238.237.142, 195.238.237.143

I tried the same with my desktop pc which works and got the same sort of info.

Is it possible to get windows explorer 7 again? I looked on Microsoft and it
only gives an option for XP to download?

 

Hi,
I have exactly the same problem. If fact the problem started sometime this
week and my guess is that is due to some automatic updates that were released
this week because nothing else has changed on my machine. The problem is that
IE7 doesn't do some functions - some buttons and links on web pages doesn't
work, etc. It also doesn't display some pages, hotmail login is the most
obvious one. No warning or explanation is displayed. Also, I am not able to
run Media Player - the program simly doesn't start, no message is given. What
I found is that if you start IE or Media Player in "Administrator Mode"
everything works fine, thus you either have to start these from "Run as
Administrator" menu, or disable the "User Access Control" feature. I find it
to cause more harm than good.

 

Yeah just checked and media player don't work either. Tried running media
player as aministrator and it asked if it was ok as the control are swithced
on and I said yes but then nothing still. I turned off the access control
feature in control panel under user accounts and then restarted machine and
tried both but still no joy, media player and certain websites still don't
work. Thanks for tip on media player, anyone else know how to fix this? Is it
a known issue that they are working on and I am wasting my time?

 

Something else that you can try is to:
1. Disable authomatic download and installation of updates;
2. Uninstall updates from this past week;
3. Try again;
or try to run the .exes as administrator directly - not through the
shortcuts on the desktop

 

Try getting a real DNS address?

Here's what Live Search (whois IP address) says about those:

http://www.showipaddress.com/index.php
<quote>
inetnum: 195.238.237.0 - 195.238.237.255
netname: BAREFRUIT-LTD
descr: Barefruit Ltd - CORE NETWORK - UK
country: GB
</quote>

Somehow they don't look like hotmail addresses to me.
Are you using some kind of proxy provided by your ISP?


Instead of giving us an edited look at your nslookup, show us what you get from:

ping -n 1 www.hotmail.com


FWIW here is what you can get from telnet 195.238.237.143 80
plus:
GET / HTTP/1.1
Host: www.hotmail.com

<telnet>
Location: http://results.ispconnect.co.uk/?Ad...articipantID=iu4dlszggyivxb0k1g8afi94imr4lkbt
&ClientLocation=uk&FailedURI=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hotmail.com%2F

Details? See if you really get that kind of (spyware?) redirect?

BTW does it work with HTTPS instead?

Not with Vista. IE7 is functionality built-in to the OS (just as IE6 was built-in
to XP.) You can try the repair effect of RIES but I think it's your "DNS"
which is your problem.


HTH

Robert Aldwinckle
---

 

From the pin request I get

pinging www.hotmail.com [212.162.1.125] with 32 bytes of data

reply from 212.162.1.125: bytes=32 time=59ms TTL=57

Ping statistics for 212.162.1.125

Packets: sent = 1 received = 1 lost = 0 (0% loss)

Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 59ms, Maximum = 59ms, Average = 59msec.

I also tried uninstalling all updates since September but no improvement was
found.

 

I find this interesting: supposedly the name you are using is an alias
(as shown by your nslookup), so why is your reply not showing
its canonical name?

Try the telnet test too?

FWIW when I do
telnet 212.162.1.125 80
this is where it would lead:

<telnet>
Location: http://mail.live.com/
</telnet>

which certainly looks better than that previous redirect
but would convert your problem with www.hotmail.com
to perhaps a new problem symptom with mail.live.com
However, since you are doing it from a different country
I wouldn't make that assumption directly. E.g. perhaps
you would still get another one of those (spyware?) searches
with this new name instead. Etc.


FWIW here are my results for the nslookup, ping and telnet
for www.hotmail.com:

<nslookup>
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: www.hotmail.aate.nsatc.net
Address: 66.35.214.30
Aliases: www.hotmail.com, www.hotmail.com.nsatc.net
</nslookup>

<ping>
Pinging www.hotmail.aate.nsatc.net [66.35.214.30]
</ping>

<telnet>
Location: http://mail.live.com/
</telnet>

Unfortunately that whois site I pointed out to you is not making it clear
if there is any legitimate association with www.hotmail.com for the
IP address. So I get the same uncomfortable feeling about using that
as I do with both of yours. However, since telnet shows they both
reduce to lookups of mail.live.com instead that doesn't seem as bad
as that (spyware?) redirect your first lookup seemed to cause.


....

I don't think that updates have anything to do with your problem.
I think you should focus on the DNS lookup/redirection aspects first.

It may not be important that your ping doesn't show the canonical name
in its reverse lookup, but please try the telnet test too to see what
IE might really be getting from those IP addresses when they are
treated as HTTP server addresses:

telnet www.hotmail.com 80

The screen will clear and then you will be able to type
(but not see what you are typing).

What seems sufficient to type (simulating a minimum of
what a browser sends) is:

GET / HTTP/1.1
and
Host: www.hotmail.com

with an Enter after each line and perhaps a final Enter
for a blank line to finish the request.

As I mentioned you will not be able to see what you are typing
nor will you be able to try to correct any typos. If you make
a mistake start over.

If you prefer being able to see what you are typing here's
an alternative procedure.

In the cmd window's command line enter (only):

telnet

then as the first command to telnet (subcommand
in its command mode) enter:

set localecho
and
open www.hotmail.com 80

Then you type the two HTTP commands I had you typing
blindly above, with the alternative bit of confusion that this
time you will still be typing at the top of the screen but you
will have to overtype what is there because the screen
won't clear.

BTW I have just realized that since you are put in telnet's
command mode you could also start it without having a
cmd window open simply by Run... telnet.exe.
Normally you can't issue commands meant for
the cmd window's command line from the Run... dialog
because then the cmd window would just open and close
without allowing you to see what your command had done.


HTH

Robert
---

 

Thanks for the help, I gave up and restored laptop to factory settings prior
to AOL putting their stuff on and it now works fine.

Thanks all for your help.

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