Hey folks. If there are any computer savvy users who have expanded their computer knowledge beyond windows 95 days (UNLIKE YOURS TRULY) I have a “riddle” for you.
I use earthlink to connect to the internet.
I am using Windows XP on a Dell Inspiron 2600 notebook, connecting with a 56k modem, through Pacific Bell phonelines (last item is irrelevant as far as I know)
THe problem has arrizen in the past month or so, and I am at a loss to solve it… The computer is incapable of connecting to any secure websites. I can’t connect to my online banking info, expedia, or online shopping sites.
When attempting to connect to said sites, I get a 404:Page not found error… or at least the cutesy version.
This occurs whether using IE or the Earthlink 5.0 browser (which to my best guess is also IE-based)
I haven’t tried Netscape at this point.
Any ideas folks?
Hmmm, I was going to say that you probably need a 128 bit encrypt browser, but it seems that XP comes with 128 (I just checked mine). Check anway under Help->About Internet Explorer to see what strength security you have. You can download the stronger version after signing your life away that you will not export it to countries with evil-doers.
Also, I remember early on that you had to uncheck the ‘save encrypted to disk’ box in Tools->options->advanced for secure pages to work.
Their could be many other considerations, I’m sure.
My wife informs me that she has already
checked that,
checked all security settings,
restored all internet settings to default,
downloaded MS Service pack for IE 6.0,
called Earthlink,
and offered live screaming sacrifices to Raa, the Sun God.
Thanks for the help though. It was very nice of you to respond so quickly.
Just groping in the dark, here, but when you get the error, what’s showing in the address bar? For example, if you’re trying to get to “somesecuresite”, are you seeing:
https://www.somesecuresite.com
or
http://www.somesecuresite.com
Mind you, I can’t fathom why the browser would prevent the https, but I know I’ve made that error manually (why was I typing in the “http” part, you ask? Damned if I can remember, but I know it didn’t like it!).
I’ve experienced a similar problem, though it isn’t with all secure web sites. I have no problem with Amazon’s or Yahoo!'s secure zones, but a particular company I buy from recently changed their site and now I cannot log on. I get “cannot find server” pages nearly instantly.
Do you have cookies disabled, by any chance? Many secure sites require cookies (expedia, for example).
Try another browser such as Mozilla to isolate the problem.