# HELP! Unable to open certain websites using Internet Explorer. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 1, 2004, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-unable-to-open-certain-websites-using-internet-explorer/242962 "2004-05-01T07:45:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Travelin\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@Travelin\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Travelin_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-unable-to-open-certain-websites-using-internet-explorer/242962/1 "2004-05-01T07:45:07Z")
For a few days now I have been unable to access sites like Google and the SDMB with Internet Explorer. Whenever I try to open them, I first get the message on the status bar that says, “Web site found. Waiting for reply.” After that however, I get the cannot find server or DNS Error page. The odd thing is, I can still access sites using Netscape. It seems like some spyware is messing with my computer, however, I ran both Ad-aware and Spybot and cleaned out everything they found, but I still cannot get things to work. Does anyone have any ideas what could be the problem? This is really annoying. Thanks in advance! ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-unable-to-open-certain-websites-using-internet-explorer/242962/2 "2004-05-01T11:05:36Z")
I’m running into similar problems. Spy Sweeper seemed to have helped find stuff not found by other spyware programs. I also found that if I boot up the machine, open IE and then press the “stop” before any pages load, wait, and then I could access pages like the straight dope. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-unable-to-open-certain-websites-using-internet-explorer/242962/3 "2004-05-01T15:56:31Z")
Go to **Tools|Internet Options** , **Connections** tab, and hit **LAN Settings**. Make sure that none of the boxes are checked. Also hit **Delete Cookies** and **Delete Files** on the **General** tab. Close IE and re-open it. Is any of the spyware detected again after you’ve removed it with Ad-aware or Spybot? You might want to run [HijackThis](http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/HijackThis.exe) and post the log. This can give clues about what malware is installed. ---
**Author:** ![Rasa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rasa/32/3578_2.png) [@Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rasa)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-unable-to-open-certain-websites-using-internet-explorer/242962/4 "2004-05-01T16:39:07Z")
Could be this: [http://www.microsoft.com/security/incident/sasser.asp](http://www.microsoft.com/security/incident/sasser.asp) Symptom is DNS errors, inability to browse the web. ---
**Author:** ![Travelin\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@Travelin\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Travelin_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-unable-to-open-certain-websites-using-internet-explorer/242962/5 "2004-05-02T07:38:43Z")
Thanks a lot for all the advice. I followed Number’s instructions, and now everything seems to be fine. It was pretty simple! ---
**Author:** ![Tir\_Tinuviel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tir\_Tinuviel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tir_Tinuviel)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-unable-to-open-certain-websites-using-internet-explorer/242962/6 "2004-05-02T13:41:47Z")
Actually, I have a similar query… I am unable to access the site [www.globalhoopscsc.org](http://www.globalhoopscsc.org) in ANY browser (IE, Netscape, Opera, Mozilla +Firefox). All I get is a time out error. It seems no-one else has this problem. This computer is shiny and new and I know there’s no spyware/adware/evilware on it, and neither can I call up the site on the laptop. I have no problems with any other websites. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-unable-to-open-certain-websites-using-internet-explorer/242962/7 "2004-05-02T15:08:15Z")
Go to a command prompt by going to **Start|Run** , typing **cmd** and hitting **OK**. Type **ping [www.globalhoopscsc.org](http://www.globalhoopscsc.org)** and hit Enter. The first line you see next should look like this: > [@](#): > > Pinging [globalhoopscsc.org](http://globalhoopscsc.org) [69.57.132.5] with 32 bytes of data: If it says “Unknown host” instead then there’s a DNS problem and you should talk to your ISP. If there’s a different IP in the brackets then you should check your HOSTS file. Go back to **Start|Run** and paste this: **notepad %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts** Remove any lines that mention [globalhoopscsc.org](http://globalhoopscsc.org). ---
**Author:** ![Tir\_Tinuviel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tir\_Tinuviel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tir_Tinuviel)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-unable-to-open-certain-websites-using-internet-explorer/242962/8 "2004-05-02T15:38:15Z")
> [@Number](#): > > Go to a command prompt by going to **Start|Run** , typing **cmd** and hitting **OK**. Type **ping [www.globalhoopscsc.org](http://www.globalhoopscsc.org)** and hit Enter. The first line you see next should look like this: > > If it says “Unknown host” instead then there’s a DNS problem and you should talk to your ISP. > > If there’s a different IP in the brackets then you should check your HOSTS file. Go back to **Start|Run** and paste this: > **notepad %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts** > > Remove any lines that mention [globalhoopscsc.org](http://globalhoopscsc.org). Tried that already the other week, all four packets timed out. Same result trying it again now. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-unable-to-open-certain-websites-using-internet-explorer/242962/9 "2004-05-02T15:41:38Z")
That server doesn’t respond to pings, so the packets are going to time out no matter what. The thing to look at is the first line, before “Request timed out.” ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-unable-to-open-certain-websites-using-internet-explorer/242962/10 "2004-05-02T16:27:43Z")
I once was having similar problems, and it turned out my firewall, ZoneAlarm, was eating DNS responses for some reason. I uninstalled and re-installed ZA, which fixed the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Tir\_Tinuviel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tir\_Tinuviel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tir_Tinuviel)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-unable-to-open-certain-websites-using-internet-explorer/242962/11 "2004-05-02T17:34:26Z")
> [@Number](#): > > That server doesn’t respond to pings, so the packets are going to time out no matter what. The thing to look at is the first line, before “Request timed out.” No extra info, all it says is: > [@](#): > > C:>ping [www.globalhoopscsc.org](http://www.globalhoopscsc.org) > > Pinging [globalhoopscsc.org](http://globalhoopscsc.org) [69.57.132.5] with 32 bytes of data: > > Request timed out. > x4 > > Ping statistics for 69.57.132.5: > Packets: sent = 4, etc. > > C:> **Revtim** , I have ZA on this puter, but the laptop doesn’t, and I couldn’t get the site before I installed ZA, so I don’t think that’s what’s causing my problem. Boooo! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-unable-to-open-certain-websites-using-internet-explorer/242962/12 "2004-05-04T03:37:23Z")
Ok, you’ve established that DNS is working. You can narrow the cause of the problem down a little more by going to a command prompt and typing **telnet [www.globalhoopscsc.org](http://www.globalhoopscsc.org) 80** The window should go blank. Type **get** and hit Enter. You probably won’t see the letters when you type them but that’s ok. Once you hit Enter you should get a bunch of html, then “Connection to host lost.” If that happens then it’s a Windows or browser issue. If you can’t connect to port 80 then it’s a networking issue. ---
**Author:** ![Tir\_Tinuviel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tir\_Tinuviel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tir_Tinuviel)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-unable-to-open-certain-websites-using-internet-explorer/242962/13 "2004-05-04T10:56:03Z")
> [@Number](#): > > Ok, you’ve established that DNS is working. You can narrow the cause of the problem down a little more by going to a command prompt and typing > **telnet [www.globalhoopscsc.org](http://www.globalhoopscsc.org) 80** > > The window should go blank. Type **get** and hit Enter. You probably won’t see the letters when you type them but that’s ok. Once you hit Enter you should get a bunch of html, then “Connection to host lost.” If that happens then it’s a Windows or browser issue. If you can’t connect to port 80 then it’s a networking issue. I can’t connect. _“Connecting To [www.globalhoopscsc.org](http://www.globalhoopscsc.org)…Could not open connection to the host, on port 80: connection failed.”_ No problem telnetting to other domains or localhost. It seems I am unable to connect to any domain hosted on the [ORION-HOSTING.COM](http://ORION-HOSTING.COM) DNS [www.timtalk.com](http://www.timtalk.com) gives me all the same results, as does [www.orion-hosting.com](http://www.orion-hosting.com) ---
**Author:** ![Tir\_Tinuviel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tir\_Tinuviel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tir_Tinuviel)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-unable-to-open-certain-websites-using-internet-explorer/242962/14 "2004-05-04T11:00:20Z")
> [@Tir Tinuviel](#): > > [www.globalhoopscsc.org](http://www.globalhoopscsc.org)…Could :smack: stoopid auto-url thing. meh. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-unable-to-open-certain-websites-using-internet-explorer/242962/15 "2004-05-05T23:18:20Z")
You might want to contact the site’s webmaster. Perhaps they have your IP or domain blocked for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Tir\_Tinuviel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tir\_Tinuviel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tir_Tinuviel)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2004, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-unable-to-open-certain-websites-using-internet-explorer/242962/16 "2004-05-06T08:25:17Z")
Would that not give me a 403 error though? ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2004, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-unable-to-open-certain-websites-using-internet-explorer/242962/17 "2004-05-06T12:26:52Z")
You might see a Forbidden error if your IP or domain were denied permission to the pages, but not if it were blocked on their firewall. ---
**Author:** ![Tir\_Tinuviel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tir\_Tinuviel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tir_Tinuviel)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2004, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-unable-to-open-certain-websites-using-internet-explorer/242962/18 "2004-05-06T16:45:18Z")
ah well, nevermind eh. It’s a good thing I’m not interested in football! 😉 Cheers **Number**!