# Internet Login Failure Problems: Still **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 14, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-login-failure-problems-still/175225 "2003-05-14T16:04:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cj\_finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@cj\_finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cj_finn)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-login-failure-problems-still/175225/1 "2003-05-14T16:04:24Z")
I’ve been having problems logging in to [www.webscription.net](http://www.webscription.net). This is a science fiction website that provides access to ebooks. When I try to login the login screen just sits there until I’m booted with a message that says the server can’t be found. This happens both at work and at home. Interestingly enough, my office and my home both use the same ISP. The tech service guy at the ISP can login to my account. My friends on other ISPs can login to my account. Tech service guy at [webscription.net](http://webscription.net) can login to my account. I cannot login to my account. Tech service guy at ISP tells me to reload Windows XP to see if that fixes things. Tech service guy at [webscription.net](http://webscription.net) says he can’t do anything. I’ve downloaded Opera and tried that in lieu of IE. No joy. I’ve blown away all of my cookies. Nothing. I’ve even reset all of my security settings to the IE defaults. Still nothing. I’m stumped and beginning to dread reinstalling XP. Got any suggestions? cj ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-login-failure-problems-still/175225/2 "2003-05-16T00:02:27Z")
Could be a keyboard error if your userid or password at that site contains an unusual character you don’t use at other sites. Try reregistering with a new userid and password. ---
**Author:** ![PhuQan\_G\_Nyus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f14d63/32.png) [@PhuQan\_G\_Nyus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhuQan_G_Nyus)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-login-failure-problems-still/175225/3 "2003-05-16T00:34:07Z")
delete your cookies and offline content (ie properties) and try again. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-login-failure-problems-still/175225/4 "2003-05-16T05:33:01Z")
That seems to be a routing problem with your ISP. Depends on the service plan, for example, your account might use a different route to the website than the tech guy at the ISP. Try do a traceroute. ---
**Author:** ![abby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@abby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abby)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-login-failure-problems-still/175225/5 "2003-05-16T08:10:28Z")
Hiya **cj** I run a large-ish subscription website, and we have about one of these a week. It’s infuriating for everyone. I advise people to do as **PhuQan G Nyus** says, and that fixes about half the problems. Some are fixed by using a different browser (tho for no apparent reason), and some we can never resolve, and have to give a refund on. We had an even weirder one this week - a guy does not even get asked for his username and password, just get sent to a page that says he supplied incorrect login info - without even being asked for said info! Good luck, tho. if you do solve it, let us know, please! abby ---
**Author:** ![pestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e5b9ba/32.png) [@pestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pestie)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-login-failure-problems-still/175225/6 "2003-05-16T14:52:04Z")
Do you have Kazaa Lite installed? If so, its “hosts” file has been known to cause some very strange problems like this. The purpose of the file is to direct your browser to a “dead end” if it tries to access any servers from which pop-up ads originate, but sometimes those same servers are used for other purposes. It took me forever to track down why my buddy was having problems using the various Yahoo! services. Turns out Kazaa Lite’s hosts file was blocking [rd.yahoo.com](http://rd.yahoo.com), which is used by Yahoo for many purposes other than pop-up ads. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-login-failure-problems-still/175225/7 "2003-05-16T15:08:26Z")
I have seen this happen to me & others on the board before. One solution was just inputting a DNS address in the dialup configuration.