Please help!

[MichelleMarie]

I've been on the phone with Comcast & Dell all evening, with no luck.

The past couple days I've had problems visiting 2 different message boards
that I am a member at. I've never had problems going to them (other then
times where they might have been having problems with their server). But
this time it seems like it's only me that's having problems. I've talked to
some of my friends, and they can all view them just fine.

I use Internet Explorer. I thought maybe it would work in different web
browsers, so I downloaded Netscape and tried that, but they didn't show
up in that either. So I downloaded Firefox and they don't work there either.

Internet Explorer just shows a "Page can not be displayed" page whenever I
try going to them. Firefox & Netscape both had a pop-up that said:
"The operation timed out when attempting to contact" and then the name
of the site after that.

Does anyone know what could be wrong? Dell & Comcast weren't 100% sure,
but Dell finally told me to call Comcast back because it might have something
to do with my IP address, and to have them re-configure it. I'm just not
sure if that's the case, because why would that happen for no reason, just
stop me going to those sites.... and the weird thing is that it's only those 2
places, every other website works fine for me.

So I just wanted to check here for more opinions before I have to call them back.

Thanks in advance for your help, I really appreciate it

[mark70]

In internet explorer go to tools/ internet options/ security/ restricted sites and see if they appear there. They may of been placed there by accident. Firewall ??? maybe you have them blocked. Spyware??- I know some of them block sites. Sure sounds like some kind of security setting is causing your problem, hope this helps- oh, try typing the address in manually, may be the site changed its address and the url in your favorites folder is kaputt. You could also google it and try to get in that way. Sorry , I'm running out of ammo - maybe someone else has some ideas, reguards Mark

[MichelleMarie]

Originally Posted by mark70 In internet explorer go to tools/ internet options/ security/ restricted sites and see if they appear there. They may of been placed there by accident. Firewall ??? maybe you have them blocked. Spyware??- I know some of them block sites. Sure sounds like some kind of security setting is causing your problem, hope this helps- oh, try typing the address in manually, may be the site changed its address and the url in your favorites folder is kaputt. You could also google it and try to get in that way. Sorry , I'm running out of ammo - maybe someone else has some ideas, reguards Mark

Thanks for your help, I appreciate it

Unfortunately they aren't on the blocked list. I was hoping it would be that
simple, but I've seemed to try everything now! I don't know what else to
do. And I know they didn't change addresses, because I'm a regular poster,
and I even help with the one. I'd know if they changed it. I'm just stumped
as to why it would stop letting me go to them all of a sudden, when I didn't
change any settings or anything like that... I even downloaded a new
virus program, because I was having some problems with mine, and scanned
for Spyware and deleted anything I found.

Anyone else have any suggestions??

[Ob1]

try this fix:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/IEFIX.htm

[MichelleMarie]

Originally Posted by Ob1 try this fix: http://windowsxp.mvps.org/IEFIX.htm

Thanks so much for the link Unfortunatly it didn't work though

Any other ideas??

[Ob1]

have you tried reinstalling your network card drivers? if this is XP have you done a restore pt? you could try this:

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/winsockxpfix.html

[mark70]

Marie, is it possible the forum itself locked you out by mistake or otherwise- I was also thinking of system restore- maybe something got corrupted??Try to access forum on friends computer- if you can't access it there then its probably not your computer. What op system, you could try an internet explorer repair. Do you have zonealarm?? Check program control and see if you have site blocked-- Keep trying, somethings gotta work

[Stuey]

Are you using a router? Did you try unplugging your modem and then plugging it back in? If you are using a router, do the same for that too. Then reboot your computer and try it again. Every now and then I get locked out of certain sites and a quick trip to my router's plug sets everything back to normal. I don't know why it happens though, but this is worth a try.

[MichelleMarie]

Originally Posted by Ob1 have you tried reinstalling your network card drivers? if this is XP have you done a restore pt? you could try this: http://www.snapfiles.com/get/winsockxpfix.html

I'm not too good with computers (fixing them and technical terms, and things
like that). hehe So I'm not really familiar with what network card drivers are,
or how to do restore pt. If I go to that link you posted, will it mess with
anything I have on my computer? I mean, will all my files still be there?

Originally Posted by mark70 Marie, is it possible the forum itself locked you out by mistake or otherwise- I was also thinking of system restore- maybe something got corrupted??Try to access forum on friends computer- if you can't access it there then its probably not your computer. What op system, you could try an internet explorer repair. Do you have zonealarm?? Check program control and see if you have site blocked-- Keep trying, somethings gotta work

Well they wouldn't have blocked me, because like I said, I help at the one and
I doubt they'd do that. hehe But I guess you never know! The page might
have had some problems and did that without them knowing? I've asked a lot
of friends, and the pages work for them ok. So it just seems to be me that's
having the problems And no, I don't think I have Zonealarm (I'm not really
sure what it is). Oh and I've checked the blocked sites lists on a couple
different things and no sites are listed on them

[MichelleMarie]

They wouldn't let me quote all 3 in my last post, so here's the last one I couldn't fit:

Originally Posted by Stuey83 Are you using a router? Did you try unplugging your modem and then plugging it back in? If you are using a router, do the same for that too. Then reboot your computer and try it again. Every now and then I get locked out of certain sites and a quick trip to my router's plug sets everything back to normal. I don't know why it happens though, but this is worth a try.

Yep, I'm using a router. We have the main computer downstairs and then my
computer upstairs here in my room is connected using a wireless PCI card.
While talking on the phone to Comcast, they had me disconnect both the
router & the modem and try to see if they worked, but they still didn't

I don't know what else to do now.... I visit those pages every day and make
people graphics, so I feel bad because I can't get to them to finish what I
was working on

[Ob1]

try a restore pt first. i would back any important data up either by burning it to a cd, or another hard drive, external drive. only xp and 98ME support the restore pt feature, but this si where to locate it on xp.
start>all programs>accessories>system tools>restore pt.>choose restore pc to an earlier time> click next> on the calender choose the day that you last remember it working, click next, i will log you off and start restoring your pc to that date and time.

drivers are what makes your hardware communicate with your operating system (98,2000,xp). check in add/remove programs for anything that might state network controller. ie: my say broadcom 10/100 integrated controller. uninstall those if you see something similar in on your pc. if you dont see anything then go into the device manger: hold down the windows key and tap the pause/break button on time to open system properties>then click the hardware tab> then click device manager>expand network adapters>right click on the your network card and choose uninstall. reboot and if you have the disc that came with your pc you can use that to reinstall the drivers, or you can get them off the internet usually from your pc manufacturer or the manufacturer of the network card. if u r getting them off the net make sure to download them before u uninstall the current network card drivers.

[Stuey]

I agree that using system restore might be a good idea. Make note of what you installed between the restore date and the current date b/c system restore doesn't remove any files or folders but it does roll back installation data and computer settings.

[govigov]

if all of the above fails, i have got a sure shot solution... format C:\

[MichelleMarie]

Thanks for all the help everyone! I did a system restore yesterday and
both sites STILL don't work I definitely thought that would do it, since I
restored it back when it still worked... but it obviously dosen't

Originally Posted by govigov if all of the above fails, i have got a sure shot solution... format C:\

I guess I'll have to do that, since nothing else seems to work! I'm not really
familar with how to do it though... will it get rid of EVERYTHING on my
computer? My files, programs, everything?

[glc]

Yes, formatting will wipe EVERYTHING. This is LAST resort.

Go to our Security forum, read the sticky thread concerning HijackThis logs, then post a log. We can look for obvious things.

[MichelleMarie]

Originally Posted by glc Yes, formatting will wipe EVERYTHING. This is LAST resort. Go to our Security forum, read the sticky thread concerning HijackThis logs, then post a log. We can look for obvious things.

Darn.. I hope I won't have to do that Am I able to save everything on
a CD? Like all the programs I downloaded before and don't know if I'll be
able to again?

Oh and I went & posted a 'HijackThis' log in the Security forum, so
hopefully someone will be able to see something in there that'll help!

[Ob1]

u can save your programs/software to a cd if you have the file from when u downloaded it off the internet (usually comes as a .exe file, although some compressed in a .zip folder) what are all the programs that you use? did you pay for them or did you download them for free? , if you have the cd that came with the software then your ok, just make sure you have the product keys if the software requires them. you can always find the programs again to reinstall, what you want to focus on when backing up is your data you created or received (documents, spreadsheets. databases, music, movies, pics, contact lists, calenders, emails,etc)

[MichelleMarie]

Originally Posted by Ob1 u can save your programs/software to a cd if you have the file from when u downloaded it off the internet (usually comes as a .exe file, although some compressed in a .zip folder) what are all the programs that you use? did you pay for them or did you download them for free? , if you have the cd that came with the software then your ok, just make sure you have the product keys if the software requires them. you can always find the programs again to reinstall, what you want to focus on when backing up is your data you created or received (documents, spreadsheets. databases, music, movies, pics, contact lists, calenders, emails,etc)

Oh ok thanks for explaining Will it also delete everything that came with
the computer, such as internet explorer, 'my computer', recycle bin, games
(solitare, minesweeper, etc.), paint, windows movie maker, etc.??

And it won't delete stuff that I have saved on the internet, will it?
I mean my emails will be safe if they're just in Yahoo mail, right?

[Ob1]

Originally Posted by MichelleMarie Oh ok thanks for explaining Will it also delete everything that came with the computer, such as internet explorer, 'my computer', recycle bin, games (solitare, minesweeper, etc.), paint, windows movie maker, etc.?? And it won't delete stuff that I have saved on the internet, will it? I mean my emails will be safe if they're just in Yahoo mail, right?

internet explorer, 'my computer', recycle bin, games
(solitare, minesweeper, etc.), paint, windows movie maker,windows media player etc. are all apart of the windows Operating system, so when you reformat and reinstall XP all of those programs will be reinstalled automatically, so you dont have to worry. if you have special programs for ie:itunes, microsoft office suite, antivirus, spyware software,etc those are the programs that you would have to reinstall.

your yahoo mail will be safe cause it resides on a different system that yahoo administers. all data residing on a different system will be safe. for example. if you are reformating your C drive on your pc. all data on that drive will be lost. if you had data on another drive say the E drive then as as long as you dont delete the partition when you go to reformat your C drive, then all data will be safe on the E drive. hope this helps

[MichelleMarie]

Originally Posted by Ob1 internet explorer, 'my computer', recycle bin, games (solitare, minesweeper, etc.), paint, windows movie maker,windows media player etc. are all apart of the windows Operating system, so when you reformat and reinstall XP all of those programs will be reinstalled automatically, so you dont have to worry. if you have special programs for ie:itunes, microsoft office suite, antivirus, spyware software,etc those are the programs that you would have to reinstall. your yahoo mail will be safe cause it resides on a different system that yahoo administers. all data residing on a different system will be safe. for example. if you are reformating your C drive on your pc. all data on that drive will be lost. if you had data on another drive say the E drive then as as long as you dont delete the partition when you go to reformat your C drive, then all data will be safe on the E drive. hope this helps

Thanks, that definitely helped!

Sorry for all the questions, but do you think this will solve my problem? I
thought it would, but I got thinking.... the websites won't work on the
computer downstairs either (we're using a router)... so it must be something
wrong with not only my computer, right? So I'm afraid that if I do all this &
delete everything off MY computer, it'll just be a waste of time, if that one
dosen't show the sites either. Hope that made sense! hehe

Thanks for all your time

[Ob1]

since you just mentioned that both pc's are having this problem, then it definitely is something besides your pc. try this, plug your pc directly into the modem bypasing the router and see if you get those two websites to work. if so then you know that its a problem with your router that is blocking you. post back and let us know how it goes.

i would hold off on reformating, and try what i wrote above.

[MichelleMarie]

Originally Posted by Ob1 since you just mentioned that both pc's are having this problem, then it definitely is something besides your pc. try this, plug your pc directly into the modem bypasing the router and see if you get those two websites to work. if so then you know that its a problem with your router that is blocking you. post back and let us know how it goes. i would hold off on reformating, and try what i wrote above.

This will probably sound really, really stupid.... haha but since I'm really bad
with cords and knowing where they go.. which ones do I unhook and which
ones do I put where? lol I'm sorry..

[Ob1]

take the ethernet cable from the internet or wan port on the back of the router and plug it into the ethernet port on your pc. if you have the ethernet cable plugged into your pc that is coming from the router, then remove that cable so you can plug the ethernet cable from the modem directlyinto your pc. then reset the modem by unplugging the power for 2 mintues and plugging back in. also, make sure you ethernet adapter is set to obtain ipaddress automatically.
start>control panel>network connections>right Local area connection and choose properties>on the general tab highlight internet protocol tcp/ip and choose properties>make sure obtain ip address automatically is checked.

[bearcub]

Another idea, might be to turn off your firewall(s) and anti-spyware, and anti-virus. Go just to those forums and see if you can get in. If you can, then you know it is one of those programs. Turn them back on one at a time and just go to just those forums. When you turn one on and can't get to the forums than that would be the program causing a problem.

Even if you didn't just recently install them, most have some kind of automatic update coded into the system. An update may have caused the problem. That is the only thing that I can think of that has not been mentioned before.

[MichelleMarie]

Originally Posted by Ob1 take the ethernet cable from the internet or wan port on the back of the router and plug it into the ethernet port on your pc. if you have the ethernet cable plugged into your pc that is coming from the router, then remove that cable so you can plug the ethernet cable from the modem directlyinto your pc. then reset the modem by unplugging the power for 2 mintues and plugging back in. also, make sure you ethernet adapter is set to obtain ipaddress automatically. start>control panel>network connections>right Local area connection and choose properties>on the general tab highlight internet protocol tcp/ip and choose properties>make sure obtain ip address automatically is checked.

Thanks for explaining it for me! I tried switching the cords around, but
for some reason the internet didn't even work when I tried it. And I also
went to make sure it's set at "optain IP address automatically", and it is
I thought I did everything with the cords correctly, but I guess not

Another idea, might be to turn off your firewall(s) and anti-spyware, and anti-virus. Go just to those forums and see if you can get in. If you can, then you know it is one of those programs. Turn them back on one at a time and just go to just those forums. When you turn one on and can't get to the forums than that would be the program causing a problem. Even if you didn't just recently install them, most have some kind of automatic update coded into the system. An update may have caused the problem. That is the only thing that I can think of that has not been mentioned before.

Thanks for the tip! I'll try that right now

[Ob1]

if it doesnt work when you plug your pc directly into the modem, and you reset the modem then call your isp and have them clear out the old ip address that was associated with your router.

the isp that i work for, we only allow cu to use one ip address at a time, so when you switch devices (pc, routers, game consoles) the cu have to call us so we can clear out the ip address which is associated to the previous devices nic mac address.

once you get connected, then try and see if you can get to your two websites.

[15Y]

I have the same problem ,even to check my hotmail . I disconnected my Microsoft broadband Station and connected directly to the modem but still having the problem. According to the Base, there is connection to the internet ,but unable to connect . I used Microsoft AntiSpyware ,Search and Destroy plus my antivirus and everything negative. Both of my PC are acting Up for the last few days . i checked what I downloaded from the internet lately but mostly from HP,Microsoft or ATI ,none of that "free download" sites.

[15Y]

Windows messenger was the last trhing I updated. will remove it to see if conflicting with other programs in my pc.

[MichelleMarie]

Just to let you guys all know, the websites work now Basically all that
stuff I went through to try to fix it was pointless! It had something to
do with their server (I didn't think it was that, because every other site
hosted there worked except the 2 I mentioned). They did some update
thing and they work for me now.

But thank you so much for all your help!! You all are so helpful here!!