Web pages suddenly not loading...

[Yorky2008]

Hi All,

 

Anyone any indea what would cause web pages which previously loaded fine on Windows explorer to suddenly stop working? My personal laptop spends ages thinking about some sites and then just says cannot connect, wheras others it is fine with, I can access the sites fine from my work PC.

 

Ta,

Yorky

[Bookworm]

Who are you with and which area?

 

I have been mainly offline over the weekend as VM had major problems in my area, and the Internet was working, not working, working, completely unstable, crawling at the best of times, to the point I just gave up.

[foolishgirl]

Are you using a wireless router? Could be it's that playing up. I've gone through a few & IMO they are incredibly tempermental. I always check it first as my source of internet probs.

[Yorky2008]

Hi Bookworm/FG,

 

I am in Yorkshire with AOL and have a wireless router. It is not a complete web failure, on the whole my webpages are ok but certain sites will suddenly not load such as O2 (for my mobile bill), LinkedIn, etc, These sites worked previously on my laptop and are OK when accessed from my work PC in the office.

 

Wondered if anyone had any ideas? Does Explorer get 'clogged' up , etc after a while?

 

Ta

Yorky

[geoff1248]

Before you press the panic button try a couple of simple fixes. First try turning off the router at the mains and leave it off for 5 mins. Turn it back on and give it a minute or two to reload and then try the "faulty" web sites.

Second fix is to clear all your temp. internet files/cookies.

Either of these may work and are the simple fixes which very often work.

[Tezcatlipoca]

At this stage, it could be any number of things. Being with AOL isn't ideal, but you should still be able to visit sites, even with Internet Explorer

 

I've just run some tests against O2's site, and it's up and running fine. I'm also with O2 for my mobile contract, and can log into my panel using FireFox and Internet Explorer extremely quickly.

 

The problem, therefore, is not with the target site.

 

Could you please run a test for me?

 

1) Click this LINK to run a trace from your connection to - in this case - O2's website.

2) You'll get a whole pile of returned lines, that run in numbered hops from 1 to whatever.

3) Can you please let it finish (or fail), and copy/paste everything from the TraceRoute to line through to the Trace Complete (or Trace Aborted if it failed) line.

 

I'll then be able to tell you where the problem is likely to be.

Edited January 19, 2010 by Tezcatlipoca

[Tezcatlipoca]

Additonal, as geoff1248 says, you might also want to try clear your temporary files.

In IE 7 onweards, you do this by going to Tools, Internet Options, then clicking the Delete button about halfway down the popup window.

 

You can safely delete all the various things listed on the new window, and doing so will help speed things up, but a word of caution. You need to be sure you actually want to delete the cookies part. Cookies are small text files that websites save data on your hard drive. When you revisit that site, it reads that data back.

This is how automatic logins for sites such as CAG or Facebook work. If you wipe the cookies, you will loose these automatic logins. You can still log in (assuming you remember the log in details) and set up a new cookie, but if you don't remember any of the details you might want to delete everything except the cookies.

If you don't use automatic logins, or even if you can recall the log in details, then I certainly advise you wipe cookies as well. There are a vast, and I do mean vast, array of unwelcome cookies out there that are used for advertising, spam and spyware purposes, so a regular clean is a good thing.

[pin1onu]

I would definitely try clearing history, cache and cookie files as well.

 

One question have you upgraded IE or updated any add-ons. This is sometimes a cause of problems.

 

Have you tried another browser to see if you get the same problems.

(e.g. Firefox, Chrome, Opera)

 

You could also try running anti malware software such as Malware bytes and SpybotS&D - there may be something untoward going on.

[Yorky2008]

OK dont think it is the router and have tried deleting all cookies, etc as suggested by Tezcat.

 

Here are the result of the trace program

 

82.132.141.84 is from United Kingdom(UK) in region Western Europe

 

 

 

TraceRoute to 82.132.141.84 [o2.co.uk]

Hop(ms)(ms)(ms)IP AddressHost name11413872.249.128.109-238688.9.232.73xe-5-3-0.edge3.dallas1.level3.net31821154.69.145.243ae-92-90.ebr2.dallas1.level3.net44255504.69.137.122ae-3.ebr4.newyork1.level3.net54653544.69.134.126ae-94-94.csw4.newyork1.level3.net64550614.69.134.77ae-91-91.ebr1.newyork1.level3.net71381171154.69.137.65ae-41-41.ebr2.london1.level3.net81281281274.69.139.103ae-2-52.edge1.london1.level3.net9122131156195.50.120.2-10132127114166.49.168.114166-49-168-114.eu.bt.net11132141153194.74.77.177core1-te0-10-0-2.ilford.ukcore.bt.net12115121119194.74.77.182iar1-tenge5-4.ilford.fixed.bt.net1311611511962.172.57.202-14146128116193.113.199.129-15Timed outTimed outTimed out-16Timed outTimed outTimed out-17Timed outTimed outTimed out-18Timed outTimed outTimed out-

Trace aborted.

[Yorky2008]

And this is the one for linkedin

 

64.74.98.86 is from United States(US) in region North America

 

 

 

TraceRoute to 64.74.98.86 [linkedin.com]

Hop(ms)(ms)(ms)IP AddressHost name110223172.249.128.109-2109221206.123.64.22-3761364.129.174.18164-129-174-181.static.twtelecom.net41261266.192.246.53peer-01-so-1-0-0-0.dlfw.twtelecom.net541453369.28.171.198tge5-3.fr3.ord.llnw.net6353033208.111.156.70linkedin.tge3-4.fr3.ord.llnw.net732312964.74.98.86-

Trace complete

[Tezcatlipoca]

Hi Yorkie2008

 

Ok, that's all fine. I can confirm that I get the exact same results using that particular tool and can surf to both O2 and Linked In fine. This helps us to point to finger of suspicion at your setup; which means it can only be one of three factors: Your ISP, your hardware, your software.

 

Let's go backwards and start with part of the software. You don't say which version of Windows you are using, but I'm going to assume XP. The problem may be the broswer itself, but before we think about installing different browsers, let's just check the problem isn't more fundamental.

Could you please open a command prompt. You can do this by going to Start, selecting Run, and typing cmd into the box and hitting Enter or clicking Ok. Alternatively, you'll find it on the start menu itself under Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt.

 

This opens up a little black window, ready for commands. Please type nslookup o2.co.uk and hit enter. This returns two pieces of information. The top bit is the server or device your computer is querying to get the details for the O2 website. The bottom bit is its answer. Please make a note of these four bits of information (Server: and Address: from the top, and Name: and Address: from the bottom).

 

Now type ping o2.co.uk into this window and hit enter. You computer will try to comunicate with the O2 website. This will either work or fail. If it works, you will receive four lines saying Reply from followed by an IP address (a string of numbers). Please make a note of those numbers. Incidentally, they should exactly match the bottom Address: numbers from the nslookup command you did.

If it fails, the top line of the ping will read Pinging O2.co.uk followed by some square brackets containing an IP address. Please make a note of that number.

 

Could you please post the following to this thread:

 

1) The Server: and Address: (top bit) information from your nslookup command.

2) The Name: and Address: (bottom bit) information from the same command.

3) The Reply from IP address from the ping command if it was successful. If it was not, please tell me it wasn't, and instead post the Pinging o2.co.uk number that appears in square brackets.

 

I know this seems fiddly, but what we're doing here is eastablishing that your PC hasn't been hijacked when trying to communicate with various websites. If we can eliminate this from the equation, we can look to something else.

[Yorky2008]

Hi Tez,

 

No problem, I am at work now but will do it tonight when get home and post result, will probably be about 9pm.

 

Yorky

[Yorky2008]

Hi Tez,

 

Sorry for delay, didnt get home until very late last night so manged it tonight, have done O2 and LinkedIn as both give different results. Hope you are able to make sense of them....

 

Yorky.

 

 

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002]

Copyright © 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

 

C:\Users>nslookup o2.co.uk

Server: UnKnown

Address: 192.168.0.1

Non-authoritative answer:

Name: o2.co.uk

Address: 82.132.141.84

 

C:\Users>ping o2.co.uk

Pinging o2.co.uk [82.132.141.84] with 32 bytes of data:

Request timed out.

Request timed out.

Request timed out.

Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 82.132.141.84:

Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

C:\Users>nslookup linkedin.com

Server: UnKnown

Address: 192.168.0.1

Non-authoritative answer:

Name: linkedin.com

Address: 64.74.98.86

 

C:\Users>ping linkedin.com

Pinging linkedin.com [64.74.98.86] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 64.74.98.86: bytes=32 time=136ms TTL=246

Reply from 64.74.98.86: bytes=32 time=136ms TTL=246

Reply from 64.74.98.86: bytes=32 time=136ms TTL=246

Reply from 64.74.98.86: bytes=32 time=135ms TTL=246

Ping statistics for 64.74.98.86:

Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),

Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

Minimum = 135ms, Maximum = 136ms, Average = 135ms

C:\Users>

[Tezcatlipoca]

Hope you are able to make sense of them....

 

I can indeed. Let me explain what's going on here. I appreciate this is lengthy, but I like to explain these things to people so they better understand the process that's going on, and are more equipped in the future to recognise/deal with problems when they arise.

 

Right, the internet doesn't really run on domain names, such as google.com or bbc.co.uk and so on; it runs on IP numbers. IP Addresses are the locations of the server(s) that happen to host that website.

 

Now human brains are especially bad at remembering all of this, so there are things known as DNS (Domain Name System) servers. These are basically just glorified telephone directories, and tie human-friendly words, such as bbc.co.uk, to the relevant IP address. You punch in LinkedIn, for example, and your browser checks the DNS, then shuffles you off to 64.74.98.86. You can see this for yourself by entering an IP address in the address bar at the top of the browser, rather than a domain name.

 

Hokay, now sometimes these DNS settings have a problem, with the reult that the correct record doesn't get served up. Resultantly, your browser either goes to the wrong site, or goes nowhere. There are hundreds of reasons as to why this can happen, but the most common is that you have been 'hijacked' by a piece of spyware / malware, which is redirecting your browser.

 

What we've done here is two things. The first, the nslookup, is your command for your computer, rather than your browser, to go and consult the DNS server for a particular domain.

The top number is where your computer is consulting. In this case, it is consulting your router (at 192.168.0.0) which is probably in turn consulting your ISP. You nslookup o2.co.uk and it tells you it thinks it should go to 82.132.141.84 if you put o2.co.uk into your browser.

 

The second task is to ping. A ping, named after a submarine's sonar ping, is a simple handshake. If fires a tiny packet of data at the target server, which either responds to your contact or doesn't. You can ping either a domain name, or it's associated IP address. If the ping fails, the target is either not available, or, more rarely, is set not to answer ping requests.

 

Now in your case, your two nslookups are both fine. Your router has consulted DNS on your demand, and returned the right IP addresses for the respective website servers. Anyone, including you from another PC, can confirm this by copy/pasting the returned IP address into a browser address bar, and it will conenct to the right website straight away.

 

For the ping, LinkedIn answers you in a timely fashion, and on the right IP address. LinkedIn's server is up and answering pings.

O2's doesn't, and whilst it's true in most cases that this indicates a problem, it doesn't here. Firstly I - and everyone else for that matter - will get the same failed response to a ping against o2.co.uk. But copy/paste that IP into a browser and you'll go straight there. Therefore, O2's servers are up, they just don't answer ping requests (a fact firther confirmed by the first test you did for me whent he trace failed).

 

Hokay, so what does all this mean? Well, this tells us that your PC has not, at the core system level, been hijacked.

Your computer goes to a legimitmate place to get it's website data (DNS), and the router answers with the correct IPs.

The pings both fire against the correct IP addresses, despite one failing, so are fine. If I had seen a different IP on your ping commands to the ones returned on your nslookup command then we would have confirmed you'd been hijacked.

 

We therefore can almost completely eliminate a hardware issue or an issue with your ISP.

 

Since both the target sites are up and active, it's beginning to look like your browser might be the problem. To confirm this, can you please go to THIS SITE and download the browser.

Don't worry, FireFox will install onto your copy of Vista just fine, and run alongside Internet Explorer (even simultaneously if you really want) and will in no way damage or otherwise effect your Explorer browser.

Once FF is installed, please try to surf to a few websites, including the two problem sites.

 

This one is simple. If you can surf to O2 and LinkedIn with FireFox, the problem is Internet Explorer or it's settings. If you cannot surf to O2 or LinkedIn with FireFox, your issue is not a browser one.

Edited January 22, 2010 by Tezcatlipoca

[Yorky2008]

Morning Tez,

 

Blimey, very well explained! I understood it on the first read through which is very good for me!

 

OK, have downloaded and installed Firefix and rebooted the lapto just incase. O2 and LinkedIn still dont work with Firefox just saying 'Loading' in the tab but never getting anywhere. As a test I loaded CAG and that loaded straight away, in fact replying to you in Firefox now.

 

Yorky.

[Tezcatlipoca]

An annoying result, but instructive. So, what do we know so far:

 

1) You can surf the web, but cannot go to two sites, LinkedIn and O2.

2) Your PC is being served its DNS records for these sites from your router (in the nslookup), and those IP addresses being returned are correct.

3) You can ping both sites on the correct address. One fails because the server doesn't make ping replies, but they are the correct IP addresses.

4) Your DNS has therefore not been hijacked/rerouted at a core system level.

5) It is not your browser in itself at fault, as FireFox exhibits the exact same issues.

 

Therefore, something else is preventing you getting to these two sites. It's probably a software issue, and it's not a core DNS problem at your end (although may still be a higher DNS problem or at your ISPs end).

 

Now what's odd here is that the LinkedIn site answered its ping request in a timely fashion. The general acid test is if you can ping it, you can surf it. If you can't ping it, you can't surf it. This is suggestive that the problem lies outside your control, at your ISP, but let's try one more local test first.

 

Please open up each browser (you can do this at the same time, if you really want) and enter 64.74.98.86 in the URL (address bar) at the top. No http, no www, just the number. Then hit Enter.

 

Now, the $64,000 question: Does it go to LinkedIn.com in either browser when you enter the website's IP address instead of their domain name?

Edited January 22, 2010 by Tezcatlipoca

[Tezcatlipoca]

Oh, as a brief afterthought could you please let me know the make and model of the router? Plus, is your laptop connecting to your router wirelessly or by a physical cable?

Edited January 22, 2010 by Tezcatlipoca

[Yorky2008]

Hi Tez,

 

Laptop is an Acer Aspire 6920G

 

Router is a Netgear DG834PN

 

I am connecting via wireless.

 

Neither connected to LinkedIn when I entered 64.74.98.86

[foolishgirl]

I'm sure Tez will give you a much more technical reply to this yorky but I had similar DNS probs. with a similar Netgear router I had a while ago - drove me mad & I got rid in the end. But FWIW, here's the solution I used regularly:

1. Try running the router with the LAN cable attached between router & computer. When it seems happy again unplug the cable.

2. If that doesn't work, reset to factory settings by sticking a sharp stick in the reset button on the router, hold for several seconds. Unplug, replug & boot up as described in your manual as if it was new. Don't forget to connect with a cable whilst you reboot, it won't do it wirelessly.

 

It worked for me every time until its tantrums got more & more frequent & I got really cross with it. Hope it works for you but it may only be a temporary solution.

[Tezcatlipoca]

This is very odd. Your computer can clearly ping LinkedIn.com, and the DNS for it is correct, so you really should be able to visit it in a browser.

 

Firstly, I would strongly advise you to follow foolishgirl's advice above. Using a cable will eliminate it being a glitch in your wireless connection, and, for the latter, it is a truism in IT that sometimes just switching it off and switching it on again does actually work.

If this does work, please jump to the bottom of my post (the section headed Cleaning) and take heed. The choice is yours, but I would consider doing this anyway, just to keep your PC running as smoothly as possible.

 

If you try the above and still nothing, we'll need to just eliminate a few factors from the process. This test takes seconds. Please disable whichever firewall you use and try surfing to the problem sites again.

Your firewall might be the Windows in-built one, or if may come bundled with a security package such as Norton or McAfee. If the latter, please disable (switch off) the entire package. Ignore any warnings it gives, we're only doing this for a few seconds to check they're not responsible.

 

Once disabled, pelase try the problem sites again. If you can get to them, please switch your protection back on, and let me know exactly what the program you switched off was. You can also igore the rest of this post.

If this does work, please jump to the bottom of my post (the section headed Cleaning) and take heed. The choice is yours, but I would consider doing this anyway, just to keep your PC running as smoothly as possible.

 

Still reading? That means you switched protection off and it still failed, so we need to eliminate something else.

Unfortunately, your router model doesn't allow total configuration of DNS settings, so we're going to do this to the PC instead.

 

Basically, I want to eliminate the chance that the problem lies in the higher DNS with your ISP (Internet Service Provider).

As we already know, DNS is a giant 'telephone directory' of websites. At the moment, you ask to go to a website, your computer goes and asks your router (192.168.0.1) where to go, and your router, which doesn't contain any DNS settings itself, goes and asks your ISP. Your ISP then makes the connection.

 

What we're going to do is bypass this and use a completely different 'telephone directory'. The one we'll be using is known as Open DNS, and is a huge, free, directory of websites that is available to all. It's also great when trying to diagnose issues like this.

 

Since we can't make the change to your router, we have to do it to your PC, so please to the following:

 

1) Visit this website for a guide on how to get to the DNS settings in vista.

2) When selecting the connection to change, make sure you select the correct connection (the wireless one).

2) In the DNS settings box, enter 208.67.222.222 in the top DNS box and 208.67.220.220 in the bottom.

3) Click Ok, and come out of any open windows.

 

You can check this change has taken place by returning to the black command window you're now pretty familiar with and typing ipconfig /all. The two DNS servers listed should be the IP addresses above.

 

If they are, great. You have now told your computer to use Open DNS instead of your router when finding out which websites are where. Please test this by surfing a few regular pages (such as Google, CAg, BBC) first, then try your two problem sites.

Can you please make sure you try to surf to these two sites both by trying to get to them from Google searches, and by directly entering the IP adresses in the addres bar. O2 is 82.132.141.84 and LinkedIn is 64.74.98.86.

 

If you can now surf to LinkedIn and/or O2, the problem clearly lay with the router settings or a connection interruption at your ISP. If you cannot, then the problem is either the router itself, or local to your computer.

 

Like I say, if you have an ethernet cable available and you haven't done so already, I would now seriously consider trying to connect it directly to your router, disable the wireless and try the problem sites that way. If that produces the same error, repeat the above steps to change to Open DNS for the cable connection, rather than the wireless. It is highly unlikely, but nonetheless possible, that it is your wireless connection that is to blame, so we really should eliminate everything before moving on.

 

If the DNS changes and the cabled connection still doesn't work, you can optionally put back the DNS settings we changed by following the instructions above, but selecting the Obtain DNS Server Address Automatically box, instead of entering data. Click Ok, and come out of the windows. Your DNS will now be back to the way it was.

 

Cleaning

You could also try cleaning out your PC, just to get rid of any gremlins that might have found their way in. In personally recommend you run sweeps with the following two free programs:

 

1) Spybot - Search and Destroy

2) CCleaner

 

Both these programs should be downloaded and installed, then updated and run. Both are considered to have zero false-positives, that is to say that any results they come back with can be safely deleted.

 

I'd advise getting into the routien of running these programs every month or so even if everything is ship-shape.

Edited January 24, 2010 by Tezcatlipoca