Cannot access certain sites like Google, Hotmail

[hierro77]

I've been having this problem for 2 weeks already. I can't access
www.google.com or log into my hotmail on my laptop at home. The
operations timed out. All other computers have no problems, including
the desktop accessible the same router at home. Certain other random
sites are inaccessible too.

I tried pinging www.google.com (which resolves to www.l.google.com at
66.102.7.147) and it failed. Then I tried pinging google.com
(216.239.57.99), and it worked.

I've read that it could be the QHost trojan, but i ran Symantec's
cleaning tool and it said none detected. I've also scanned with Spybot,
Ad-aware, and AVG Anti-Virus, but all were ok. I have ZoneAlarm running
all the time.

It fails on both IE and firefox.

Any clues?

 

[Don Varnau]

Hi,
Search for a HOSTS file- not HOSTS.SAM or LMHOSTS. In Windows XP it will be
a hidden file. To disable the HOSTS file you can rename it to (eg.)
HOSTS.OLD or individual entries can be disabled by putting the # sign in
front of the URL.

See http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
and/or
http://www.accs-net.com/hosts/
for more information

Malware may have altered the HOSTS file. See these sites for help with
spyware, hijackers, etc:
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
Also note the security tips and other important information on that page.

Additional information at:
The Parasite Fight http://www.aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
More security tips at http://www.aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
Bugs, Glitches & Stuffups: http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/darnit.html
What you can do about spyware and other unwanted software:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/spywarewhat.mspx

Don
[MS MVP- IE/OE]

 

[hierro77]

Thanks.

I've checked the hosts file and only entry is localhost.

Pls refer to discussion at
http://groups.google.com/group/alt....924328e9fe8/d8ef69bb5088e2f4#d8ef69bb5088e2f4

 

[Robert Aldwinckle]

Thanks.

I've checked the hosts file and only entry is localhost.

Pls refer to discussion at
http://groups.google.com/group/alt....924328e9fe8/d8ef69bb5088e2f4#d8ef69bb5088e2f4

That thread made me think of an MTU problem.

<title>KB314825 - How to Troubleshoot Black Hole Router Issues</title>

Since you can't ping your primary site the diagnostic test suggested there
will not be possible. The best you may be able to do, apart from *guessing*
at a better MTU size, will be to use tracert to find out the last pingable
site in the path to your problem site and then see if the "do not fragment"
flag can be used usefully with it.


BTW I was able to ping www.google.com so perhaps there is
something else at play (such as a blacklist):

ping -f -l 9999 -n 1 www.google.com

Pinging www.l.google.com [64.233.167.104] with 9999 bytes of data:

Packet needs to be fragmented but DF set.
</example>


Good luck

Robert Aldwinckle
---