Cannot acess secured sites

[Armand Twiggs]

When I attemp to access secured sites My browser displays
the eroor page cannot be displayed. I can access unsecured
sites. I have checked the Internet Options Advance tab.
The Security section has all the SSL and TSL options
checked. The About Internet indicates that ny browser has
128 bit encrytion. Please help.

 

[Jim Byrd]

Hi Armand - There's been a rash of this lately connected mostly with XP
users. So far, three things have proven to be fixes for some cases:

First, several people with the same problem on XP have just in the last
few days reported being able to fix it by un-installing BOTH Norton
Internet Security (NIS) and the Symantec NAV. If you have either or both
of these programs installed, you might want to try this. To do so,
completely un-install each program separately, re-booting after each
un-install, then re-install 818529. I can't verify it, but it sounds
possible/reasonable to me, since Symantec's software has long been known
to cause problems with other software, particularly MS system software.
(FWIW, I don't allow it on my machines except for testing, afterwhich I
use Total Uninstall to get rid of it. It just doesn't play well with
others in too many cases.)

Next, you can try this. It's reportedly fixed the problem for several
people (although I've no idea yet as to why it would).

go to Start, Run and then type in "regsvr32 softpub.dll" (without the
quotes), then return. Re-boot your computer.

Lastly, a fix was reported that involved renaming the HOSTS file to
OldHOSTS (to eliminate possible contamination by malware) and installing
version 1173 of mshtml.dll (although I think I would recommend
re-installing hotfix 818529, here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/critical/818529/download.asp
which installs mshtml.dll v. 1170 [which is
the final fix for the mshtml.dll problem] rather than 1173) mshtml.dll
v.1173 (if you want to try that instead of 818529) can be
obtained here: Hotfix 816506
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...d5-0a58-40e8-a963-7496c71d1f40&DisplayLang=en


Please post back in this same thread with your results so that we can
better determine what works to fix this for others.


--
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP
Please respond in original thread in Newsgroup.




In [email protected], Armand Twiggs typed:

 

[Jim Byrd]

Hi Diana - you can get it here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/critical/818529/download.asp

--
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP
Please respond in original thread in Newsgroup.




In [email protected], Diana typed:

Jim,

Thanks a lot for your help.

I tried to uninstall NIS and NAV but couldn't until I
used "system restore" under Accessories (to restore my
computer to an earlier date) - in case anyone else has
this proble. I now have access to my secure sites.

I am re-installing updates which were lost during my
system restore. After each update I'm checking my secure
sites and so far no problem.

Could you tell me where to find 818529 ?

thanks
Diana

-----Original Message-----
Hi Armand - There's been a rash of this lately connected mostly with XP
users. So far, three things have proven to be fixes for some cases:

First, several people with the same problem on XP have just in the last
few days reported being able to fix it by un-installing BOTH Norton
Internet Security (NIS) and the Symantec NAV. If you have either or both
of these programs installed, you might want to try this. To do so,
completely un-install each program separately, re-booting after each
un-install, then re-install 818529. I can't verify it, but it sounds
possible/reasonable to me, since Symantec's software has long been known
to cause problems with other software, particularly MS system software.
(FWIW, I don't allow it on my machines except for testing, afterwhich I
use Total Uninstall to get rid of it. It just doesn't play well with
others in too many cases.)

Next, you can try this. It's reportedly fixed the problem for several
people (although I've no idea yet as to why it would).

go to Start, Run and then type in "regsvr32 softpub.dll" (without the
quotes), then return. Re-boot your computer.

Lastly, a fix was reported that involved renaming the HOSTS file to
OldHOSTS (to eliminate possible contamination by malware) and installing
version 1173 of mshtml.dll (although I think I would recommend
re-installing hotfix 818529, here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/critical/818 529/download.asp
which installs mshtml.dll v. 1170 [which is
the final fix for the mshtml.dll problem] rather than 1173) mshtml.dll
v.1173 (if you want to try that instead of 818529) can be
obtained here: Hotfix 816506
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx? FamilyID=878c5cd5-0a58-40e8-a963-
7496c71d1f40&DisplayLang=en


Please post back in this same thread with your results so that we can
better determine what works to fix this for others.


--
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP
Please respond in original thread in Newsgroup.




In [email protected], Armand Twiggs typed:

When I attemp to access secured sites My browser displays
the eroor page cannot be displayed. I can access unsecured
sites. I have checked the Internet Options Advance tab.
The Security section has all the SSL and TSL options
checked. The About Internet indicates that ny browser has
128 bit encrytion. Please help.

.

 

[Gil Bates A.B.]

Hi Diana - you can get it here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/critical/818529/download.asp

I'm not sure why people are so quick to blame the browser. Two weeks
ago, I started to have the "Page does not display" and "inability to
access secure site" issues. I have three computers on my home network,
two running XP with differing levels of patches and service packs, the
other runs W2K. They all experienced the same issues discussed. What
helped me was resetting my cable modem and router. Unfortunately I've
had to do it three times in the past two weeks while never having had
to do it in the past.

What's the chance some devious individual's managed to get a virus
going which is causing this problem, vs. the browser per se?

Gil Bates A.B.


db
--

"The name of the game
is to titillate the brain,
stimulate the immorality"

"Sex,Death and Money" - Alice Cooper

 

[Jim Byrd]

Hi Gil - Yes, certainly "malware" is a possiblity. However, the secure
sites problem on XP has just arisen recently and of those that found the
fixes I cited worked, a number had also reported having done at least
minimal checks for it. The second issue with malware is that there's so
much of it these days and it's so varied and quick changing that it's
practically impossible to specify a single simple "fix" in most cases.
If you have concerns in this area, here's my "Hijack 101" set of steps
to take to verify/correct or eliminate your suspicions:


If you go to this page at Jim Eshelman's site, here:
http://aumha.org/a/noads.htm and wait a little bit (be patient), an
analysis of a number of possible parasites on your machine will be made
to help you identify and remove them. NOTE: You will need to disable
Ad Blocking in Zone Alarm 3.x, if present or any other Ad Blocking
software which interferes with Java Scripting for this scan to work.
You should get a message between the two lines of **** giving the
results of the scan.

For the general hijack case, the best way to start is to get Ad-Aware
6.0, Build 162 or later, here:
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/. Update and run this
regularly to get rid of most "spyware/hijackware" on your machine.

Another excellent program for this purpose is SpyBot Search and Destroy
available here: http://security.kolla.de/ SpyBot Support Forum here:
http://www.net-integration.net/cgi-bin/forums/ikonboard.cgi. I
recommend using both normally. The look for and fix different things in
different ways. In addition, SpyBot S&D can implement a number of
useful extra defensive measures if you wish. After fixing things with
SpyBot S&D, be sure to re-boot and rerun SpyBot again and repeat this
cycle until you get a clean "no red" scan.


Note that sometimes you need to make a judgement call about what these
programs report as spyware. See here, for example:
http://www.imilly.com/alexa.htm

Lastly, a very useful utility for examining your system and correcting
problems is Hijack This, which you can download here:
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/hijackthis.zip See also,
HijackThis Quick Start Help, http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt/ (Recommended)
This site has a number of useful references and information also:
http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/hijacked/ and here
http://www.spywareinfo.com/downloads.php

Another program giving a good inventory of all of the possible start
vectors is AutostartExplorer, here: http://www.misec.net/aexp.jsp
While it doesn't allow control of startups, it's extremely comprehensive
in examining all of the possible sources. Highly Recommended

Next, go here: http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml and get Mike Lin's
Startup Control Panel applet. A somewhat more difficult to use but
more extensive program to do the same thing is StartupList from here:
http://www.lurkhere.com/~nicefiles/index.html, or even better, Autoruns
from here:
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/source/misc.shtml#autoruns. Be very
careful about doing any Registry modifications directly unless you're
comfortable with this, and be sure that you BACKUP your Registry before
making any changes, so that you can recover if something goes wrong.
Changes made with StartUpCPL are less likely to cause problems, and are
usually a matter of just re-enabling the particular program. Another
program of this type that I can recommend is StartMan, free, here:
http://www.spywareinfo.com/downloads/startman/. If you have problems
with suspected hijackers, you can look up and investigate suspect
programs in your StartUp lists here:
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_pages/startup_full.htm
(Recommended)
http://www.3feetunder.com/krick/startup/list.html (Recommended)
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm (Recommended)


Some hijackers install themselves as Browser Helper Objects. Get BHOCop
here: BHO Cop http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,270,00.asp
(Unfortunately, no longer free from that link but you can read about it

there, and here is a direct download link for it:
http://websec.arcady.fr/bhocop.zip) and take a look at what BHO's are
currently installed. Some things like AdShield and Acrobat are normal,
but if you see something that doesn't make any sense, try disabling it
and see if that helps. Another excellent program for this same purpose
is BHODemon, (still free) here: http://www.definitivesolutions.com/ or
here: http://www.spywareinfo.com/downloads/bhod/ I would recommend
both. You can also check/control BHO's using the Tools function of
SpyBot S&D.

There's good information about hijacking and fixes available here:

Andrew Clover's parasite page: http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/
(Highly recommended)
Robert Allen's parasite page: http://allentech.net/parasite/index.phtml
(Highly recommended)
http://www.spywareinfo.com/hijacked.html
http://gmpservicesinc.com/Articles/hijack.asp (links here for .reg files
to lock and unlock your homepage, BTW. You can also use this program to
toggle locking/unlocking of your homepage:
http://www.dougknox.com/security/scripts/nosethomepage.vbs Recommended)
http://www.mvps.org/inetexplorer/answers.htm#home_page

Also, there's a new class of hijacker using Window's Messenger Service
(not Instant Messaging, BTW). See: Messenger Service Window That
Contains an Internet Advertisement Appears
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=330904 which identifies reasons to
keep this service and steps to take if you do. You can test your system
and follow the 'Prevention' link to get additional information here:
http://www.mynetwatchman.com/winpopuptester.asp Unless you have very
good reasons to keep this active, it should be turned off in Win2k and
XP. Go here and do what it says:
http://www.itc.virginia.edu/desktop/docs/messagepopup/ or, even better,
get MessageSubtract, free, here, which will give you flexible control of
the service and viewing of these messages:
http://www.intermute.com/messagesubtract/help.html Recommended.

Once you get this cleaned up, you might want to consider installing the
Browser Hijack Blaster, SpywareBlaster and SpywareGuard here to help
prevent this kind of thing from happening in the future:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/bhblaster.html (Prevents malware BHO's)
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/spywareblaster.html (Prevents malware
Active X installs) (BTW, SpyWare Blaster is not memory resident ... no
CPU or memory load - but keep it updated) The latest version as of this
writing will prevent installation or prevent the malware from running if
it is already installed, and it provides information and fixit-links for
a variety of parasites.
http://www.wilderssecurity.net/spywareguard.html (Monitors for attempts
to install malware) All three Very Highly Recommended.

See if any of this helps and post back with your results.



--
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP
Please respond in original thread in Newsgroup.




In (e-mail address removed), Gil Bates A.B. typed: