V
Vanguard
Windows 2000 Pro SP4
Internet Explorer 6
I have a broadband cable connection (Comcast). I cannot connect to the
following web sites:
http://www.creative.com
http://www.soundblaster.com
Yet I can connect to:
http://www.americas.creative.com
and every other web site that I navigate to (but have had some problems
with links to http://dw.com.com used for downloading files from
http://www.download.com). When trying to navigate to the web site, 5
seconds later IE6 will display "Cannot find server or DNS Error". I
have tried all of the following and maybe more:
- Did a "nslookup www.creative.com". It worked. The IP address
returned worked when using http://www.anonymizer.com or
http://www.samspade.org to go there. So my ISP's DNS server knows about
their web site.
- Used http://www.anonymizer.com to go to the web site. It opened okay
so I know the Creative web site is up. Unfortunately, I cannot download
any drivers or even access their support pages through Anonymizer
because their freebie service disables too much of Creative's web site.
- Used safe web browser at http://www.samspade.org to go to the web
site. It opened okay (i.e., I saw the HTTP data). So I can
successfully connect to some other web site that then can open the home
page at the target web site. Since this safe web browser only shows me
the HTTP datastream, I cannot use it to download any drivers or search
their knowledgebase.
- Purge the browser's file cache.
- Put the URL for the web site in the Trusted security zone for IE.
- Disabled the firewall (Norton Internet Security 2003).
- Disabled the anti-virus software (Norton Anti-Virus 2003).
- Checked there are no inline proxies configured for IE to use.
- Disabled PopUp Cop (a popup stopper).
- Set cookies management to accept all cookies, even 3rd party cookies.
- Used the safe web browser in SamSpade for Windows (shows the HTTP
datastream instead of rendering any HTML within it). I see the GET
command but no response. This safe web browser doesn't use any plug-ins
from IE nor does it go through any proxies that might be configured for
IE, so none of that is inline with the connection between it and the web
site.
- Used HTTP Tracer to watch the HTTP datastream as my browser tried to
get to the web site. It also showed the GET command but no response.
After 5 seconds, IE6 times out with the "Cannot find server or DNS
Error" page. However, when my firewall is enabled, it sees no
connection attempt from my browser. It will show an instance of the
browser got loaded (because there is an application rule in my firewall)
but there is no connection logged to the web site. I do see a log of
the brower "User-Agent" data getting sent but that's probably only
checking the HTTP command to issue that information.
- Used BHO Demon to disable all BHO (browser helper objects) in IE.
- Checked that no URLs were listed under the Restricted Sites security
zone in IE.
- Creative's drivers and/or software installed a CTHELPER.exe program
that loads on Windows startup. It is supposed to do something with
their drivers to help them do updates or provide help. In any case, it
has been an unused feature as far as I can see so I disabled this load.
I also disabled their load of ADGJET.exe on startup (something to do
with detecting when headphones are plugged into an external drive or
device). Didn't help.
- Eventually using msconfig.exe (borrowed from WinXP) or Mike Lin's
Startup applet, and doing the reboot so the disabled program doesn't get
executed on Windows startup, I can then navigate to these targeted web
sites. So I figured that I've located the problem. Wrong! Sometime
later the problem will crop up again.
- I have ran SpyBot and Ad-Aware with latest sig files and found no
problems.
- Ran a complete and updated virus scan with no reports of infection.
- I reinstalled Service Pack 4, Internet Explorer 6 (reinstall all
components), and Windows Update to see if I could step on whatever has
stepped on IE6. Nope, didn't help.
- The "DNS Client" NT service is stopped and disabled; i.e.,it is not
running nor does it get loaded on Windows startup. So trying to run
"ipconfig /flushdns" is meaningless since client-side DNS caching is
disabled.
- I only have 3 entries in the hosts file; one to equate 127.0.0.1 to
localhost and a couple others also to 127.0.0.1 (which I use for names
of local proxies for e-mail, which are SpamPal and YahooPops, so I know
what they are when I'm configuring e-mail accounts or chaining the
e-mail proxies). Nothing else is in the hosts file, so it is not like
I'm using localhost to block access to a web site.
- Tried resetting the TCP parameters by running "netsh interface reset
all".
From what I can tell, the browser is never actually making a connection.
My firewall will show when my browser (or any application) makes a
connection off my host. I can navigate okay to lots of other web sites.
I have verified, as noted, that the target web sites are indeed up and
responsive. Yet it is ONLY to these 2 web sites that I cannot navigate
(http://www.creative.com and http://www.soundblaster.com). There have
been occasional problems with some of the links at
http://www.download.com (which go to http://dw.com.com). What gets me
is that my firewall never even sees the connection attempt. Yet I see
in the browser its status line changing from "Connecting to <url> ..."
to "Web site found. Waiting for reply ...". There is an intermediate
status about something to do with detecting proxy settings (but doesn't
show if I uncheck the option to automatic detect settings).
Sometimes after using http://www.anonymizer.com or
http://www.samspade.org (safe browser) to open the web site, then I can
connect okay directly from my browser, but eventually it fails again
with the "Cannot find server or DNS Error" page. After pulling it out
over the last few days, I have little hair left.
Internet Explorer 6
I have a broadband cable connection (Comcast). I cannot connect to the
following web sites:
http://www.creative.com
http://www.soundblaster.com
Yet I can connect to:
http://www.americas.creative.com
and every other web site that I navigate to (but have had some problems
with links to http://dw.com.com used for downloading files from
http://www.download.com). When trying to navigate to the web site, 5
seconds later IE6 will display "Cannot find server or DNS Error". I
have tried all of the following and maybe more:
- Did a "nslookup www.creative.com". It worked. The IP address
returned worked when using http://www.anonymizer.com or
http://www.samspade.org to go there. So my ISP's DNS server knows about
their web site.
- Used http://www.anonymizer.com to go to the web site. It opened okay
so I know the Creative web site is up. Unfortunately, I cannot download
any drivers or even access their support pages through Anonymizer
because their freebie service disables too much of Creative's web site.
- Used safe web browser at http://www.samspade.org to go to the web
site. It opened okay (i.e., I saw the HTTP data). So I can
successfully connect to some other web site that then can open the home
page at the target web site. Since this safe web browser only shows me
the HTTP datastream, I cannot use it to download any drivers or search
their knowledgebase.
- Purge the browser's file cache.
- Put the URL for the web site in the Trusted security zone for IE.
- Disabled the firewall (Norton Internet Security 2003).
- Disabled the anti-virus software (Norton Anti-Virus 2003).
- Checked there are no inline proxies configured for IE to use.
- Disabled PopUp Cop (a popup stopper).
- Set cookies management to accept all cookies, even 3rd party cookies.
- Used the safe web browser in SamSpade for Windows (shows the HTTP
datastream instead of rendering any HTML within it). I see the GET
command but no response. This safe web browser doesn't use any plug-ins
from IE nor does it go through any proxies that might be configured for
IE, so none of that is inline with the connection between it and the web
site.
- Used HTTP Tracer to watch the HTTP datastream as my browser tried to
get to the web site. It also showed the GET command but no response.
After 5 seconds, IE6 times out with the "Cannot find server or DNS
Error" page. However, when my firewall is enabled, it sees no
connection attempt from my browser. It will show an instance of the
browser got loaded (because there is an application rule in my firewall)
but there is no connection logged to the web site. I do see a log of
the brower "User-Agent" data getting sent but that's probably only
checking the HTTP command to issue that information.
- Used BHO Demon to disable all BHO (browser helper objects) in IE.
- Checked that no URLs were listed under the Restricted Sites security
zone in IE.
- Creative's drivers and/or software installed a CTHELPER.exe program
that loads on Windows startup. It is supposed to do something with
their drivers to help them do updates or provide help. In any case, it
has been an unused feature as far as I can see so I disabled this load.
I also disabled their load of ADGJET.exe on startup (something to do
with detecting when headphones are plugged into an external drive or
device). Didn't help.
- Eventually using msconfig.exe (borrowed from WinXP) or Mike Lin's
Startup applet, and doing the reboot so the disabled program doesn't get
executed on Windows startup, I can then navigate to these targeted web
sites. So I figured that I've located the problem. Wrong! Sometime
later the problem will crop up again.
- I have ran SpyBot and Ad-Aware with latest sig files and found no
problems.
- Ran a complete and updated virus scan with no reports of infection.
- I reinstalled Service Pack 4, Internet Explorer 6 (reinstall all
components), and Windows Update to see if I could step on whatever has
stepped on IE6. Nope, didn't help.
- The "DNS Client" NT service is stopped and disabled; i.e.,it is not
running nor does it get loaded on Windows startup. So trying to run
"ipconfig /flushdns" is meaningless since client-side DNS caching is
disabled.
- I only have 3 entries in the hosts file; one to equate 127.0.0.1 to
localhost and a couple others also to 127.0.0.1 (which I use for names
of local proxies for e-mail, which are SpamPal and YahooPops, so I know
what they are when I'm configuring e-mail accounts or chaining the
e-mail proxies). Nothing else is in the hosts file, so it is not like
I'm using localhost to block access to a web site.
- Tried resetting the TCP parameters by running "netsh interface reset
all".
From what I can tell, the browser is never actually making a connection.
My firewall will show when my browser (or any application) makes a
connection off my host. I can navigate okay to lots of other web sites.
I have verified, as noted, that the target web sites are indeed up and
responsive. Yet it is ONLY to these 2 web sites that I cannot navigate
(http://www.creative.com and http://www.soundblaster.com). There have
been occasional problems with some of the links at
http://www.download.com (which go to http://dw.com.com). What gets me
is that my firewall never even sees the connection attempt. Yet I see
in the browser its status line changing from "Connecting to <url> ..."
to "Web site found. Waiting for reply ...". There is an intermediate
status about something to do with detecting proxy settings (but doesn't
show if I uncheck the option to automatic detect settings).
Sometimes after using http://www.anonymizer.com or
http://www.samspade.org (safe browser) to open the web site, then I can
connect okay directly from my browser, but eventually it fails again
with the "Cannot find server or DNS Error" page. After pulling it out
over the last few days, I have little hair left.