Can't reach some websites

[Guest]

I have two new PC's, purchased on seperate orders, from Dell.
The models are both Dell XPS 210, both pre-installed with Windows Vista
Business.
They are both running Internet Explorer Version: 7.0.6000.16386 - Cipher
Strength 256-bit -

Update Versions:0
Both have user accounts set in the administator group.
They both have McAfee Security Center running in the background, the
"Parental Controls"

section is disabled.

I also have a PC that is 4 or 5 years old and running Windows XP Home.
This one has Norton Antivirus running in the background.

The three PC's all connect to the Internet via wireless network through a
"BT Home Hub"

Broadband wireless router.

There nub of my problem is that the new PC's running Vista cannot access
some websites,

that the olde PC running XP can. The websites, one specifically cannot in
any way be

though of as one that would be blocked for any reason as it is the website
of the UK Law

Courts at www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk Another website is
www.bounceclothing.com for both

of these sites, IE7 says "Website found. Waiting for reply..." Eventually
it times out,

yet I can concurrently browse, chat, check and send email, with ample
bandwidth to spare.


All Windows Updates have been applied.
IE7 Popup Blocker is turned off, Phishing Filter is disabled, Protected Mode
has been

turned off. Cookies are allowed. Temporary Files have been deleted.
Java(Sun) is installed (works for a chat site i use).
Windows Vista Firewall is off as the McAfee firewall is on.
I have tried dropping the firewall completely, no change;
I have tried resetting the security center to default settings, no change;
I have tried resetting my wireless connection adaptor, also removing the
power cable from

the PC for several minutes, no change;
I have spoken to "BT Home Hub" support, who state that neither the Home-Hub
nor BT as my ISP would be the cause of the block to any website as they don't
block these websites.
I have spoken to Dell Support who cannot fathom the problem out, but offered
no further

ideas, despite me having purchased a support package.

I have even installed Mozilla-Firefox as a comparison but the problem
persists.

If you can help in determining the cause and solution, any help would be
greatly

appreciated. If the suggestions include anything more complicated than the
above, such as

checking services or IP details etc, it would help if you explain how, or
offer links to

pages that explain how to.

Is this Windows Vista blocking sites or what?

 

[Mike Tullett]

On Mon, 7 May 2007 09:35:02 -0700, croptopmartin wrote in

There nub of my problem is that the new PC's running Vista cannot access
some websites,

that the olde PC running XP can. The websites, one specifically cannot in
any way be

though of as one that would be blocked for any reason as it is the website
of the UK Law

Courts at www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk Another website is
www.bounceclothing.com for both

of these sites, IE7 says "Website found. Waiting for reply..." Eventually
it times out,

<snip>

Whilst I also have sites I cannot access in Vista, those two load fine here
for me, both in XP and Vista.

 

[Mr. Arnold]

Is this Windows Vista blocking sites or what?

It sounds like a router problem to me, which the firmware on the router can
become sick and not allow a PC to access a site while it allows access to
others.

1) Do a hard reset of the router and turn it off for a while and see if that
fixes the problem.

2) Flash the router with the current version of the firmware the router is
using or flash it with a later version of the firmware to see if that
corrects the problem.

 

[KDE]

have you tried disabling all Mcafee products and try reaching the sites ?

 

[Michael]

I had the same problem... (no wireless router involved though)

Although I do not use Vista Enterprise,
this has seemed to fix the problem for me.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929868#top#top

1. Click Start, click All Programs, and then click Accessories.
2. Right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.
3. At the prompt in the Administrator: Command Prompt window, type the
following command, and then press ENTER:
netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=highlyrestricted

I have disabled autotuning completely (=disable)

Regards,
Mick

Ps. You can turn it back on if required (=normal)

 

[Guest]

have you tried disabling all Mcafee products and try reaching the sites ?

Well yes but not in response directly to your post.

I as the starter of this thread was given some advice which put me on the
right track to the cause and solution. I am putting this here in case it of
use to others.

Log off and restart the PC.
You need to go into SAFE MODE, so during restart...
When the DELL logo comes up, press F8 and then select SAFE MODE AND NETWORKING
Once you are in Safe Mode, try to access those sites again, if you can then
it is not the PC nor the connection, instead it is something blocking you.
(In my case the suspect was McAfee Security Center).

So having determined that I could access the sites in Safe Mode, log off and
reboot as normal.

Then from START choose RUN and msconfig
On the SERVICES tab, disable all McAfee items, (you can re-enable later).
Then REBOOT (Bearing in mind that this will leave you with no Firewall or
Virus Protection afforded by the McAfee products.

After Reboot, check access to the sites again, if you can access them (as I
then could), then this identifies the root of the problem.

NEXT Use msconfig & Services tab to enable (tick) the McAfee items again.
Then REBOOT
---
Now having confirmed the root of the problem I spent a long time in McAfee
chat with a technician, who wanted me to configure part of McAfee with these
words...
Click on Home
Internet & Network
Click Configure
Click Web Browsing Protection
Click Advanced
Uncheck Web Bugs and Block Ads.
However as I did not have "Web Browsing Protection" it was then that it was
clear that the evaluation copy of the program pre-installed by DELL was
missing some components, namely at least Web Browsing Protection so I had to
purchase the full program, then uninstall the evaluation copy of McAfee
Security Center, Reboot, then go to my McAfee account again and
download/install the full Security Center purchased.

Obviously for a period of time between uninstalling one and installing the
new one, I had no Virus/Spam/Hacker/etc protectection and no firewall, but
hey all is now well and working top guns with the full version of the McAfee
Security Center.

Sure this may have been a change to go for the free stuff mentioned
elsewhere, but I prefer not to have to think about it too much, I have better
things to do with my time.

Hope this post helps others.