Larry G said:
Whenever I try to access a page for a download, i.e. an update, Norton
360,
Webroot Spy sweeper, Zone Alarm etc. I get a white screen with the above
message. I've run Norton, Zone Alarm, XoftSpySE, Reg Cure, Spy sweeper
and
none of them indicate I'm infected with anything, yet I can't download
anything that can help me. Any clues?
Thank you for your help
If I understand correctly, you can't download updates for any of those
pieces of software?
It's possible that you are infected with something newer that can't be
detected with your current virus / spyware definitions, and has modified
your "hosts" file to point you to another website, instead of the proper
site to obtain the updates...
Does this error message appear in your IE browser window? If so, check the
"address bar" at the top of the browser window. If it lists a site that is
different than that which you were trying to get to (i.e.
http://www.symatec.com/... something similar anyway, if you were trying to
get updates for Norton,) then it is possible that the hosts file has been
changed.
To check, make your way to this directory: <OS Drive Letter (usually
C)>:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc Look for the file named "hosts" when you
go to open it, Windows won't know how. Tell it to open it up with NOTEPAD.
Look inside the file, it should look like the following (without the start
and end separation lines):
---<START>----------------------------------------------------
# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
127.0.0.1 localhost
---<END>--------------------------------------------------------
There should be nothing else listed in that file. Sometime legitimate
programs DO add things to it to protect you from the "bad" websites, but
those are rare. If there is other things, check the sites that are listed
(second column) and make sure that it's only "bad" sites, and there is no
mention of the sites you are trying to access (Symantec, Zone Alarm, etc.)
If you find them, delete that WHOLE line, heck if you want to, delete the
entire list, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF WHAT I HAVE LISTED ABOVE, that portion
MUST remain there. Save the file and try the updates again.
Good luck, hope this helps, at least a little...
