Internet Explorer: problems accessing certain URLs

[Guest]

I use XP and IE v6 and have two computers on a home network. I am having
problems on one computer accessing certain URLs, no problems accessing same
URLs on the other computer. Specifically, I can access www.earth.google.com
and www.scholar.google.com on one computer but when trying to do so on the
other I am redirected to www.google.com. IE security settings are the same on
both computers. Can someone give me a lead where to look to overcome this
please?
TIA, .... Greg

 

[Robert L [MS-MVP]]

I just have a case last week. I would check the MTU first and scan any spyware. here is the case study,

New Topics: Can't access some web sites
That computer can access some web sites but not Google.com...

Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on http://www.HowToNetworking.com
I use XP and IE v6 and have two computers on a home network. I am having
problems on one computer accessing certain URLs, no problems accessing same
URLs on the other computer. Specifically, I can access www.earth.google.com
and www.scholar.google.com on one computer but when trying to do so on the
other I am redirected to www.google.com. IE security settings are the same on
both computers. Can someone give me a lead where to look to overcome this
please?
TIA, .... Greg

 

[Guest]

Are you able to browse other sites, specifically Google sites? If so then.....
How are you attempting to access those websites? If it is a shortcut, on
your desktop, or favorite saved in IE or other browser, the configuration for
either could be incorrect, because google may have changed the website those
shortcuts are pointing to. Try typing the URL into the address bar, just to
check. Another cause could be a bad entry in your DNS cache. Do an ipconfig
/flushdns from the command prompt and try again. If it is not a bad DNS
cache entry, it could be that some form of spyware or a virus has either
attempted or has added an entry into your Hosts file. To verify your hosts
file click start >> Run >> Type "drivers" (without the quotes) >> dblclick
the etc folder >> right click the Hosts file and select open with notepad.
The hosts file, unless you have altered it before should not have any entries
in it except "127.0.0.1 localhost". Any other entries should be
removed; unless of course, you put them there, otherwise remove only the
entries you did not place there. If the DNS is flushed, Hosts file has no
bad entries and the addresses check out, then TEMPORARILY disable any
firewalls that you may have running. If you are able to access after
disabling the firewall then it is a firewall rule entry causing the issue.
If none of this works, empty the Temporary Internet File, Temp folder (under
your profile or all) and cookies. Although neither of these sites have
popups, that i can tell, disable your popup blocker as well. Popup blockers
work by extracting the code that fires off popups and then rewriting the web
page, sometimes that do not work the way we would like. If you are still not
able to get on these sites then scan your system for malware/spyware and then
do an AV scan. I left these two for last beacause they are the most time
consuming. If you are still having problems then potentially it could be a
browser setting although you have said that they are identical on both
computers but at this point if you are still unable to see the sites set the
security to default. Let me know which fixes it. If you are still having
problems let me know and I'll research it further. Or, if none of this helps
and something else did please let me know.

Beau

 

[Guest]

Robert,
can you give me more info re finding the case you referred to please?

Thanks Beau; some answers:
1. I can browse many google sites (eg picasa) but not all. I am not using
shortcuts or favourites; it fails when I type URLs into the address bar. The
only sites I am aware of having this problem with are related to google.
2. I successfully flushed DNS but did not fix the problem
3. I deleted cookies, TIF files, local user/temp folders and files. Still
fails.
4. I checked hosts file and 127.0.0.1 is the only entry
5. Firewall is not running on this PC's network card. One is running on the
netgear router but it is not affecting the other computer. Will try resetting
the router later.
6. Popup blocker not running.
7. Will do another spyware scan. What is an AV scan please?

 

[Guest]

More info:
1. Did spyware scan with Ad-aware 1.06. Found three minor data miners,
quarantined them but problem still exists.
2. Checked logs on router. Even though I have browser set to check for newer
versions of a page on every access, surfs to troublesome google sites are not
registering in the router log. The problem seems to be inside the troublesome
PC. Strange.
3. Did full XP and IE software update. No difference
This problem is driving me crazy. Thanks for helping ... Greg

 

[Guest]

I've now reset the router and still have the problem! Except for the AV Scan
and the possibility that the case Robert referred to might help, I have no
idea what to do next!

 

[Guest]

Robert, I think you may have omitted the URL for the case, can you please
advise, TIA.... Greg

 

[Guest]

FYI, my antivirus software eventually reported a trojan. Adaware quarantined
it and now earth,google works OK. Cheers ... Greg