Symantec site unavailable

[Gerry Graf]

I have a computer in another room connected through a
wireless G network. That particular computer is unable
to get to certain sites such as Symantec.com and
McAfee.com. I have no trouble getting to most websites -
just those are unavailable. I am using DSL. The DSL
folks tell me it is a Microsoft problem that prevents me
from reaching any antivirus sites. I can reach them from
the main computer but not the one connected via wireless.
Please help if you can.

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

Look in the C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc folder for your HOSTS file (no extension). Also look for LMHOSTS (no extension).

It may contain entries similar to the following:

102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

Except that they will block Symantec and McAfee sites.

By default, the only entry you need is::

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

Sorry, hit Send too soon:

Look in the C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc folder for your HOSTS file (no extension). Also look for LMHOSTS (no extension).

It may contain entries similar to the following:

102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

Except that they will block Symantec and McAfee sites.

By default, the only entry you need is::

127.0.0.1 localhost

Anything with # sign in front of it is commented out.

Additionally, you may want to click Start, Run and enter REGEDIT Go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\Tcpip\Parameters

Look in the right pane for the DataBasePath value. It should read:

%SystemRoot%\System32\drivers\etc

If not, the its pointing to another folder that contains a HOSTS file, that is not the one you want to be using. To change it, just double click where it says DataBasePath and modify it accordingly.

Also see www.lavasoftusa.com for AdAware and www.safer-networking.org for Spybot Search and Destroy.