Home » General Discussions » General Discussion » PC Help!!!
PC Help!!! [message #48674] |
Mon, 22 September 2003 19:59 |
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Nodbugger
Messages: 976 Registered: February 2003
Karma: 0
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Colonel |
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About two weeks ago the family filter for altavista would not turn off. I could search just not unfiltered. Google worked fine. Now this morning I go to altavista it says page cannot be found. so I go to google. Google also says page cannot be found. Now they work for everyone I talk to. They even work on my other computer. Even when I change my security settings they don't work. Anyone know wtf is wrong?
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PC Help!!! [message #48718] |
Tue, 23 September 2003 06:45 |
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General Havoc
Messages: 1564 Registered: February 2003 Location: Birmingham, England, Unit...
Karma: 0
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General (1 Star) |
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Normally happens when some sort of proxy has been enabled. This could be child protection software, ad blockers, 3rd party networking tools etc. I have fixed a few computers that had this problem, they couldn't get onto certain webpages as there was a proxy configured. Check out your internet settings.
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Scripts.dll Debugger, Map Scripter and Tutorial writer
Computer Science Bsc
Aston University in Birmingham, UK
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PC Help!!! [message #48771] |
Tue, 23 September 2003 13:14 |
Bearxor
Messages: 137 Registered: February 2003
Karma: 0
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Recruit |
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To check your internet settings, open up IE, click on Tools, then Internet Options. Click on the tab that says Connections. Then click the 'LAN Settings...' button. There you can make sure proxy is checked off. This is assuming you have IE 6.
To see if your network card is working, you can open the start menu, click run, and type in 'ipconfig' in the command prompt. It will show you your IP address. I'm assuming you have a DSL/Cable connection with a router to hook up more than one computer at a time. Most broadband routers default to an address range of 192.168.1.xxx. See if your's falls in this range with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. Of course, if your router defaults to a 10.x.x.x address, check to make sure yours matches the routers address range and subnet mask. For example, a router that is on 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0 will not be able to see a client that is on 169.254.1.1 255.255.0.0. And, if your IP address shows up as 169.254.x.x, then there something wrong because 169.254 is the address range Windows assigns when it can't reach a DHCP server (your router).
But odds are, if everything else works except for search engines, it is not going to be a hardware problem. Do a search on you hard drive for a file called 'hosts'. On XP, it is in X:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts. Open it up. What it does was let you type in the IP address and DNS name of servers, so that your local computer doesn't have to lookup the domain name whenever you type it into the browser. For example:
When I type in 'www.n00bstories.com', my browser calls up my DNS server and asks it for the IP address of n00bstories.com. If it doesn't know, it then calls another DNS server, and so on, and so on, until finally a DNS server says 'Hey! http://www.n00bstories.com is 140.99.186.3!!' Then, the DNS servers that were looking for it cache it locally, so that the next time I go looking for it, my DNS server will have it and won't have to go looking for it.
So, if in the 'hosts' file, I typed:
140.99.186.3 http://www.n00bstories.com
And then I went and typed http://www.n00bstories.com into my browser, my computer would automatically know that n00bstories.com is 140.99.186.3 and doesn't even have to call up a DNS server to find it.
This leads me to the loopback address, 127.0.0.1. 127.0.0.1 is basically your computer. What it's best used for is internal testing of the TCP/IP stack. But thats unimportant for you. All you need to know is that if you tried to ping 127.0.0.1 or tried to type into a web browser or ftp client, all you would be doing is trying to reach yourself. So, if my 'hosts' file looks like this:
127.0.0.1 http://www.n00bstories.com
and I opened up a web browser and typed in 'www.n00bstories.com', my browser would look it up in the 'hosts' file, substitute 127.0.0.1 for http://www.n00bstories.com and I would come up with a big fat 404.
So, explanation aside, check the 'hosts' file to make sure someone isn't playing a joke on you by manually typing sites you visit often into the hosts file. Not that I would ever do such a thing. Or another good one is to take a picture of their desktop with all their icons, then delete all their icons, and use the picture you took as the background so it looks like they're all there...
Not that I would ever do that either...
Anyways, if its not manual entries in the 'hosts' file either, then come back and let us know.
signatures suck
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PC Help!!! [message #48776] |
Tue, 23 September 2003 13:38 |
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Gernader8
Messages: 273 Registered: February 2003 Location: I live in my own world, d...
Karma: 0
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Recruit |
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Quote: | Are you trying to get to Google?
Your computer is running software that doesn’t allow you to use Google.
You’re seeing this page because your computer is trying to send you to a website that is pretending to be Google. Over the past few weeks, you may have seen a website that looks like Google, but launches pop-up windows and does not work like Google. That page is not affiliated with Google in any way and is intended to deceive you.
Why is this happening?
Most likely a program was installed on your computer automatically and without your knowledge when you downloaded an otherwise harmless piece of software. Or you may have been tricked into clicking on a disguised download button while visiting a website.
What can I do about it?
This problem can be fixed fairly easily, but will require that you make changes in a file that is part of your computer’s operating system. You should always be cautious when making these kinds of adjustments, as they may affect the performance of your computer. If you are not comfortable doing this yourself, you may want to print out this page and show it to someone whose technical knowledge you trust.
What steps do I take?
The first step is to remove the entry for Google from your hosts file. This entry is telling your computer where to send your computer instead of to Google.
In Windows, open the Notepad program. You can do this by going to the Start menu in the lower left of your screen, selecting “Programs,” then “Accessories,” then “Notepad.”
In the Notepad menu, click on “File,” then “Open.” You will see a new window asking which file to open. You may need to change "Files of type" to "All Files" instead of "Text Documents". The actual file to open is listed below:
If your computer is running Windows XP, Window NT, or Windows 2000, the file is located in the folder found by following this path:
My Computer >Local Disk(C) >Windows >System32 >Drivers >etc >hosts
If your computer is running Windows 98, Second Edition or Windows ME, the file is located in the folder found by following this path:
My Computer >Local Disk(C) >Windows >hosts
Once you have opened this file, remove entirely any line of text that contains “google.com”, “www.google.com” or other Google domains (such as “google.co.uk”). To remove the text, highlight it by dragging your pointer across the line while holding down the mouse button. Once the text is highlighted, hit the Backspace or Delete button, then save the file by going to the File menu and clicking “Save.” You can now exit Notepad.
What else can I do?
You might want to try software that attempts to detect and uninstall programs like this one. While we do not have a relationship with anyone who offers this software and we cannot endorse a particular product, the most popular programs for doing this seem to be Spybot Search and Destroy and LavaSoft's AdAware. The particular program affecting your computer is relatively new, so these products might not be able to detect and repair this type of problem yet.
The next step is to learn more. You can visit http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/ to review information about a number of known self-installing software programs. Several articles on the web may be helpful, such as
· http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/04/14/1050172507212.html
· http://news.com.com/2100-1023-877568.html
· http://news.com.com/2100-1023-257592.html
Investigate individual programs using search engines. Try keywords such as "spyware," "scumware," and "adware."
Once you’re informed, take action. Help your family and friends avoid these annoying programs. If you can find the site that installed this software on your computer, let them know how you feel about it. You might also want to track down companies that benefit from having your web visits redirected, and share your feelings with them.
Finally, it's quick and easy to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This U.S. government agency handles complaints about deceptive or unfair business practices. To file a complaint, visit: http://www.ftc.gov/ and click on "File a Complaint Online", or call 1-877-FTC-HELP. Or write to:
Federal Trade Commission
CRC-240
Washington, D.C. 20580
If your complaint is against a company in another country, you can file it at http://www.econsumer.gov/.
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I was redirected to a site ,while trying to 'google' ,that answered and solved my problems. While going through my host file I oddly found an Altravista entry. At first I didnt delete it, but once you do delete it everything should work fine. Hope I helped you.
Creator of the 'Reborn Bashing' smilie (My claim to fame)
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PC Help!!! [message #48869] |
Tue, 23 September 2003 19:53 |
Bearxor
Messages: 137 Registered: February 2003
Karma: 0
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Recruit |
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Wow, what a spiffy idea. I never thought of things like competing websites changing your hosts file to redirect hits to their sites. First I've heard of anyone doing this, but they definitely need to stop.
signatures suck
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