"Website not found error" problem - There's more!

Kairyu · 04-23-2005, 05:51 AM

Hi, first time posting here. But I hear you guys might be able to help me out. I'm pretty much out of ideas over here...

THE LONG STORY:
My problem is pretty simple, or so I thought. Basically, I open up my web browser (which is firefox 1.0.3 at the moment) and type in a web address to access whichever site. But recently, I keep getting a error message from the particular website I go to that says, "so-and-so website could not be found. Check the name and try again." To make sure it wasn't my connection, I go to a different website. But it loads just fine.

..."strange" I thought to myself, but I shrugged it off and went to class hoping the problem would work itself out. After class was over I was still in near the computer lab area, so I helped myself to some web surfing as usual. Much to my amazement, the site I was trying to access was online! Excited, I then proceeded to drive home and use "my connection" to get into said website. But then! I was dumbfounded, My browser was STILL unable to access the website. So I tried it again on another computer in the same household and again, the website could not be found! I try a few more combinations like running the modem directly to my computer, releasing/renewing my ip address (via cmd prompt), powering down the modem for several minutes, and even reseting the router to its default settings. And still, it was a no go. All I could muster after that was, "W-T-F..."

Obviously this worried me. So I call up my isp (verizon hawaii dsl, ugh) and told them my entire story... They roughly complied with, "hmm well WE can access the site, so it must a problem with the website itself." And then I tell them that I tired it on a computer at another location (at the university and another computer at home) and the site worked just fine. They then replied in a few minutes saying "Sorry, it sounds like a problem with your computer. We can't help you with that, we only do internet troubleshooting." I of course say, "WHAT?! You gotta be kidding me!" With the amount of troubleshooting I preformed earlier made it at least look like it was a problem with my connection (at least I think so.) ... So I shake my head, they say goodbye, and I hung up.

So now you know as much as I do, I'm completely at a loss and the fact that I don't know everything there is to know about internet connectivity and whatnot doesn't help this situation..

I'm hoping you guys can step in and give me some "direction" as to what I can do. Oh and to help you along, here's some info regarding my computer, if you need more info just say so, thank you:).

Computer Specs:
Custom built Alienware Area-51 PC(I'd call their tech support but its a weekend -__-;;)
OS used: Windows XP Home, SP1
motherboard: Intel D875PBZ
CPU: Pentium 4 3.0GHz 512K L2 cache 800MHz FSB
Memory: Samsung 2x 512MB DDR PC3200
HDDs: Internal Saegate Barracuda 120GB ATA HD, and a external Seagate 120GB HDD (usb2.0)
Soundcard: Audigy 2 ZS
NIC: Intel PRO/1000 CT Network Card
Graphics Card: Geforce FX 5950 ultra 256MB
Router: Linksys Wireless-G model:WRT54G (3 computers currently connected, one of which is wirelessly connected.)
Modem: Fujitsu Speedport modem from Verizon DSL (had it for a good 4 years now...)

Basic Symptoms/info:
- This website I regularly go to (almost everyday) suddenly won't load on my browser saying, "so-and-so website could not be found. Check the name and try again." But I know for a fact that the site is online, only my local network can't see it..
- And for those that want to try it themselves the website is: www.gamingforce.com (great forum by the way.)

Recap of the things I tried: [none worked, of course]
- Ran bug tests (used spybot, ad-aware, and looked around with hijackthis)
- Cleared ALL cache in my firefox browser.
- Renewed my dns and ip settings using cmd prompt
- Reset router to default settings.
- Plugged modem directly to the computer.
- Powered down modem for about 2 mins to see if it made any difference.
- Even tried simply rebooting the computer *sigh*

Well I hope you can help me, or even suggest something I have yet to try :). Thank you for your time!

101 · 04-23-2005, 06:13 AM

Try using the IP address of that site as the URL

http://67.15.52.6

If you can access using the IP, then you have DNS resolution problem. Also, ping that server to see if you can reach it from your machine - Go to start>run and type:

ping 67.15.52.6

..and post the results here. Also, can you access using another browser?

Kairyu · 04-23-2005, 06:20 AM

WOW! thanks for the help! I got in... but how did you get that ip number? *ah, I know so little and yet I can explain the theory of a switch voltage regulator.* haha =p.

Anyway, yes it seems to be a DNS resolution problem. How can I go about fixing it so I can simply go to the website using its normal url?

Oh and the ping results were normal using the ip address you provided:
0% loss, average ping at 730ms =\

And no, if I use another browser like IE it does the same thing if I use the original url.

101 · 04-23-2005, 06:46 AM

Did you run ipconfig /flushdns ? It clears the DNS cache if you have the DNS client service running. If it still doesn't work, the prob is with the DNS servers of your ISP. You can access with the domain name [ie: the regular URL] adding an entry in your HOSTS file. It's located in c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\ - It has no extension but you can open it with notepad. You'll find an entry like this:

127.0.0.1 localhost

Below that line add:

67.15.52.6 www.gamingforce.com

Save it and try the URL. The browser looks at this file before trying to resolve the domain name through DNS server. As for getting the IP for a domain name, pretty simple.. type at the command prompt:

nslookup domain.com

Kairyu · 04-23-2005, 07:26 AM

Yeah I tried clearing the DNS cache using ipconfig /flushdns(and register dns) and it didn't work =(.

Ok, I also tried editing the hosts file like you said but I couldn't save it as that format, only as a text file (it always gave me a warning saying it can't save in that format, and then it brings to the "save as..." screen.). And of course it still didn't work ._.

Anything else???

101 · 04-23-2005, 07:48 AM

In the save as... dialog put the file name surrounded with quotes, ie: "HOSTS" or just save it as .txt, select the file, press F2 and remove the .txt extension.

Kairyu · 04-23-2005, 08:03 AM

Ah I see, it worked! Thanks alot, 101 =).

I guess I really should do now is contact my isp again about resolving the DNS problem from their server, unless the current alternative is good enough.

johnwill · 04-24-2005, 09:14 AM

If you're having DNS issues with your ISP, you might try using an alternative DNS server. There are a bunch of public ones, I've compiled a list of a few that I've tried, and a couple that I'm currently using.

199.166.24.253 (PS0.NS1.VRX.NET) - Toronto, ON, Canada
199.166.27.253 (PS0.NS3.VRX.NET) - Richmond Hill, ON, Canada
199.166.28.10 (PS0.NS2.VRX.NET) - Apopka, Fl
199.166.29.3 (NL.PUBLIC.BASESERVERS.NET) - Nederlands
199.166.31.3 (NS1.QUASAR.NET) - Orlando, FL, USA *** (MY SECONDARY) ***
195.117.6.25 (ZOLIBORZ.ELEKTRON.PL) - Poland
38.113.2.100 (NS1.JERKY.NET) - Boston, MA, USA
213.196.2.97 (PAN.BIJT.NET) - The Netherlands
199.166.28.10 (PS0.NS2.VRX.NET) - Atlanta, Ga
199.5.157.128 (ASLAN.OPEN-RSC.ORG) - Detroit, MI, USA *** (MY PRIMARY) ***

Kairyu · 05-03-2005, 03:52 AM

Alright I'll give it a try, thanks for the suggestion!

**JamesO** · 05-03-2005, 04:48 AM

730 ms average ping time???

I understand you are in Hawaii and using Verizon DSL, but something else is not good here!!

Verizon has been having DNS problems lately, something to do with network upgrades, I also hear some Verizon customers on the East coast are having big Verizon e-mail problems as well over the last few days, again something to do with internal Verizon upgrades (ATM switches??).

Lets get back to your ping times. I would expect them to be under 200 ms, more like under 100 ms. 730 ms means heavy network congestion and/or a satellite hop in the link somewhere. The should be boatloads of fiber between Hawaii and the mainland US, so something wierd is up with this kind of response time.

Run a few pings and trace routes to places like www.verizon.net, www.cisco.net, www.uunet.net, www.butel.nl and see if you are still having these high response times.

If you are still getting high response times, post this info back here for review.

JamesO

04-23-2005, 05:51 AM	#1 (permalink)
Kairyu Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Hawaii Posts: 5 OS: Windows XP Home SP1	"Website not found error" problem - There's more! Hi, first time posting here. But I hear you guys might be able to help me out. I'm pretty much out of ideas over here... THE LONG STORY: My problem is pretty simple, or so I thought. Basically, I open up my web browser (which is firefox 1.0.3 at the moment) and type in a web address to access whichever site. But recently, I keep getting a error message from the particular website I go to that says, "so-and-so website could not be found. Check the name and try again." To make sure it wasn't my connection, I go to a different website. But it loads just fine. ..."strange" I thought to myself, but I shrugged it off and went to class hoping the problem would work itself out. After class was over I was still in near the computer lab area, so I helped myself to some web surfing as usual. Much to my amazement, the site I was trying to access was online! Excited, I then proceeded to drive home and use "my connection" to get into said website. But then! I was dumbfounded, My browser was STILL unable to access the website. So I tried it again on another computer in the same household and again, the website could not be found! I try a few more combinations like running the modem directly to my computer, releasing/renewing my ip address (via cmd prompt), powering down the modem for several minutes, and even reseting the router to its default settings. And still, it was a no go. All I could muster after that was, "W-T-F..." Obviously this worried me. So I call up my isp (verizon hawaii dsl, ugh) and told them my entire story... They roughly complied with, "hmm well WE can access the site, so it must a problem with the website itself." And then I tell them that I tired it on a computer at another location (at the university and another computer at home) and the site worked just fine. They then replied in a few minutes saying "Sorry, it sounds like a problem with your computer. We can't help you with that, we only do internet troubleshooting." I of course say, "WHAT?! You gotta be kidding me!" With the amount of troubleshooting I preformed earlier made it at least look like it was a problem with my connection (at least I think so.) ... So I shake my head, they say goodbye, and I hung up. So now you know as much as I do, I'm completely at a loss and the fact that I don't know everything there is to know about internet connectivity and whatnot doesn't help this situation.. I'm hoping you guys can step in and give me some "direction" as to what I can do. Oh and to help you along, here's some info regarding my computer, if you need more info just say so, thank you:). Computer Specs: Custom built Alienware Area-51 PC(I'd call their tech support but its a weekend -__-;;) OS used: Windows XP Home, SP1 motherboard: Intel D875PBZ CPU: Pentium 4 3.0GHz 512K L2 cache 800MHz FSB Memory: Samsung 2x 512MB DDR PC3200 HDDs: Internal Saegate Barracuda 120GB ATA HD, and a external Seagate 120GB HDD (usb2.0) Soundcard: Audigy 2 ZS NIC: Intel PRO/1000 CT Network Card Graphics Card: Geforce FX 5950 ultra 256MB Router: Linksys Wireless-G model:WRT54G (3 computers currently connected, one of which is wirelessly connected.) Modem: Fujitsu Speedport modem from Verizon DSL (had it for a good 4 years now...) Basic Symptoms/info: - This website I regularly go to (almost everyday) suddenly won't load on my browser saying, "so-and-so website could not be found. Check the name and try again." But I know for a fact that the site is online, only my local network can't see it.. - And for those that want to try it themselves the website is: www.gamingforce.com (great forum by the way.) Recap of the things I tried: [none worked, of course] - Ran bug tests (used spybot, ad-aware, and looked around with hijackthis) - Cleared ALL cache in my firefox browser. - Renewed my dns and ip settings using cmd prompt - Reset router to default settings. - Plugged modem directly to the computer. - Powered down modem for about 2 mins to see if it made any difference. - Even tried simply rebooting the computer sigh Well I hope you can help me, or even suggest something I have yet to try :). Thank you for your time! Last edited by Kairyu : 04-23-2005 at 05:59 AM.

04-23-2005, 06:13 AM	#2 (permalink)
101 Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 126 OS: 2k Pro	Try using the IP address of that site as the URL http://67.15.52.6 If you can access using the IP, then you have DNS resolution problem. Also, ping that server to see if you can reach it from your machine - Go to start>run and type: ping 67.15.52.6 ..and post the results here. Also, can you access using another browser? __________________ As you may note, English isn't my first language ;)

04-23-2005, 06:20 AM	#3 (permalink)
Kairyu Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Hawaii Posts: 5 OS: Windows XP Home SP1	WOW! thanks for the help! I got in... but how did you get that ip number? ah, I know so little and yet I can explain the theory of a switch voltage regulator. haha =p. Anyway, yes it seems to be a DNS resolution problem. How can I go about fixing it so I can simply go to the website using its normal url? Oh and the ping results were normal using the ip address you provided: 0% loss, average ping at 730ms =\ And no, if I use another browser like IE it does the same thing if I use the original url. Last edited by Kairyu : 04-23-2005 at 06:35 AM. Reason: added something

04-23-2005, 06:46 AM	#4 (permalink)
101 Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 126 OS: 2k Pro	Did you run ipconfig /flushdns ? It clears the DNS cache if you have the DNS client service running. If it still doesn't work, the prob is with the DNS servers of your ISP. You can access with the domain name [ie: the regular URL] adding an entry in your HOSTS file. It's located in c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\ - It has no extension but you can open it with notepad. You'll find an entry like this: 127.0.0.1 localhost Below that line add: 67.15.52.6 www.gamingforce.com Save it and try the URL. The browser looks at this file before trying to resolve the domain name through DNS server. As for getting the IP for a domain name, pretty simple.. type at the command prompt: nslookup domain.com __________________ As you may note, English isn't my first language ;)

04-23-2005, 07:26 AM	#5 (permalink)
Kairyu Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Hawaii Posts: 5 OS: Windows XP Home SP1	Yeah I tried clearing the DNS cache using ipconfig /flushdns(and register dns) and it didn't work =(. Ok, I also tried editing the hosts file like you said but I couldn't save it as that format, only as a text file (it always gave me a warning saying it can't save in that format, and then it brings to the "save as..." screen.). And of course it still didn't work ._. Anything else??? Last edited by Kairyu : 04-23-2005 at 07:43 AM.

04-23-2005, 07:48 AM	#6 (permalink)
101 Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 126 OS: 2k Pro	In the save as... dialog put the file name surrounded with quotes, ie: "HOSTS" or just save it as .txt, select the file, press F2 and remove the .txt extension. __________________ As you may note, English isn't my first language ;)

04-23-2005, 08:03 AM	#7 (permalink)
Kairyu Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Hawaii Posts: 5 OS: Windows XP Home SP1	Ah I see, it worked! Thanks alot, 101 =). I guess I really should do now is contact my isp again about resolving the DNS problem from their server, unless the current alternative is good enough.

04-24-2005, 09:14 AM	#8 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 32,535 OS: XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	If you're having DNS issues with your ISP, you might try using an alternative DNS server. There are a bunch of public ones, I've compiled a list of a few that I've tried, and a couple that I'm currently using. 199.166.24.253 (PS0.NS1.VRX.NET) - Toronto, ON, Canada 199.166.27.253 (PS0.NS3.VRX.NET) - Richmond Hill, ON, Canada 199.166.28.10 (PS0.NS2.VRX.NET) - Apopka, Fl 199.166.29.3 (NL.PUBLIC.BASESERVERS.NET) - Nederlands 199.166.31.3 (NS1.QUASAR.NET) - Orlando, FL, USA * (MY SECONDARY) * 195.117.6.25 (ZOLIBORZ.ELEKTRON.PL) - Poland 38.113.2.100 (NS1.JERKY.NET) - Boston, MA, USA 213.196.2.97 (PAN.BIJT.NET) - The Netherlands 199.166.28.10 (PS0.NS2.VRX.NET) - Atlanta, Ga 199.5.157.128 (ASLAN.OPEN-RSC.ORG) - Detroit, MI, USA * (MY PRIMARY) * __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

05-03-2005, 03:52 AM	#9 (permalink)
Kairyu Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Hawaii Posts: 5 OS: Windows XP Home SP1	Alright I'll give it a try, thanks for the suggestion!

05-03-2005, 04:48 AM	#10 (permalink)
JamesO Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Fairfax, VA USA Posts: 2,289 OS: 98SE, W2k Pro, XP Pro	730 ms average ping time??? I understand you are in Hawaii and using Verizon DSL, but something else is not good here!! Verizon has been having DNS problems lately, something to do with network upgrades, I also hear some Verizon customers on the East coast are having big Verizon e-mail problems as well over the last few days, again something to do with internal Verizon upgrades (ATM switches??). Lets get back to your ping times. I would expect them to be under 200 ms, more like under 100 ms. 730 ms means heavy network congestion and/or a satellite hop in the link somewhere. The should be boatloads of fiber between Hawaii and the mainland US, so something wierd is up with this kind of response time. Run a few pings and trace routes to places like www.verizon.net, www.cisco.net, www.uunet.net, www.butel.nl and see if you are still having these high response times. If you are still getting high response times, post this info back here for review. JamesO