Help! Trouble Accessing PeoplePc Homepage

[duh]

Originally Posted by johnwill

It started out weird, and went downhill from there!

I'd still like an answer to my original question, sounds like a real low-class ISP to me.

I have to apologize, a feline member of my household was stricken seriously ill the morning of the day that I replied to you, johnwill, so I was upset and on, like, two hours sleep. That was not the night for me to even be on the Internet, much less replying to anyone's questions in a forum. And I really had had a long day on my feet so the miserable episode that followed between me and you was entirely my fault, no excuses, and I apologize. I fear the feline in question is almost near dead now and I am upset, but I just have to keep things in perspective and keep my head together a little better here.

In answer to your question, PeoplePC is the best of the ISP's I've had so far, once I'm finally online, which does take some doing. The fact that they lack free tech support does, I agree, suck, but the service is a) cheap, at $10.95 a month (or less, with special discounts and offers), b) isn't a resource-hog, like AOL (I hate a slow computer, and certain ISP's, like AOL, slow mine down a lot), and c) has features I really enjoy, such as Google Search and Outlook Express, that other ISP's don't have. Could you also keep in mind that I lack perspective as to what constitutes a good ISP, and what doesn't, since I have no access to DSL or broadband--one company does offer broadband in my area--Brighthouse Networks--but it's $25 a month, and that's too much money right now. So I go on with what is no doubt substandard service, compared to better ISP's out there. I'm just trying to make the best of it. Again, my apologies, and have a nice Thanksgiving.

[Resolution]

Okay. Now that we are past all that, am I correct in saying that you are able to access the Internet, but the only problem is you can't reach their homepage? Is this the only problem you are being plagued with?

[duh]

Originally Posted by Resolution

Okay. Now that we are past all that, am I correct in saying that you are able to access the Internet, but the only problem is you can't reach their homepage? Is this the only problem you are being plagued with?

Yes, that is correct.

[Resolution]

Did you try clearing your browser cache by deleting your temporary Internet files and any cookies you may have for that website?

I assume that one of the pages you are trying to access is the Member Login page. Can you view the following link?

https://www.authnow.com/login.asp?dom=1&

Also, they apparently do offer online help. You can view it whenever you get your problem fixed.

[duh]

Originally Posted by Resolution

Did you try clearing your browser cache by deleting your temporary Internet files and any cookies you may have for that website?

I assume that one of the pages you are trying to access is the Member Login page. Can you view the following link?

https://www.authnow.com/login.asp?dom=1&

This is so confusing, not just for me, but also I'm sure for anyone interested in trying to help me fix it. Just to bring the picture of what's wrong down to nuts and bolts here, this is what I have to do in order to get online and access my homepage:

1) I click on a shortcut on my Taskbar to connect to PeoplePC.

2) It's 56k dial-up, so a dialog-box opens up, with a box on it that says CONNECT. I click on that box, and it dials my local access #.

3) It goes thru a 3-step process in connecting. 1st it says, Dialing Access Number. Next it says, Online! Verifying Member Name and Password! Finally, a little pop-up appears over the PeoplePC icon in my Taskbar. It says, Connected! 50.6k.

What should happen next, if all goes well, (but it rarely goes well), is that my homepage, with my PeoplePC Control Panel, should appear automatically, without me having to type in, or click on, anything else.

What DOES happen next, after I get that Connected! pop-up, is instead of my Homepage appearing, I get a page that says, Page Cannot be Displayed, in giant black letters. Under that message, there's a few papragraphs, saying to check my Internet Settings using my computer's Control Panel. It even says, Windows can detect your settings on this computer for you. Click here to Detect Settings. When you click on Detect Settings, which is underlined like a hyperlink is, nothing happens.

Just tonight I had to disconnect, reconnect, disconnect, reconnect, 1...2...3...4...5 times!!! I could not believe it, even though I've gone through this every day and night for months. If anyone can figure out what the solution is, I would really, really be grateful.

[duh]

Originally Posted by Resolution

Did you try clearing your browser cache by deleting your temporary Internet files and any cookies you may have for that website?

I assume that one of the pages you are trying to access is the Member Login page. Can you view the following link?

https://www.authnow.com/login.asp?dom=1&

Also, they apparently do offer online help. You can view it whenever you get your problem fixed.

Oh, by the way, I forgot to answer your question to me. Is the browser cache the same as the Temporary Internet Files? The same as what's deleted when you go to Internet Options on the computer's Control Panel and click on Clear History? If those things make up the browser cache, I clear them immediately after every use of PeoplePC online. I erase all the Temporary Internet Files, I click on Clear History, I even dump everything in my Norton Recylcle Bin after every stint online.

When I click on Options on my PeoplePC Control Panel, it gives me the option of clearing my Temporary Internet Files through it's own console. BUT, it warns me that if I dump all those files, my acceleration will temporarily be slower, until certain cookies are restored. I've tried it both ways--keeping my Temporary Internet Files for days on end, without deleting any of them--and dumping them after every online use, which I prefer to do, anyhow, because I want my computer to stay clean from adware and spyware, but nothing like that seems to fix, or even have any bearing on, whatever the problem is here. I hope this information gives a pretty good idea of where I'm at with this--totally confused!

[Resolution]

Okay, then you did clear it.

What happened when you went to the following link...

https://www.authnow.com/login.asp?dom=1&

Can you view the following page...

http://www.peoplepc.com

and if not, can you view the page now...

http://207.69.235.100

[duh]

Originally Posted by Resolution

Okay, then you did clear it.

What happened when you went to the following link...

https://www.authnow.com/login.asp?dom=1&


Can you view the following page...

http://www.peoplepc.com

There's no problem with viewing links once I'm online. Even if I can't get to PeoplePc's Homepage, I can click on Internet Explorer in my Taskbar, open it the HTTP Forbidden Error #403 and use IE's search Bar and Favorites list just as I would without any of these problems. The thing is, once I disconnect and reconnect 4-5 times, I DO finally get my Homepage! I am using the service fine now, with no problems. It's GETTING my Homepage to display in the first place that's the problem. I have to disconnect, reconnect, disconnect, reconnect, over and over again, which takes time, maybe ten minutes altogether, until the Homepage finally is displayed.


and if not, can you view the page now...

http://207.69.235.100

I can view this just fine, also. All I want to know is, how do I get my Homepage to show up the first time I connect to PeoplePC, like it should?

P.S. I followed your links for PeoplePC's Online Help. From there there's an email address to write to them at, and I've used that in the past, but haven't yet received any response from them, but in the interest of leaving no stone unturned, I just finished writing them again. There's also a link there to a Question and Answer (FAQ) sheet, but my question is not addressed there. There is no link for Live Online Help, and I hesitate to call them, if they're going to go ahead and bill $1.95 a minute to my account for tech support. In the fineprint about that, they write that CERTAIN tech support issues are charged at $1.95 per minute, and that they don't inform you until the call has concluded whether or not you'll incur those charges. I guess they don't want anyone wasting their time without getting due compensation for it.

[Resolution]

I'm not familiar with the PeoplePC software, so it is hard for me to give you any useful information without actually sitting at your computer. As far as I can tell, you seem to have everything in working order except this one issue. If you can view http://home.peoplepc.com/ by typing it into your address bar in your browser, then the problem appears to be software related. The only advice I can give you is

1. Make sure your browser's homepage is set correctly.

2. Try changing your access number if it takes a few times to connect.

3. Make sure you are using the current dialer software (version 6.1). You might also want to try downloading the software, if the installation CD isn't helping.

[duh]

1. Make sure your browser's homepage is set correctly.

2. Try changing your access number if it takes a few times to connect.

3. Make sure you are using the current dialer software (version 6.1). You might also want to try downloading the software, if the installation CD isn't helping.[/quote]

In reply to:

1.Is my homepage set correctly? Here are the results from Hijack This! referencing the homepage:

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://peoplepc.com/home
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Bar = http://home.peoplepc.com/search
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://peoplepc.com/home
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://peoplepc.com/home

and here are the results from IM Report, a utility that came with my download of CW Shredder:

**** IE Settings ****

IEBypass: <local>
Default Search: http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/redir...ie&ar=iesearch
Local Page: C:\WINDOWS\System32\blank.htm
Search Bar: http://home.peoplepc.com/search
Search Page: http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/redir...ie&ar=iesearch

2. I just got reply email from PeoplePC Tech Support regarding this problem. It says, in part:

Regarding your concern, we would suggest you to change the local access numbers. The dial up numbers we have for you are updated weekly and can be found at the following link: http://www.peoplepc.com/join_ppc/internet_access.asp

But, regarding this access number issue, I only have 2 access numbers for my hometown, and I'm using both of them. There are access numbers for nearby towns but those towns are, please don't laugh, this is a bit of trivia here, those towns are long-distance calls from local payphones! and I'm afraid of incurring extra charges on my telphone bill, as my carrier, Sprint, will only carry what it considers "local calls" for free.

3. The current version is actually 6.2, and I've been using it for a while.

I know it's not my modem, because I ran AOL and PeoplePC concurrently for awhile, and AOL always opened to it's Homepage with no problem. I have run the Troubleshooter on my modem, just to ensure it's running right, and it's fine. Have you ever run Dr. Watson? I'm not even sure what it diagnoses, but I've run that, too, just for the fun of it, and that got me nowhere. Just to have even more fun tonight, and boy does this light my fire, I pretty much picked through my entire Registry by hand, using the regedit command on Run, and while I'm not experienced in what to look for, I did notice hundreds of registry entries for AOL on my computer, even though I completely uninstalled AOL months ago, using the Add/Remove Programs function, and also put my computer in SafeMode and manually deleted more AOL C;//Program Files than a person could possibly believe. So I've been deleting AOL registry entries for the last hour or so, and what surprises me is they must've really been weighing my system down, because now my computer runs faster than before I did that. There's one happy ending, anyway.

If you could tell me if my Homepage URLs look alright to you, and if there's anything else you'd advise, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks for sticking with me as I try to sort through this!

[duh]

1. Make sure your browser's homepage is set correctly.

2. Try changing your access number if it takes a few times to connect.

3. Make sure you are using the current dialer software (version 6.1). You might also want to try downloading the software, if the installation CD isn't helping.[/quote]

In reply to:
1. Is my homepage set correctly? Here are the results from Hijack This! referencing the homepage:

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://peoplepc.com/home
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Bar = http://home.peoplepc.com/search
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://peoplepc.com/home
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://peoplepc.com/home

and here are the results from IM Report, a utility that came with my download of CW Shredder:

**** IE Settings ****

IEBypass: <local>
Default Search: http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/redir...ie&ar=iesearch
Local Page: C:\WINDOWS\System32\blank.htm
Search Bar: http://home.peoplepc.com/search
Search Page: http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/redir...ie&ar=iesearch

2. I just got reply email from PeoplePC Tech Support regarding this problem. It says, in part:

Regarding your concern, we would suggest you to change the local access numbers. The dial up numbers we have for you are updated weekly and can be found at the following link: http://www.peoplepc.com/join_ppc/internet_access.asp

But, regarding this access number issue, I only have 2 access numbers for my hometown, and I'm using both of them. There are access numbers for nearby towns but those towns are, please don't laugh, this is a bit of trivia here, those towns are long-distance calls from local payphones! and I'm afraid of incurring extra charges on my telphone bill, as my carrier, Sprint, will only carry what it considers "local calls" for free.

3. The current version is actually 6.2, and I've been using it for a while.

I know it's not my modem, because I ran AOL and PeoplePC concurrently for a while, and AOL always opened to its own Homepage with no problem. I have run the Troubleshooter on my modem, just to ensure it's running right, and it seems fine. Have you ever run Dr. Watson? I'm not even sure what it diagnoses, but I've run that, too, just for the fun of it, and that got me nowhere. Just for more fun tonight, and boy does this light my fire, I've pretty much picked through my entire Registry by hand, using the regedit command on Run, and while I'm not experienced in what to look for, I did notice hundreds of registry entries for AOL on my computer, even though I completely uninstalled AOL months ago, using the Add/Remove Programs function, and also put my computer in SafeMode and manually deleted more AOL C;//Program Files than a person could possibly believe. So I've been deleting AOL registry entries for the last hour or so, and what surprises me is they must've really been weighing my system down, because now my computer runs faster than before I did that. That's one happy ending, anyway.

If you could tell me if my Homepage URLs look alright to you, and if there's anything else you'd advise, I'd really appreciate it! Thanks for sticking with me as I try to sort through this.

[JamesO]

Why is People PC home page so important?

Why do you need to access it/what services or info are you needing access to?

Is there anyway to function without it?

Tell us about your computer as well:

CPU speed?
RAM?
Windows Service Pack 1 or 2?
You mentioned Norton, Norton AntiVirus or Norton Internet Security?
Crtl, Alt, Del, Task Manager
Performance tab, how many Processes? (bottom left), Physical Memory Total and Available?

Next time you connect, Start, Run, type cmd then enter, type ping www.peoplepc.com then enter and post back your response times.

The does your web browsing appear to be accelerated even when you cannot access the PeoplePC home page?

JamesO

[duh]

Originally Posted by JamesO

Why is People PC home page so important?

Why do you need to access it/what services or info are you needing access to?

Is there anyway to function without it?

Tell us about your computer as well:

CPU speed?
RAM?
Windows Service Pack 1 or 2?
You mentioned Norton, Norton AntiVirus or Norton Internet Security?
Crtl, Alt, Del, Task Manager
Performance tab, how many Processes? (bottom left), Physical Memory Total and Available?

Next time you connect, Start, Run, type cmd then enter, type ping www.peoplepc.com then enter and post back your response times.

The does your web browsing appear to be accelerated even when you cannot access the PeoplePC home page?

JamesO

Without my PeoplePc Homepage, I have to open Outlook Express and IE manually, from my computer's Start/Programs and Taskbar locations, which is time-consuming and awkward and time-consuming. PeoplePC's Homepage has Outlook Express's email bundled right into it, and with one click in the upper-left-hand corner I cancheck and write email. If I use the Hompeage's Google Search, IE opens automatically, without the HTTP Forbidden #403 Error I get if I open it manually from my Taskbar. The Homepage simplifies everything for me, in other words, my email, my Favorites, everything I need is right there.

My compter is an A-Open, with a

Intel Pentium III Processor, and has

501 Mgz, with

384 RAM, running

XP Pro without Service Packs I or II, as my copy of XP would make Bill Gates

FAINT, and is thus not updateable, BUT

I am runnig 11 different SP Patches, from Microsoft.com/Home/Updates, called Windows XP Hotfixes, for security purposes. I have

XP Pro's own Firewall enabled on PeoplePC, and for further security I use the latest versions, fully updated, of

Norton 2004, with Auto-Protect Enabled
Spybot S & D
Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta 1
AdAware SE Personal
Hijack This!
CW Shredder, bundled with
InterMute Report
Spyware Blaster
Spyware Guard

I have 392262 Total Available memory, with about half of it in use, with 32 processes running at the moment, and CPU usage of between 9%-14%. I have not yet typed the URL you suggested into Run, but I will try it tonight--I have to get ready for work now!--and let you know later tonight, much later, I'll be gone a while--how that goes.

[JamesO]

Are you using PeoplePC for email?

Does PeoplePC support POP3 or IMAP for e-mail?

JamesO

[johnwill]

I would think that it should be possible to configure all of this stuff to work properly without the PeoplePC interface. Since you're using Outlook, it seems that POP3 support exists. In truth, I don't know why you use any of the PeoplePC software, since in my experience, most of the ISP supplied software is a giant PITA. Frequently, they want you to use it to generate more traffic on their website so you'll view their ads.

I looked at the PeoplePC website, and it sure looks like a pretty standard dial-up ISP to me.