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60 Posts
Hi all..
A very good friend of mine has since last night had difficulty with loading up the Google search engine. Now, whenever it is accessed from the laptop in question, it gets a blank page saying Cannot display the webpage. This happens in Firefox, IE8 & IE9 and Google Chrome.
What I have got him to try:
*Delete and clear cache in every browser, multiple times.
*Reset config settings under Advanced tab in Internet Explorer settings.
*Boot up the no add-ons version of Internet Explorer from System Tools and try it from there.
*Check the host file through: C:\ > Windows > System32 > Drivers > Etc. His file content when opened in notepad was identical to mine and his other laptop. Content was (without the quotations):
"*# Copyright (C) 1993-2009 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
# localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost
"
* He has a 2nd laptop through same ISP and connects through the same home network, loads google fine.
* I have gotten him to load google from the ip address url of : 74.125.45.99 and the site LOADS UP fine. However, once he tries to perform a search and the url changes back to the google. com... again, gets the webpage cannot be displayed error.
I assumed because it can load it by IP and not by address, it was some sort of firewall blocking the url... but he doesnt know what firewall he uses, I'd assume Windows Firewall since he has not downloaded anything else. The laptop is new, only had it under a week. It was fine until last night. He did not download anything new or any windows automatic updates.
He has called tech support and they were not sure of a fix, instead told him that he had instaled stuff since the laptop was new.. which was only Sims the game and Skype.. which I am convinced wouldnt have affected google search engine!!
I have also looked up problems online and tried getting him to "Fix It" on the microsoft Host File article which renamed his host file to Host.old and gave him a new one.. but did not fix the problem.
Out of ideas now and hoping someone can help. Could it be a virus? If so how do we find it? He has got a trial version of Norton 360 2012 on the computer, run a scan and it found just 7 tracking cookies and cleared them.
Further info:
It is a HP laptop running Windows 7. 2GB RAM.. all other websites work perfectly.. just Google search engine, google images and so on..! could find out more information if needed.
Many thanks for your time,
Kind Regards,
Nathan
A very good friend of mine has since last night had difficulty with loading up the Google search engine. Now, whenever it is accessed from the laptop in question, it gets a blank page saying Cannot display the webpage. This happens in Firefox, IE8 & IE9 and Google Chrome.
What I have got him to try:
*Delete and clear cache in every browser, multiple times.
*Reset config settings under Advanced tab in Internet Explorer settings.
*Boot up the no add-ons version of Internet Explorer from System Tools and try it from there.
*Check the host file through: C:\ > Windows > System32 > Drivers > Etc. His file content when opened in notepad was identical to mine and his other laptop. Content was (without the quotations):
"*# Copyright (C) 1993-2009 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
# localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost
"
* He has a 2nd laptop through same ISP and connects through the same home network, loads google fine.
* I have gotten him to load google from the ip address url of : 74.125.45.99 and the site LOADS UP fine. However, once he tries to perform a search and the url changes back to the google. com... again, gets the webpage cannot be displayed error.
I assumed because it can load it by IP and not by address, it was some sort of firewall blocking the url... but he doesnt know what firewall he uses, I'd assume Windows Firewall since he has not downloaded anything else. The laptop is new, only had it under a week. It was fine until last night. He did not download anything new or any windows automatic updates.
He has called tech support and they were not sure of a fix, instead told him that he had instaled stuff since the laptop was new.. which was only Sims the game and Skype.. which I am convinced wouldnt have affected google search engine!!
I have also looked up problems online and tried getting him to "Fix It" on the microsoft Host File article which renamed his host file to Host.old and gave him a new one.. but did not fix the problem.
Out of ideas now and hoping someone can help. Could it be a virus? If so how do we find it? He has got a trial version of Norton 360 2012 on the computer, run a scan and it found just 7 tracking cookies and cleared them.
Further info:
It is a HP laptop running Windows 7. 2GB RAM.. all other websites work perfectly.. just Google search engine, google images and so on..! could find out more information if needed.
Many thanks for your time,
Kind Regards,
Nathan
