Check to see if it is a DNS problem.

Open a command window, and type in "ping x" where x is the name of the website. Then, take the raw numbers it gives you (reply from w.x.y.z) and put that in the web browser. If that works, then the problem is DNS related.

For example:

Open the Command Window.
type in "ping www.daniweb.com"
--> the machine should reply with: Reply from 67.18.73.107
Open a new web browser. In the address box, type in "http://67.18.73.107"
--> the machine should find DaniWeb and show you the homepage.

Of course, leave out the quotes in this example.

If the website draws up just fine, you have a DNS problem. If it does not, you have a routing problem.

Christian

are there places in Windows that I should check to see if these sites are on an excluded list?

1. In your Internet Options control panel, check the Restricted Sites section under the Security tab.

2. Open your "hosts" file in Windows Notepad. In XP the file resides in the c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\ folder; in Win 2000 it resides in c:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc\. Aside from some comment lines (lines beginning with the "#" sign) at the beginning of the file, it should usually contain only the following line:

127.0.0.1 localhost

If it contains other lines, especially those which refere to the URLs you can't reach, delete those lines and save the newly-modified file.

What is this "hosts" file? Any idea how this site got on it?

You're welcome; glad we could help.



Here's an explanation I posted in answer to a similar question an earlier thread:

The entries in the "hosts" file are mappings of host names/URLs to their respective IP addresses. This is essentially like having a small DNS server on your own computer, in that when you type a URL into your browser (or click on a link to a URL on a web page), Windows will look in the hosts file to see if the URL you typed/clicked has a matching IP address there. If so, Windows will direct your browser to that IP address; if not, Windows will then look to your DNS servers to match the URL with an actual IP address. (The use of hosts files was how hostname-to-IP address mapping/resolution was done before DNS was invented.)

The problem with this method is that:

A) By default, Windows will consult the local hosts file before consulting any DNS servers on your network or on the Internet.

B) There is no error checking at all concerning validity of the mappings in your hosts file. You (or someone else) can put any hostname-to-IP mapping entry you want into the hosts file; when your browser encounters that hostname, it will automatically ty to go to the associated IP address listed in hosts.

Just for grins, you can test this yourself.

1. Put the following entry at the end of your hosts file and save the file:

64.233.167.99 www.spooge.com

2. Open a web browser and type this in the location/address box:

http://www.spooge.com

If your browser took you to Google, congratulations- you've just demonstrated what a huge security hole the hosts file presents. :mrgreen:

*Setting the "read only" attribute on the hosts file can keep viruses, hijackers, etc. from making unwanted changes to the file.

Thanks again!

It almost takes an inhouse computer guru to workPCs these days.