Member Avatar for BryanA917

This is a short story, but not one that I can figure out. I use MyBlueLight for dial up from home. For more than a year, I've been an Admin on a 3D animation and graphics site.

Our Forum used PostNuke and right after some exploits were published on the web, our host was hacked and our site fell to pieces for about a week. The host updated their PostNuke, got things in order and got back up.

For a week after, I still couldn't see the site. Nothing is banned by IE and the ISP said they don't block anything. I reinstalled the software and everything worked and I continued Admining.

Then we went over our bandwidth allowance (popular site) and it was offline for a few days until the next month. Ever since that time, however, I've not been able to visit the site no matter what I try - actually, I can visit through a proxy site, but can't log in; so that's no use.

It's not an emergency, but it certainly is a pain to travel out of my home to do my pro-bono Admin job. This is not happening to anyone else and there's no other website or URL that I have trouble with. It's just this one site and everything to do with it: webmail, subdomains, images, etc.

I haven't loaded and tried Netscape because I've had loathsome experiences with N7. What could be going on? Can I undo this oddity?

  • 3 Contributors
  • 4 Replies
  • 318 Views
  • 21 Hours Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by BryanA917

Dani AI

Generated

Short version: this almost always comes down to either a local name‑resolution override, a stale/ISP DNS cache, or a server-side block of your dial‑up IP. was right to check the HOSTS file, but on Windows 98 the system looks for a file named hosts in C:\Windows (not the XP/2000 path). Check for any duplicate hosts files and remove lines that map your forum domain to 127.0.0.1 or to an old IP. The HOSTS file is consulted before DNS for Winsock lookups, so an entry there will mask a correct DNS answer. (knownhost.com)

Quick tests to run from a command prompt (replace example.com with your forum domain):

nslookup example.com
nslookup example.com 8.8.8.8
ping   example.com
tracert example.com

If the first nslookup (your ISP) returns NXDOMAIN or the wrong IP but the 8.8.8.8 query returns the correct IP, the fault is with your ISP/resolver cache. If both resolvers return the same IP but you still get a browser DNS error, double‑check HOSTS and any browser or proxy settings. Use the nslookup approach to compare resolvers before changing anything. (learn.microsoft.com)

If name resolution looks correct but you can only reach the site via a proxy and cannot log in, the web host may be blocking your dial‑up IP (firewall or .htaccess rules can deny ranges or single IPs). Ask the site host to check access/error logs for your current IP; if they’ve blacklisted your ISP range it explains both the DNS/connection symptoms and the login failure via proxy. You can also temporarily point your dial‑up TCP/IP DNS to a public resolver (for testing) from the Windows 98 TCP/IP/DNS dialog. (httpd.apache.org)

Action checklist

  • Search C:\Windows for a hosts file, open in Notepad, remove any lines for your domain and save.
  • Run the nslookup tests above and note differences.
  • Temporarily set your dial‑up DNS to 8.8.8.8 (or 1.1.1.1) and retry.
  • If resolution is fine but login still fails, give the site admin your current IP and ask them to check logs/deny lists.
  • If you suspect malware altered hosts or DNS settings (IETie etc.), run updated anti‑spyware scanners and recheck startup entries.

Collect the nslookup and tracert outputs and the exact IP shown by a “what is my IP” check; those will let the host or helpers pinpoint whether this is local, ISP, or server‑side.

Recommended Answers

All 4 Replies

Member Avatar for Member #2466

first question...do you have a pop-up blocker or software that does that for you? If so, that could be causing it.

Another thing, do a search for IETie.dll if you have it, that's the culprit. I think it is contained in a registry key too so do a regedit and search for it. Check for unregmp2.exe
in processes under your task manager. Kill it and then do a search for it on your hard disk and remove it if it was running and is there.

Another thing to check...the hosts file. Go to c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts and see if the specific url has been blocked by something. More details on how to use hosts file:

Good luck!

Member Avatar for TallCool1

I haven't loaded and tried Netscape because I've had loathsome experiences with N7. What could be going on? Can I undo this oddity?

Don't let a bad experience with Netscape 7 sour you. It's based on an early version of Mozilla, with AOL bloatware added. The current version of Moz is about 4 revs newer than that, and a new version of Mozilla is due soon as well.

Member Avatar for BryanA917

It's near midnight and I've worked hard today on cars and computers. My brain is sideways right now, but this is a link to an HJT report I ran and posted just this morning:

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread5503.html

I'll take note(pad) of your advice/s and check back and forth to see if what you suggest is in my computer. I forgot to mention that I'm running Win98SE. Sorry.

As for the NS7. Hmmm. My experience was on an underpowered HP computer at work running WinXP. Every ie6setup was unzipping in a corrupted manner where file extensions were renamed; ex. iexplore.exe became iexplore._xe It was amazing. Every single one of the hundred or so files was injected with an underscore on installation rendering it useless.

That's beside the point, however. I'll try NS7 with trepidation if all else fails. Thank you.

::EDIT::

TKS, the direct answer is no pop-up blocker is running and IETie.dll didn't Search up for me. This StartUpList is a neat thing in the battle against problems. Perhaps there's something watching me that I don't know about? Here's the StartUpList Log from a moment ago...

StartupList report, 4/24/04, 12:03:37 AM
StartupList version: 1.52
Started from : C:\MY DOCUMENTS\ANTI-SPY\STARTUPLIST.EXE
Detected: Windows 98 SE (Win9x 4.10.2222A)
Detected: Internet Explorer v5.50 (5.50.4134.0600)
* Using default options
==================================================
Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\KERNEL32.DLL
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSGSRV32.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MPREXE.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSTASK.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\AGRSMMSG.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\mmtask.tsk
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\TASKMON.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SYSTRAY.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\VISIONEER ONETOUCH\ONETOUCHMON.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\STIMON.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\CREATIVE\SBLIVE\AUDIOHQ\AHQTB.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\CREATIVE\SURROUNDMIXER\CTSYSVOL.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\LOADQM.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COMMON FILES\REAL\UPDATE_OB\REALSCHED.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\QTTASK.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL32.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COMMON FILES\MICROSOFT SHARED\WORKS SHARED\WKCALREM.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\SCANSOFT\PAPERPORT\CONFIG\EREG\REMIND32.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\DDHELP.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL32.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WMIEXE.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\BLUELIGHT\SPINWIN.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\RNAAPP.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\TAPISRV.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\BLUELIGHT\SPINHELP.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\INTERNET EXPLORER\IEXPLORE.EXE
C:\MY DOCUMENTS\ANTI-SPY\STARTUPLIST.EXE
--------------------------------------------------

Thanks again for the attention - I would love to soon be able to post a solution!

Member Avatar for BryanA917

I know I should be more awake when I try to follow through on the Hosts file instructions. I do not have a Hosts folder right now. There is a SAM file in C:\WINDOWS though.

"If you put ad server names into your Hosts file with your own computer's IP address, your computer will never be able to contact the ad server. It will try to, but it will be simply calling itself and get a "busy signal" of sorts."

That little bit of quote in What is the Hosts file? caught my attention. We advertise on the site. Could that be the reason for my DNS Error? We're not an ad server, but we sell space for ads.

Tomorrow (later), I'll do everything I have to so that I can work normally again. And you're all invited for coffee.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.