Cannot find server (IE and Firefox)

[GEC111]

Hi all,

Thanks for taking the time to read this,

I have had my current computer with no problem for 3ish years and all of a sudden (didnt download anything that im aware of) i am unable to view certain internet pages. it comes with an error message saying:

Cannot find server or DNS Error at the bottom of the page and the usual stuff eg please try the following, refresh, retype the url etc...

for instance, i can always access google, sometimes hotmail and never sites such as anz.com.au and youngandcool.com.au

could you please help me because i have read most of the postings relevant and i just dont understand the readings of hijack this to work on it myself, or much else anyways ;)

Thankyou so much

GEC111

[ShaneMcP]

You could very well have some spyware issues. I have so ideas that may help. Send me a PM with questions.

First you want to start your computer in safe mode (I say that a lot ).

Repeatedly strike the f8 key while your computer is booting up and select "Safe mode with networking"

Once Safe mode loads, try opening up internet explorer. Head to http://housecall.trendmicro.com and run their spyware/virus utility. Keep running it until it displays no results.

Also try download spybot and adaware. Update those programs and run them both until they don't find anything.

Also head to http://www.trendmicro.com/spyware-scan/
and run that utility.

[DimaYasny]

before you go into virus testing, have a look at the following:
1. in CLI enter "ipconfig /flushdns"
2. try to manually enter your provider's DNS, or even better - call support and have them check whether they can resolve your adresses.
3. check c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts to see whether there are entries that concern your websites there. if so, comment them out, or erase them

[GEC111]

Hi Again,

just some quick comments which i hope will help. i am running my broadband internet through a router. i have connected another pc to the router port that i am having troubles with and there was no problem - i could access all websites that i cannot with my other pc. so i guess its not something to do with my isp but rather the computer itself?

thanks

GEC111

[DimaYasny]

did you try the steps I suggested earlier?

[GEC111]

Hi

please excuse me for not doing the steps you provided then, i have done them now but i am not overly computer savvy, so please tell me what to look for when doing #3?
i have gone to that address and the only files are:
hosts
hosts msn [msn file]
lmhosts [sam file]
networks
protocol
services

i was not sure what cli was for #1 but assumed its the same as run-> cmd?
i entered "ipconfig /flushdns" and it said that it did it, but it still does not work

and with #2 i was not sure how to 'enter my providers dns' ?
could you please advise?

I havent tried to contact support yet, i will if you think it will fix this problem, but unfortunately i am a shift worker and is difficult to find a time that suits phoning them!

again, thanks for your time

hope this helps

GEC111

[DimaYasny]

Hi

please excuse me for not doing the steps you provided then, i have done them now but i am not overly computer savvy, so please tell me what to look for when doing #3?
i have gone to that address and the only files are:
hosts
hosts msn [msn file]
lmhosts [sam file]
networks
protocol
services

you should look into the simple hosts file. no extension, just filename. open it with notepad. it should contain some text, with lines starting with #, and only one line that doesn't start with #. that line should say "localhost 127.0.0.1"
everything else you should erase.

i was not sure what cli was for #1 but assumed its the same as run-> cmd?

yup :)

i entered "ipconfig /flushdns" and it said that it did it, but it still does not work

well, that was only one of the tests

and with #2 i was not sure how to 'enter my providers dns' ?
could you please advise?

you can call techsupport, ans ask them what your ISP's DNS addresses are. after that you enter those addresses under TCP/IP properties of your network card in the DNS slots.

I havent tried to contact support yet, i will if you think it will fix this problem, but unfortunately i am a shift worker and is difficult to find a time that suits phoning them!

well, actually you should have started the whole troubleshooting action by phoning them

again, thanks for your time

hope this helps

GEC111

no problem, and good luck :)

[GEC111]

Hi again
Thankyou for your continued support

firstly i have run spybot in safe mode. came up with some entries that i have deleted. ran it again and this time no entries; alas though the internet is still not working right - even after reboot. nonetheless thankyou for your suggestion ShaneMcP.
additionally, the other 2 websites you suggested http://housecall.trendmicro.com and http://www.trendmicro.com/spyware-scan/
i could not access through my computer because of this whole problem, but obviously i was able to access spybots website! this is so weird!?!? vbmenu_register("postmenu_330691", true);

secondly, i have rung tech support and did everything that was suggested and they said that they can find the websites from their side so it is something to do with my computer :(

thirdly i have chased up the c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts address and opened with notepad and these are the results:

127.0.0.1 selfbookmark.com
127.0.0.1 www.selfbookmark.com
127.0.0.1 trafficback.com
127.0.0.1 www.trafficback.com
127.0.0.1 trafficswitcher.com
127.0.0.1 www.trafficswitcher.com
127.0.0.1 sexy18.cc
127.0.0.1 www.sexy18.cc
127.0.0.1 unipages.cc
127.0.0.1 www.unipages.cc
127.0.0.1 coolwwwsearch.com
127.0.0.1 www.coolwwwsearch.com
127.0.0.1 youfindall.net
127.0.0.1 www.youfindall.net
127.0.0.1 clearsearch.net
127.0.0.1 www.clearsearch.net
127.0.0.1 white-pages.ws
127.0.0.1 www.white-pages.ws
127.0.0.1 allhyperlinks.com
127.0.0.1 www.allhyperlinks.com
127.0.0.1 coolsearcher.net
127.0.0.1 www.coolsearcher.net
127.0.0.1 searchcomplete.com
127.0.0.1 www.searchcomplete.com
127.0.0.1 coolwebsearch.info
127.0.0.1 www.coolwebsearch.info
127.0.0.1 coolwebsearch.org
127.0.0.1 www.coolwebsearch.org

lol half of these i dont even remember going to!

furthermore, this was *ALL* of the results (i copy pasted), there were none matching the description that Dimayasny wrote on ie

"it should contain some text, with lines starting with #, and only one line that doesn't start with #. that line should say "localhost 127.0.0.1""

i hope this helps!
further, i havent deleted any of these entries, could you please advise what to do? ie what to delete and how exactly to delete?

Thank you again and again

Glen.

[DimaYasny]

the list is probably added by spybot, and it is a good thing to have. but just in case, you can erase all the contents of hosts, and just type 127.0.0.1 localhost