[revcb]

I have started getting the "403-Forbidden" message when I try to access a website I have been using for years.  It says to contact the website owner for further assistance, but they have no help to offer.  No other users of the site have reported any issue, so it doesn't seem to be anything the owners did.  I can't go to any specific pages within the site either.  

 

Everything I read gets me quickly confused about what he cause might be on my end and what to do about it.  I tried this with Explorer, Safari, and Firefox and it fails on all of them, so it doesn't *seem* to be a browser issue, but it could be, I suppose.  I have been on Windows 10 and successfully accessing this site for a while - but could it be a Windows problem?  Something about firewalls, file permissions, or ???  I didn't knowingly change anything.  I'd appreciate any help - and make it simple instructions, please!  I've gotten completely confused.

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Can you post the url from the particular web site you're trying to access ?

Thanks
Joe

[zep516]

Can you post the url from the particular web site you're trying to access ?

Thanks
Joe

[revcb]

Sure. 

It's:     www.ncncucc.org

(And I meant to say - Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome (not Safari))

 

[zep516]

Northern California Nevada Conference
United Church of Christ

Is that it ?

[revcb]

Yep.

[zep516]

Lets try a few things,

Clean out your temporary internet files and temp files.

To do that:
Download TFC by OldTimer http://oldtimer.geekstogo.com/TFC.exe to your desktop.
Double-click TFC.exe to run it.
Right click and Run As Administrator
TFC will close all programs when run, so make sure you have saved all your work before you begin.

• Click the Start button to begin the cleaning process.
• Depending on how often you clean temp files, execution time should be anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or two.
• Please let TFC run uninterrupted until it is finished.
  Once TFC is finished it should restart your computer. If it does not, please manually restart the computer yourself to ensure a complete cleaning.
  
  Try an access the site

[revcb]

OK.  Stand by.

[revcb]

Sorry it took so long.  It ran a while.  i must have had lots of "sludge" in there.

Still can't access the website, though.

[zep516]

Next thing to try, you will need notepad
To locate notepad click start in the search box, type in notepad and it will show up in the results list. Then you may want to pin it to the start screen/task bar


Copy and paste the text in the code box below into Notepad.

@Echo off
pushd\windows\system32\drivers\etc
attrib -h -s -r hosts
echo 127.0.0.1 localhost>HOSTS
attrib +r +h +s hosts
popd
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
ipconfig /flushdns
netsh int ip reset all
netsh winsock reset catalog
shutdown -r -t 1
del %0

Save as flush.bat to your desktop.
Then
right-click flush.bat and select "Run as Administrator" your computer will reboot.

Try to access site, take your time no hurry.
Thanks
Joe

[revcb]

I had run that.bat once before, but i did it again.  Still no access.

:-(

[zep516]

Is this windows 10 you're using ?

Can any other computer in the house / apartment access the web site ?

Try turning the modem / router off, that is un-plugging it for a min or so. Then re-plug it back in.

[revcb]

In-te-resting.

 

I am running WIndows 10.

 

Someone else in the house right now who is running on a Mac tried to access the site and got the 403.

 

We tried it on our phones - it loaded on an Iphone 6 but not on an Iphone 4.

 

I'll do the recycles and get right back to you.

[revcb]

Recycles done.

Still no go.

[zep516]

Hello,

If someone on the mac in your house can't access it then it's certainly not your computer, or browser. Why the iphone 6 was able to connect not sure unless they were on a different network.

It all points to the router / modem or even the ISP provider.

If you're on a laptop with a wireless connection you could try a direct connection with an Ethernet cable and see if that does anything.

Also routers usually have a reset button very small button that will reset the router to factory default. Doing this might help, but you would need to re-do the security settings on the router.

You can google "Your Router Name" reset. You should find instructions.

Thanks
Joe

[revcb]

OK - I will try the ethernet option later.  But even simpler -- if you think router/modem/ISP is the problem area -- tomorrow I will be in an office setting with obviously different hardware *and* a different ISP.   If I can connect from there, then you have zeroed in on the right area for sure.  I will let you know.  Thanks for keeping the Labor Day amusing!!

CB