[sirblade]

Hi everyone,

I run XP on 2 PC's connected with a wireless Linksys 24ghz broadband Router and have the same problems with both PC's..

I cannot open/access my gmail or hotmail accounts - my PC will not even open the pages..but everything else works fine..i think!

I have deleted temp files and the usual stuff and also downloaded and ran the ad-aware software from this site (congrats by the way, excellent info all round) to no avail..

I also installed and ran Hijack This and have had my Log checked by the staff here on a different part of this site - it was clean..

I even tried to upgrade to a PAID Hotmail account but was unable to do this to - i also cannot access the Hotmail customer Support section

Thanks for any assistance you may offer..

steve

By the way..i have norton anti virus set up and i use the Firefly communications software a lot of the time - i dont know if thats relevant but i know bugger all about PC stuff - sorry!

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sirblade,
This is just a guess but are you using a software firewall? If so, you might check and make sure that you are not blocking web mail. Are you using the Linksys parental control feature with your router? If so make sure that it is not blocking your web mail.

[BKO]

sirblade,
This is just a guess but are you using a software firewall? If so, you might check and make sure that you are not blocking web mail. Are you using the Linksys parental control feature with your router? If so make sure that it is not blocking your web mail.

[sirblade]

hi BKO and thanks for the reply..

I wasnt using a firewall until yesterday when i installed Zonealarm...do you know how i find out about the router parental controls?

cheers

steve

[BKO]

To get into the router interface you need to open up a browser and type 192.168.1.1 into the address bar and hit enter. At least that is the address I use for mine- I have a wrt54gs. You should then be prompted for a password. Enter your password that you set up and hit enter. If you have not set up a password I think the default password is admin. You really need to change it if you have not. After entering the interface click on the Access Restrictions tab. If you had subsribed to the service it is supposed to give you the ability to set it up here from my understanding. Mine simply says enable or disable and I have it set to disable because I do not use the service. I have doubts that you have it enabled because it is a paid service and I think you would probably remember setting it up unless you have just done it and were using the 15/30? day trial.

Have you tried setting up your Hotmail/Gmail account in an email client to see if it is being blocked that way as well? I use Thunderbird for my email client and here is pretty good directions to set up your gmail account inside it:
http://gmail.google....13285&topic=194 To set up gmail in Outlook/Outlook Express: http://gmail.google....13276&topic=194 To set up your paid Hotmail account into Outlook/Outlook Express: http://ask-leo.com/h...up_outlook.html There may be small differences with any of email clients depending on which version you are running.

I am sort of at a loss why you are unable to view web mail unless you have some program that is blocking it. That is taking into consideration you are able to view web sites with no problem. You may want to look at what you have installed recently that is common to both computers that coinsides with when the problem started. It would help you into narrowing down where to look.

[sirblade]

hi bko..

Unfortunately i do not seem to have an access restrictions tab on the Linksys interface - but i have not subscribed to any service with the router..

I already have my hotmail account set-up with outlook - which i cannot access - i just get a msg saying that a connection to the hotmail server cannot be made..

And i cannot even open the gmail supports pages to try the Thunderbird stuff..

I have not installed anything on either PC in the last week or since the problem started on tuesday...

I am at a complete loss as to what to do next!!

steve

[cassykins]

The instructions for setting up a Gmail account in Thunderbird on the Gmail help page are invalid anyway, so not being able to load the pages shouldn't matter. The correct set can be found here.

Try setting up your Gmail account through Thunderbird - I have been sending and receiving e-mail messages with my Gmail account through TB all this morning and afternoon and nope, haven't been having any problems so far. However, some things to take into mind would be that your Gmail account settings might need to be adjusted in order to work with an e-mail client.

I don't think it could be a problem with ZoneAlarm - at default, regular Internet processes should still function properly. You could try setting all your ZoneAlarm options to back to default, although I don't think it will help much. Could it have been some sort of hacker problem?

Have you tried out Gmail's notifier program yet? It is a separate program that alerts you to new incoming mail, and you can adjust it to log you onto Gmail on startup. The same goes for MSN Messenger. I no longer use Hotmail so I wouldn't know if I'm experiencing the same problems, however. Do a search on Google for both pieces of software if you don't already have the programs installed on your computer.

If using an e-mail client doesn't work, you can always try out this one very simple but surprisingly useful step: clear out all your cookies, temporary Internet files, history and saved passwords/forms, restart your browser, and try logging onto Gmail or Hotmail again. To do this in Internet Explorer, go to Tools, Internet Options, click on the General tab and choose Delete Cookies, Delete Files (clear out offline content as well) and Clear History. Then go to the the Content tab, click on Autocomplete then choose Clear Passwords and Clear Forms. For Mozilla Firefox, simply go to Tools, Privacy then Clear All. It is probably the most basic step most users can take to set right any problems with loading pages on the Web, and it usually works for me. Take note, though - once you've taken these steps, every single thing stored in your Internet folders for quick page-loading or instant form-filler will be wiped out, and you'll have to re-enter all your information.

[starjax]

try disabling zonealarm and see what happens. also you could try disabling internet worm protection (nortona av options).

[sirblade]

Ok - we have Gmail - thanks guys !!

But hotmail is still a no-go - either thru outlook express or messenger - or hotmail.com..

I tried all the above but still no good - any ideas?

cheers

steve

[TwiztidNinja]

simple solution get a better browser

firefox.com ;-)

[sirblade]

Ok - firefox it is..

[sirblade]

Right - Gmail is buggered again - even with firefox - which seems really slow to open anything for me..all i keep getting when trying to open gmail and hotmail is a connection timed out message!

Has anyone got anymore ideas...please?!

[cassykins]

Ooh man. That sounds really crappy.

Okay. I've just logged in onto my Gmail account using the Mozilla Firefox browser, and everything works fine. I can see my messages very clearly, and everything seems to work as per normal. I don't have a Hotmail account, but I do have a Passport, and so far I don't have any problems logging onto MSN.com, either. So as far as I can see, it most probably isn't an error on Gmail or Hotmail's side.

You said that your HijackThis log has already been reviewed by staff of the site, and that your computer is clean, so it shouldn't be a malware problem, either. And if you have done everything that the other members have suggested you to on this thread (disabling of firewall, et cetera), then it couldn't be an issue with too-high security either. At this point I myself really have no idea just what problem could it be, since your computer seems to be working perfectly okay otherwise.

I don't really know whether this would work or not but it might just be worth a try. There's a program integrated into Windows XP called System Restore - it, as the name suggests, restores your computer back to its original state on a certain date. Since your problem began cropping up on Tuesday, restore it back to a few days before that like say, Sunday or Saturday. If there aren't any system restore points created on suitable dates, you can try restoring it to the last available date - although that can be pretty inconvenient, especially if say you've got some important programs downloaded a while ago or significant changes that made to your system, since you'll have to redo them again. However, like what BKO suggested, it could very well be a new program installed a while ago that only recently began interfering with the loading, and if that's so, restoring your system might very well be the solution to that problem. Also keep in mind that you can always undo the system restore if you want to, so there really isn't any loss in trying that out.

Hope that helps - personally, I've never encountered this sort of problem before and I'm quite unsure as to what to do about this either...

[starjax]

system restore wont work because of the clean process he was taken through.

Hello, we are going to run System File Checker, to make sure all of your protected files are not corrupt. The scan will automatically replace any corrupt files that it finds.

Click Start
Select Run
At the prompt type sfc /scannow Please note that there is a single space between sfc and /scannow.

Typing this will start the program, and a box should appear telling you how much longer the process should take.

Sometimes the scan will prompt you for your Windows XP disc upon starting the scan. if this happens please make sure that you can view protected files:My Computer
Tools
Folder Options
View
"Uncheck" Hide protected operating system files.
Then rerun the scan. If this still asks you to put in your windows XP CD, and you do not have the CD (If you bought it preinstalled) post back for more tips, otherwise enter Windows CD.

Once the scan is complete:

Check your Windows Updates! After using the File Protection Service, you might need to reapply some updates.

Please reboot, and let me know if anything has changed.

Also, please rehide the protected files:My Computer
Tools
Folder Options
View
"Check" Hide protected operating system files.

[sirblade]

Hi starjax - i am indeed being asked to insert the cd which i do not have,even after unchecking the ptotected files box...ive also lost gmail again for some reason..

cheers

steve

Edited by sirblade, 26 June 2005 - 05:16 PM.

[starjax]

ok, if you don't have an xp cd then there isn't much we can do from here. Please go and buy a copy of windows xp.

thanks,
Starjax