Can't access my bank's website with either Firefox or IE

Just since the beginning of the new year, on my hardwired PC with Win7 Home Premium, 64-bit, and with Firefox 3.6.13 and IE8, I can't access my bank's website. With any and all other websites there's no problem, and I had no problem connecting to this site before then.

I can access that same website using my other hardwired PC with WinXP Pro and the same browsers. I had my ISP's help desk on the phone for over two hours trying to help me with no luck, and the bank's Internet people for 1/2 hour with no luck. If it were not for the XP machine, which I hope to be retiring soon, I'd be dead in the water as far as on-line banking is concerned.

I've noticed many other people have posted with this same kind of problem, and I've tried their suggested fixes, but without any success. I'd appreciate your suggestions. Thanks!

Frank D

 

Hi Frank.

I had the same problem, I could not access HTTPS:// sites.
this did the job:

Try this
Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type cmd, and then click OK.
At the command prompt, type the following lines and press ENTER after each line:
regsvr32 softpub.dll
regsvr32 wintrust.dll
regsvr32 initpki.dll
regsvr32 dssenh.dll
regsvr32 rsaenh.dll
regsvr32 gpkcsp.dll
regsvr32 sccbase.dll
regsvr32 slbcsp.dll
regsvr32 cryptdlg.dll

Click OK when you receive the message that DllRegisterServer in FileName succeeded.
Type exit to quit Command Prompt

 

Did you make any changes to the system just before the problem started, if so do a system restore back before that date.

What anti virus do you use and has it been changed recently.

Try disabling the firewall and see if you can connect. If you can, add the banks log in page address to the "Allowed" list.

In IE8 select Tools>Internet Options>Advanced tab and click on the Reset button, try the connection again.

Could you tell us what you have tried so we don't repeat any possible solutions.

 

Sven, thanks. I did as you suggested, but no change has occurred, using both browsers.

Frank

 

Mark, thanks. No changes that I can think of. My earliest system restore is after the time I believe the problem first occurred. Reason for the delay in reacting to this is that at first I thought the problem was just a glitch that would resolve itself, and then didn't need to access the bank site for over a week. I only realized it was a "major" problem after I needed to do a $ transaction and an account printout and realized I couldn't. I've not changed my AV (Avast!) which I've been using for over a year. I've tried disabling the Windows firewall and Avast at the instruction of my ISP's online techs, with no change. With them I've done tracert, ping, DNS flush, change DNS, and everything the techs could think of, but with no change in response. I added the bank's login page to my allowed sites list and made sure it's not on the disallowed list. I've checked my Hosts file and it's not in there. I've cleared both browser caches and reset IE8. I'm not willing to mess up my Firefox, which is working like a well-oiled machine on everything except this one site. That's about all I can think of.

Frank

BTW, I should add that in my Firefox window, after typing "www.name of the account.org" and pressing Enter, I see the message: "Waiting for (the account)..." and in the new tab the message "Loading... ". Both of these will stay displayed for hours if I don't close the tab. I've also tried typing in "https://" before the site name, and I've also tried typing in the numerical IP address, but all of these have the same non-result.

 

Have you tried creating a new profile in Firefox to see if it works?

http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/profiles

Did you look in Security in IE and make sure that something didn't block HTTPS by mistake?

See of you can get to the site below. Just Google but in Encryped mode.
https://encrypted.google.com/

 

Mr. Bill, thanks. I don't want to fiddle with my Firefox which is running really well, and besides, IE8, even after my having cleared the cache, run Reset and allowing the site, it doesn't respond. If IE8 doesn't succeed, then I don't want to mess with Firefox. Yes, the ISP's techs had me look at the Security tab, and Trusted and Restricted sites, in Internet Options and make sure that all was in order.

I went to the encrypted Google site and it appeared almost immediately, no problem.

Frank

 

OK, just a suggestion. Don't know what else to tell you to try.

 

Just clutching at straws here, but have you tried creating a new user account?

I think if that fails you should get the PC checked for Malware as you appear to have tried everything else, follow this link.

http://www.windowsbbs.com/malware-virus-removal/announcements.html

 

You could also check your routers firewall, perhaps someone has played a prank and blocked your Win 7's PC from accessing your bank's website?

This is a very weird problem though, could you read back through your posts and confirm you haven't made an error-nous statement?

Failing the above and Mark's suggestion then a visit to Malware and Virus Removal would seem appropriate.

EDIT:
This is very obvious but sometimes it's those that cause the biggest headaches...

Confirm you are typing in the exact same address for the bank, do not rely on IE/FF's auto complete (the silliest spelling errors can sneak through that way).

 

Mark, no I haven't tried creating a new account (I assume you mean in Windows), but that would be beyond both my abilities and risk tolerance level for things to go wrong. As for the malware possibility, although I can't rule it out, I kind of doubt that malware would prevent me from accessing just one website on the whole Internet. I have run Windows MRT, MalwareBytes AntiMalware, SuperAnti-Spyware, and keep Windows Defender and Avast running at all times. I'm now beginning to think that my search for a cure is becoming more of a burden than the problem itself. As an antidote, I still have my Windows XP machine to rely on for banking transactions, so this is turning into a quest without a solid benefit at the end. I appreciate your and Mr. Bill's and Sven's help, but I think at this point I'm going to throw in my towel. Thank you again.

Frank

 

Wildfire, thanks. My ISP's techs checked out my modem and router remotely (it's the ISP's unit and they installed it) and they said everything was in proper order. There's only my wife and I that have access to our PCs, so I don't know of any way someone would be messing with the router. I've read over my previous statements and as far as I can tell, everything is accurate.

When I first posed this question I thought there might be an easy answer, as there sometimes is, but now that doesn't appear to be the case. As I said to Mark, above, I think at this point I'm going to throw in my towel, because the payoff just doesn't seem to be worth the effort it would require to find it. I thank you all again.

Frank

 

Hi Frank,

Yes, my suggestions were really a shot in the dark (my router's firewall lets me know when it's blocked access), it's got me stumped to be honest. The only other thing I can think of that hasn't yet been mentioned is browser addons but it would be a massive coincidence for both browsers to be affected and no other (that we know of) website causes this issue.

As a test try Firefox in safe mode and see if that works.

I wouldn't rule out a trip to Malware and Virus Removal though, financial dealings are more likely to be hit than others.

 

Wildfire, I ran Firefox in safe mode but it didn't change anything.

I'm going to mark this thread solved, even though it isn't, since I don't think there's anything else to be gained by leaving it open and active.

Thanks again to all for your suggestions and help.

Frank

 

Does your wife have to sign in to get to Windows? If so, try her account and see what happens.

 

Creating a new user account is easy in Windows 7. Just go to Control Panel > User Accounts > Manage Another Account > Create New Account. Enter a name for it and select Administrator to give the new account full permissions.

Are there any other secure sites that you use or you could try to gain access to on this PC just to see if this is only a problem with your Bank site.

You should not dismiss a virus just because you have run several AV's with no result. Our experts can look a lot deeper into your system.

Something is blocking your connection, given time, I am sure between us we can find it for you.

Take a good look in the Security Settings under the Advanced tab of Internet Options and compare them with the Security settings on the XP machine.

 

Mr. Bill, no, my wife doesn't have to sign in to get access to Windows or her computer. Neither of us does. We both have full access to each other's computers.

Frank

 

Mark,

I created a new user account following your instructions. I ran Firefox in the new account and it worked the same way (i.e. it didn't). The attempt to reach the bank site just hung. So I deleted the new account.

I tested four other https websites I had used in the past, and they came right up.

I compared the Security Settings under the Advanced tab of Internet Options on the Win7 and XP machines and they are both identical. For good measure I set the settings on the Win7 machine to the default (I don't know if they weren't already that way, but I clicked the Reset button anyway). Result: no change; the bank site on Win7 hangs, while on WinXP it comes right up.

I'll now visit http://www.windowsbbs.com/malware-virus-removal/announcements.html and see what can be done. Thank you.

Frank

Update: I've followed the instructions at that site and posted the logs as requested. The thread is: http://www.windowsbbs.com/malware-v...-connect-one-specific-website.html#post549801

 

TonyT,

Thanks for your reply. I tried enabling 3rd party cookies in both browsers (Firefox and IE), but there was no change.

Frank