Security with IE 5.5 ? I wonder !

Hello all. I am a Windows BBS virgin, so please be gentle !
I am hoping someone can shed some light on a problem I have accessing a secure sign-up page within a Fantasy Baseball site. I realize this is not an earth-shattering dilema, but still, it is driving me nuts ! The site is www.HeySportsFans.com. I am successful logging into the site itself, but when I attempt to access the sign-up service within the site I get this message:

"The page cannot be displayed. The page you are looking for is currently unavailable. The Web site might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your browser settings. " and then after some suggestions on what I may try to do to rectify the situation, this message follows:

"Cannot find server or DNS Error - Internet Explorer "

I have attempted just about everything I know. I have talked with my ISP (ATT Broadband), Microsoft, and the site's webmaster. I have regenerated expired security certificates, updated IE to 5.5, made the site a "trusted site ", downloaded services packs from Microsoft, checked and re-checked all of my browser settings, etc, etc....

I am at my wit's end. My O/S is Windows 95. My IE version is 5.5. I have a high-speed cable connection, so it probably is not a speed issue. My Cipher Strength is set at 128-bit.

An interesting note is that I do have success getting through to the site's secure sign-up service using Netscape 4.6, but I cannot analyze what the difference is between my Netscape and IE connections, which would help me , I suppose, in determining where IE is choking. For that matter, at this point I don't know if it is an IE problem, a security problem, an ISP problem, or the site's problem. I am suspecting the site, but the webmaster (of course) say's it is something on my end. He claims others have success using IE 5.5.

I suppose I could just call it a day and use the Netscape 4.6 browser, but I would much prefer using the IE browser.

I apologize for this rather lengthy rant, and do appreciate any assistance provided.

Thank you,

Patrick Machroli
pmachro1@attbi.com

 

Is the URL that is causing the problem https://web9.tdl.com/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/hsf/alienform/SimpleShopbb.cgi ??

If so, and if it is any consolation, I can't access it either!! (IE5.01 SP2)

And, Netscape can.

BUT, if I use http://web9.tdl.com/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/hsf/alienform/SimpleShopbb.cgi instead (HTTP instead of HTTPS), it connects OK.

All I can think is that the web site is declaring itself to be "secure" (https), and when IE gets there, something (web syntax) does not meet the "secure" criteria.

Which is probably the correct way to do it, since a "secure" site SHOULD be secure. And to allow the conection would be a breach.

 

Somewhat success



Thanks, TonyT, Arie and WhitPhil, for your input and testing. Well, it is interesting that WhitPhil and TonyT, both using IE 5.01 (SP2) get different results. I guess that just makes my problem more perplexing to me. TonyT was successful, while WhitPhil has the same problem that I experience. Hmmmmmm.

I tried WhitPhil's suggestion of using http: instead of https: and got the same result....I got into the sign-up area. However, I did not actually try to sign up because I figured, as WhitPhil points out, that I would not be going through the site's secure server, so it would probably eventually choke.

Now I am starting to think it is related to my (and WhitPhil's) browser settings. Especially since TonyT does not have a problem with the same IE 5.01 (SP2).

WhitPhil's comment: - "the web site is declaring itself to be "secure" (https), and when IE gets there, something (web syntax) does not meet the "secure" criteria" - may offer a clue I can express to the site's webmaster, but still...why does TonyT's work.

I'll get to the bottom of this if it kills me !

Thanks again. If you think of anything else, please let me know.

Pat

 

As a followup, I have turned on/off as many security settings as I can find, and see no change.

My only thought is that I have a MS security patch installed that Tony doesn't, and it is disallowing access? I "think" I am as uptodate as possible with both MS Windows and Security updates.

And, there is another HTTPs site, that I can access with no problem, which would seem to indicate that it is not a local setting (completely), but rather how the sports site has implemented their "secure" server.
In the case of this other HTTPs site that works correctly, if I change it to be HTTP, the connection fails with the same error, as pmachro and I get on the site above.

***Edit

I guess I hadn't done all the permutations and combinations...
If I UNselect "TLS 1.0" in Internet Options > Advanced, I can access the site. I still have PCT1.0, SSL2.0,SSL3.0 selected. And, my other secure site still works.

Which, I now find, is also documented here.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q246725

I'm have no idea what it means, from a security point of view, to have a "secure" server that is not running TLS (transport level security).
Maybe someone can add to this.