Browser fails to contact web site

Aaaaarrrrrggggghhhhhh!

At first, it was just taking a little longer than usual to connect to any target web site. This, on a Pentium 2.0ghz PC, with 512 meg ram. Later on, a message/alert would pop up saying "The connection was refused when attempting to contact ..." followed by some web address not known to be part of the default web site when accessing the Internet. I found that weird, because Netscape would eventually connect to that target web site. When I tried the web site with I.E. (yeck!!) there was no such problem Later on, I get the same alert followed by another one alert with the same wording but with my default web site as the web address. It too would eventually connect any way. BUT NOW!!! no connection at all

Removing my Netscape browser using the Windows add/remove facility and reinstalling did not make my browser woes go away.

It gets worse. In the middle of all this, Netscape e-mail starts to give me lip saying "The connection was refused when attempting to contact home.netscape.com" ... Oh my God!!! worse yet... trying to receive e-mail messages, I get the alert "Could not connect to server pop; the connection was refused" Now I'm really crying... as I am furiously attempting to calm myself down!!! And, to top it all off, I can not send out any messages... An alert pops out saying "Sending of e-mail failed" (as if it wasn't obvious enough...) I'm so ticked off im starting to write like a dislexic. The alert is a very large one, as it continues with "The message could not be sent because connecting to the SMTPserver failed." there's more but it's just a bunch of BS. I know that it's not the server's fault, but my formerly beloved Netscape system boo hoo boo hoo hoo what's goin on!?...

It's almost as if some little gremlin was slowly and gradually disabling one piece after another of my browser and e-mail... this is real scary stuff...

 

busybee,

Let's see if we can help. First of all, you don't mention which version of Netscape you are using. I think you need to try installing the program again. If you are using 4.x, use these instructions for a clean install. Make sure to follow ALL the instructions to remove everything. If you are using 6.x or 7.x, try these instructions. Either way, make sure you back up any info that you may need.

Personally, I use 4.78 for mail and newsgroups. I use 7.01 for browsing. I have heard that the mail/newsgroup program in 7 is very good, but I have yet to switch. You can run both versions at one time with no problems. Version 7 is not an upgrade of 4.x.

Hopefully, the clean install instructions will get your problem fixed. If not, post back with the specific problems that you encounter and I'll try to help further.

Mike

 

Sorry at the slip here. I'm so **** off I am missing some details. I am using Netscape 7.02. Darn. I am going to do another clean re-install again. Let's indeed see hope this 3rd clean install will produce. I'll even download a fresh file just to be sure evrything is at its best.

#*&%#+*^$#* looks like everything's working against me tonight. I can't even access netscape.com using I.E.

 

busybee,

I know it can be frustrating, but hang in there. We'll get you running. You say IE works even when Netscape fails. That is strange. Have you called your provider to see if there any problems on their end?

Let me know how you come out this time. Maybe the third time is a charm.

Mike

 

Shieish!
I don't know why the first fresh install did not work, but this second one did.. Thanks for all your help and patience with me !Yes!

 

busybee,

Great news! Thanks for the update. Glad to hear everything went good and you're welcome for the help. Glad to do it!

Enjoy!

Mike

 

Ok, here's some more funny stuff...

Sometimes when I click on a link from my home page (http://www.hispeed.rogers.com/) to a featured link within that page I get an alert that says "The connection was refused when attempting to contact ar.atwola.com" and I have to click on the alert 5 to 6 times b4 acessing the target site.

Here's another odd one: "The connection was refused when attempting to contact adj56.thruport.com" while navigating around in the http://www.50plus.com/ web site...

What could this possibly mean? How can I rectify this frustrating situation?

 

busybee,

I tried the sites that you listed. The rogers site worked problem free for me. The 50plus site was not as good once I left the main page. Pages loaded really slow, considering I have cable Internet. Do you use cable or dial-up? If dial-up, maybe there is a timing setting that needs to be changed. Just a guess. Have you checked with your provider about these problems?

I will see if I can get Ramona, the local Netscape guru, to take a look here and post her thoughts. If I find something in the meantime, I'll post back. Not giving up yet.

Mike

 

Thanks mike,

I have cable internet, and most of the sites I visit load really fast. My computer is a 2.0 ghz Pentium with 512 meg ram and my browser is Netscape 7.02.

I have tried to load the addresses by themselves, and get « Nothing to see here » for ar.atwola.com and get « 403 Forbidden Forbidden » for adj56.thruport.com

I have loaded both of the web sites in IE (Yeck!!!) without getting the error messages. The Alert addresses give the same alert messages. !WoW! that's weird!!!

Busybee (Rich)

 

Hi Rich,

I have been following your Thread with interest, and just now tried the two sites which you listed above. I had no problems browsing the links on either site? Just for grins, why don't you check a few Preference settings:

First and foremost, do you delete your history.dat file on a frequent basis? If not, try that first. Ensure that Netscape is closed before editing the salted folder. Netscape will rebuild the file on restart.

Edit|Preferences|Advanced|Scripts & Plugins
Disable / Uncheck all Preferences in the "Allow webpages to:" window

Check this Preference:
Edit|Preferences|Privacy & Security|Cookies
Select: Manage Stored Cookies
Edit your Cookies and remove anything pertaining to Ads

In the Privacy & Security|Popup Window Control
Ensure that you have Disabled/Surpressed popup windows

ar.atwold.com is an AOL Advertising Center. Do you use AdAware or SpyBot, or any other spyware detector? If not, I strongly recommend that you install one and use it frequently.

When you accessed the two problematic pages, did you watch your Progress Bar at the bottom of the window? Note whether or not you see AOL or atwola or ar.atwola.com flash on the bar. I checked, but saw nothing pertaining to adware.

Hopefully some of the above settings might be your problem, either the omission or the addition.

Please post back with your results, as Mike and I will be interested in the outcome, and thanks!

Ramona

 

Thank you oh so much, Ramona.

I'll be working on all of these later today. Some of these sources of aggravation are a surprise to me! Sounds logical now that you mention them.

Cheers.

 

Rich,


You are most welcome! Try the settings/suggestions one at a time, in order to pinpoint the one that could be the cause of your problem.

Ramona

 

Ramona,

Thanks for jumping in!

Mike

 

Hi Mike,

Always happy to oblige!

Ramona

 

Hi Rich,

Another thought on the Cookie configuration:

Check this Preference:
Edit|Preferences|Privacy & Security|Cookies
Select: Manage Stored Cookies
Edit your Cookies and remove anything pertaining to Ads

Also select:
"Enable Cookies for the originating web site only "

Ramona

 

!WoW! This is where you get to know who your friends are in computing.

I have been trying to access http://www.hispeed.rogers.com/utilities/ /news/iraq_war.jsp from my home page http://www.hispeed.rogers.com/ using My Netscape 7.02 browser with no success whatsoever... but I can do so using I.E. 6.0

While the access is in progress from N7.02, I see an intermediate address that could be causing some problem. The History file doesn't show it ???

Will try your latest post ...

Investigation continuing...

Oh, by the way, Manage storred cookies is now under Tools>Cookie manager in N7.02

I use AdAware regularly. In fact, I did a scan yesterday morning but am doing one now as I write this note...

 

Hi busybee,

I would say that due to the events now unfolding in Kuwait, that the page has been pulled. Currently ABC News is reporting the Tomahawk Missile attack in Baghdad, with the President due to speak at 9:15 CST, 10:15 EST.

You can always select: "Disable Cookies for this site ", and see what happens...

Ramona

 

Ok!
Starting from the top. No, I do not delete my history.dat file.
Hmmmm! There are two of them,
one under ...\Profiles\default\c2np2qym.slt\history.dat, and
one under ...\Profiles\username\m5i5e685.slt\history.dat
They're gone. 2212hrs
no improvement...
Only ...\default\... one returned!
switching to the pres. message... afk

Nope, page has not been pulled, but a new one (from IE6.0) not available on N7.02.

 

busybee,

You obviously have two Profiles. Do you use both of them? If not, then you might want to archive the inactive Profile. Netscape will rebuild the history.dat file on restart.

I'm keeping up with the Middle East crisis on my handy Sony Watchman.

Ramona

 

Ok!...
The mystery page is http://www.hispeed.rogers.com/utili...d_0319iraqcoverage&target= /news/iraq_war.jsp

Hah!... Its the redirect (instruction???) to access and display the page under my web providers banner and sidebars. Ahah! That means that my ISP half lied to me that it's not their fault. I'll be switching my homepage to another one as soon as I get some time to eval the numerous contenders...

I just switched my home page to Netscape.com... I get the disappearing image syndrome. Images are missing...
Could be a combination of browser and CPU are too fast for N7.02??? Events are missing too!!! A very fancy page, seen on IE6.0 couldn't be accessed by NS7.02. **darn** Its a nice one at http://www.time.com/time/2002/iraqscud/index.html ...

I can only guess that web developpers are mainly using the IE technology which is not available to NS users...