OT: tech problem

[Skybird03]

Sorry for going off-topic, but currently I am fishing for clues and advise wherever possible.

Since the 22nd Dec., I have problems to access some sites, especially my "home forum" at www.subsim.com. Tanksim.com also does not work for me, or the update-reference file-site of lavasoft/Adaware that I surfed to after the internal auto-update option did not work anymore as well. I had to load that reference file from a completely different site then (a well-known and highly popular general download site: zdnet, so I really was not hijacked, I folund it via Google). I enter the adress manually or pick a link in my favourites folder, wait 20-30 seconds, and get a white page telling : sorry, site not found, etc etc - you all know it.

I have scanned my system, no problems found. It usually is in very good shape anyway, it has been two years or longer since I had the last virus or trojan, and that was another system. I I haven'T changed anything recently, only cleaned some old emails (unfortunately, so currently I even canot ell my buddies over there why I am MIA). It was the usual end-of-year-cleanup. Most sites I can access, no matter if .org, .com, or .de., or .co.uk

Anyhow, Ithought it might be a general problem with the web maybe, but it is some days now. I have fomratted my complete drivbe and installed an image of my first and fresh installation of all and everything nine months ago, when i installed this then-new system. I mupdated drivers, windows, and added some software that had been added since I saved that image. so the installation currently is very much the same I had nine months ago,m when it was safe and clean - and it still is, say the scanners. I am careful with my security settings, they tend to be at max. With my way of using IE I find much lesser stuff when scanning than many people that are using Firefox. I do not think that I fell victim to some intruder, on the other hand my knowledge goes so far, and not beyond. Oups, and after having co0mpleted the image I tried the questionable links even before I updated Windows and drivers - no success. For certain reasons I prefer IE, but I have Firefox as well and tried with that one, too. Sites remained non-existant.

Does anyone have knowledge about some general web problems currently? Does anyone face probolems when updating adaware? Is anyone unable to access www.subsim.com? Hell, I even do not have an email-adress of Neal (the board-owner) now, it's all freshly deleted.

95% or more of my links are working, only some sites make problems. Ciuld it be that they are somehow related to each other, technically?

any input welcomed,
thanks


P4-3.0; Asus P4P800SE (Chipset I865PE, BIOS 1008.015 02/17/2005); 2x 512MB DDR PC400 (Infineon); Maxtor 160GB (7200/8MB); Hitachi 80GB (exchange frame); AOpen CD-RW 52x-32x-52x Chameleon; Samsung DVD-R 16x-48x; Leadtek FX5900XT (61.77); Creative Audigy 2 6.1 (5.12.2.444); FritzboxSL (1.1.10.0 11/24/2004); Vivanco Blackboard USB; Wireless Intellimouse Explorer 2.0 USB; CH Fighterstick & ProThrottle (CM 3.5); Simped Vario Pro USB; Sidewinder FFB Wheel USB; Scott 19“ Monitor; Windows XP Home OEM & SP2; DirectX 9.0c; SwapFile 1536MB fixed; 6 separate partitions

[TopKick]

I have no problems auto updating Adaware or visiting Subsim.com, or any other sight.

[Alan323]

Try clearing out your Internet Browser Cache.

[Sean]

Try resolving these problem sites by hand - see if they return an ip.

Hit start->run->cmd then hit enter.

type: ping www.subsim.com hit enter.
type: nslookup subsim.com hit enter.

Paste the results in here.

[Skybird03]

reply after first entry:

Ping subsim.com [207,44,214,111] mit 32 Bytes Daten:
Zeitüberschreitung der Anforderung
(repeated 3 more times)

Ping-Statistik für 207,44.214.111
Pakete: Gesendet=4, Empfangen=0, Verloren=4 (100% Verlust)


reply after the second entry was:

Server: fritz.box
Address: 192,168.178.1

DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.

*** Zeitüberschreitung bei Anforderung an fritz.box



Don't have a clue what this means. Never play online, haven't touched Fritz Box SL or it's software since it got installed 9 months ago.

[Sean]

Hmm, this looks like there are some ISP problems here. The ping not getting through means that somewhere along the line, your data is being dropped altogether.

I would contact your isp and ask why you cannot reach this site.

[Skybird03]

Do you mean the ping from me to them, or their reply from them to me not coming through? I have, for experimentation, tried to connect to the four or five blocked sites with deinstalled (!) firewall and antivir-scanner, no success. Windows Firewall is disabled. I even cannot imagine how to block access to a site in WindowsXP intentionally. Is there any part of Windows, or Fritz box drivers, that I could check for problems? The DSL modem driver I already have deinstalled and reinstalled two days ago. That's all I ever did to it since it was introduced nine months ago.

BTW, thanks so far! You are the first since days who has something reasonable to say, no matter where I asked, even in tech forums.

[Sean]

ping simply attempts to contact the server and ask if it is there. If there is no answer, that means that somewhere between your isp and the destination, something has gone wrong. Contact your ISP's support people and tell them you cant connect to whatever list of sites you have, and ask them why.

I dont think its something on your computer, connecting to the net is usually an all or nothing proposition. Either it works or it doesn't.

[Skybird03]

Thank you, Sean.

Concerning telehone companies - kill them all. At least Germany seem to be a paradise for zero service of theirs, they just gave me the latest in a series of worst case experiences I had over the years. I called them and they simply said it is not them. That'S all. That it must be my hardware, and that I should deactivate my firewall (tech services says so...!!!). And that if I cannot configure a firewall, I could not hold them responsible. the silent reply that the problem still exists with deactivated, even deinstalled firewall, virus-scanner, and reinstalled Fritz hardware drivers, they politely ignored. Last year they delivered hardware that was broken after three hours (DSL splitter broken). I had to sent half a dozen increasingly angry letters, as many phone calls and emails to make them replacing it, finally had to threaten them with a lawyer. Then I replaced it myself, and they said they would give me a financial bonus for that. Which took them another three months again and more angry letters. I was with a different company before, which sent me double bills. The fight to get back the money lasted one year and was negotiated by their and my lawyer! Before I had another company, with which I had to fight seven months for release from my treaty, which I correctly and according to it's rules had cancelled within the correct time frame of three months. They continued to bill my bank account for seven months, that long it took to sort it out - again, by their lawyer, and mine. And before that I even had problem with regular telephone, Telekom, they billed me for a service that I never had ordered and told them time and again to stop it. Roughly, half a year it took.

Damn idiots. Kill them all. I am sure that behavior is no mistake, but criminal intention. Messing things up that often cannot be by chance.

Seems I am going to war again. For the time beeing, and with my provider having declared his intention to do nothing about it, as usual, those sites will be unaccessible to me. changing to another one makes little sense to me. who says that the new one will be less an a$$hole than his four predecessors?

The best was that as a bonus they advised me to regularly scan my system, for example with Adaware. Telling them that the update-download of Adaware is not accessible for me as well, they said I should get the latest version of the software first. :dead:

You can't deal with stupidity. Avoid it, or kill it.

Anyway, thanks again, Sean, their idiotism is not your fault, so please excuse me for ventilating. I am very angry at the moment. such arrogant behavior really gets my needles into the red zone.

[Skybird03]

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/8562/snap00101gn.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

A tool I found on CD, it seems to track the way the ping is travelling. Any new information to get from this output?

[Ssnake]

Telekom recently closed their DNS servers for other companies' customers. Maybe your DNS entries point to Telekom servers. You should check that.

[Skybird03]

I had an increasingly angry exchamnge of emails with them since yesterday, but finally mamanged to penetrate their defenses of stubborness, and they had a look into it. his morning they send a mail telling me that they have increased the range of sessional IP numbers, cue to high numbers of new customers, and although they had made it public and made it known to those who may be concerned, some servers maybe still have not reconfigured to that, effectively blocking requests from adresses using these new IP numbers - what, accoridng to my provider, is the case with me. At least an explanation, I cannot judge if it makes sense, I do not know these things well enough. assuming it is like they said I have no option than to accept how it is. And hope that it does not take months for the servers in question to get their reconfiguration done.

Damn! Feel like beeing kicked out of my home. Used to post there several times a day, since years.

[Skybird03]

Telekom recently closed their DNS servers for other companies' customers. Maybe your DNS entries point to Telekom servers. You should check that.

What is a DNS entry? And if it is like you say - I assume I still wouldn't have any option left, no workaround, or am I wrong here?

Thank God this server of yours still works fine. Not to imagine to have no access to the news and additonal stuff for the upcoming release! :D