Suddenly, Connection Issues

For tech wizards and n00bs alike. Questions, answers, or just general hoo-haa.

Moderator: Moderators

Message
Author
User avatar
tony1695
Weaver of Tales
Posts: 5737
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 5:49 am
Location: POOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTIS

Re: Suddenly, Connection Issues

#1 Post by tony1695 »

Wait, no anti-virus? Whatsoever? Well, there goes the usual cause for my computer not opening webpages. You might still have a firewall, though. And every now and then, for some reason, it decides to not let your browser(s) access webpages.

Also, hold off on updating your Flash Player, there's been a recent breach in security. Hackers found a few new ways to gain remote access through Flash Player. I think they might have fixed the problem, but I'd check first.
Gentlementlemen
How do you get to the Rakdos Guild Hall?
You take the psycho path.
Weed la Weed Warning: WEIRD

User avatar
Bellhead
Templar Inner Circle
Posts: 4012
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 11:17 pm
Location: New England, US
Fav. Twokinds Character: Keith and Natani

Re: Suddenly, Connection Issues

#2 Post by Bellhead »

The only thing even close to this that I've seen would be what happens when the wifi here doesn't work right, but that's a "server cannot be found" error.

If you don't have antivirus, I recommend downloading Avast or something. Free version at least. I'd probably add Malwarebytes just to be safe, and do a full scan of everything with everything you've got. Viruses do wierd things sometimes.
Gearhead mechanic in the digital era, who will probably grow up is in the process of growing up to be a very grumpy old man.

User avatar
Myperson54
The Imagineer
Posts: 1508
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2013 10:26 pm
Location: An infinite sea of salt

Re: Suddenly, Connection Issues

#3 Post by Myperson54 »

The only antivirus you need is Windows Defender, and Malwarebytes picks up whatever malware falls through the cracks. Regardless, I'm not sure this is a virus error. Most problems aren't. Do a scan anyways, but I have some other questions to help diagnose this issue:

1. Exactly what page were you originally getting this error on? Post a link.
2. Exactly what error are you receiving when you try to access a page in Firefox?
3. You said that Firefox wasn't loading Google. Does http://74.125.53.99 or http://74.125.159.105 load anything for you?

More questions to follow if necessary.
Image

I am become salt, destroyer of memes

Join the Unofficial 2k Discord Channel!

User avatar
Myperson54
The Imagineer
Posts: 1508
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2013 10:26 pm
Location: An infinite sea of salt

Re: Suddenly, Connection Issues

#4 Post by Myperson54 »

Congrats, you've managed to find a computer issue I can't immediately solve through Google - Although, Google does suggest that your problem could be due to malware. I didn't expect that. So yeah, run a Windows Defender scan and a Malwarebytes scan to seee if you get anything.
Image

I am become salt, destroyer of memes

Join the Unofficial 2k Discord Channel!

User avatar
amenon
Grand Templar
Posts: 1693
Joined: Thu May 15, 2014 4:11 pm

Re: Suddenly, Connection Issues

#5 Post by amenon »

It could be something royally weird with your ISP (do you have other computers? Do they work normally?), but most probably it's some malware on the computer. Or some crapware that came with it, since you mention it's a laptop -- there's surprisingly little difference. At first blush it could be something like Superfish.

I would download Kaspersky Rescue Disk or some equivalent and burn that, preferably on another computer if you can. Boot the laptop with that and run a scan and see what comes up. There's lots of stuff you have no chance of catching while it's active.
]]> Twokinds search (search the comic based on art or text!)
     
My most recent Twokinds smutfics, newest to oldest [NSFW]:

User avatar
puredeathly
Master
Posts: 249
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2015 7:03 pm
Location: ::1
Fav. Twokinds Character: Flora

Re: Suddenly, Connection Issues

#6 Post by puredeathly »

The reason it doesn't let you continue even though it is untrusted (normally there would be something like "take me there anyways") is that the certificate for Google is pinned in the browser (Firefox and Chrome have something like a rule that says if Google doesn't have exactly this certificate it has to be fake).
There are three possibilities why the certificate is untrusted (actually 4 but I don't think that Google has screwed up their webserver configuration :P):
First possibility is that your date/time settings are incorrect (somewhere in the future where the cert would be expired or in the past before it's creation date).
The second (and more likely) possibility is that somewhere between you and the Google server (this can even be your local PC if you have a virus) tries to intercept secured connections (A device/program that intercepts your connection request, sends it own request, receives the answer from the server and encrypts it using it's own key. A very well know program that has the ability to do this is the Burp Suit for example).
The third possibility (which is very similar to the second one) is that your antivirus intercepts every connection to monitor it for viruses. The difference to the second one is that the antivirus normally doesn't have any malicious intentions :wink:

Try using the Kaspersky rescue CD. It's an offline antivirus (runs Linux and scans the Windows partition. That way the viruses can't hide by manipulating the disk access of Windows).

I hope I explained that easy enough for you to understand and I hope I have not missed anything obvious :grin:

-Jakob

User avatar
puredeathly
Master
Posts: 249
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2015 7:03 pm
Location: ::1
Fav. Twokinds Character: Flora

Re: Suddenly, Connection Issues

#7 Post by puredeathly »

If you right-click on the error page and click on "View Page Info" and select the "Security" tab in the menu what does it say under "Website Identity" and if there is a button "View Certificate" what is listed there? (For Google it should say "Verified by: Google Inc.")

User avatar
puredeathly
Master
Posts: 249
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2015 7:03 pm
Location: ::1
Fav. Twokinds Character: Flora

Re: Suddenly, Connection Issues

#8 Post by puredeathly »

Some people reported on the Mozilla Support that their antivirus (ESET, Webroot, AVG, McAfee and others) does SSL scanning which is the third possibility I described. If you have a setting like "SSL scanning" in your antivirus's configuration try turning it off.

User avatar
Bellhead
Templar Inner Circle
Posts: 4012
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 11:17 pm
Location: New England, US
Fav. Twokinds Character: Keith and Natani

Re: Suddenly, Connection Issues

#9 Post by Bellhead »

I'll assume that your computer's calender and clock are accurate then. Also, did this laptop come with McAfee, or did it come with some Adobe update?
Gearhead mechanic in the digital era, who will probably grow up is in the process of growing up to be a very grumpy old man.

User avatar
aj
Consistently Inconsistent
Posts: 1725
Joined: Wed Jul 30, 2008 10:13 am

Re: Suddenly, Connection Issues

#10 Post by aj »

SperoWolf wrote:I seriously don't understand why people make viruses to monitor website visitation in the first place.
because they're intercepting traffic, they can do stuff like capture your password. Not just for your email, but also banks.

User avatar
avwolf
Templar Inner Circle
Posts: 7006
Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2007 5:33 pm
Location: Nebraska, USA
Contact:

Re: Suddenly, Connection Issues

#11 Post by avwolf »

I've seen root stores get corrupted too; though this definitely looks like a more straight forward man-in-the-middle.

Spero, can you check Control Panel->Internet Properties->Connections->LAN settings? Is there a proxy server set up there?

Also, in Control Panel->Network and Sharing Center->Local Area Connection (or Wireless Network Conenction, if you're on wifi)->Details, what's the "IPv4 DNS Server." Could be DNS poisoning, that often affects entire ISPs. We could switch you to using Google's DNS ( 8.8.8.8 ) and see if the problem resolves, which'd mean it's certainly DNS poisoning.
Image

prototype99
Master
Posts: 218
Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2015 8:07 am
Location: England

Re: Suddenly, Connection Issues

#12 Post by prototype99 »

slightly late to this, but try adw cleaner, see if that removes anything, friend had no internet access, i used that, deleted suspicious files and he did again
stop! look at these cute emotes! :flora: :kathrin: :natani: :nora: okay you may continue!

User avatar
avwolf
Templar Inner Circle
Posts: 7006
Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2007 5:33 pm
Location: Nebraska, USA
Contact:

Re: Suddenly, Connection Issues

#13 Post by avwolf »

SperoWolf wrote:It says

IPv4 Connectivity: Internet
IPv6 Connectivity: No network access
Ipv4 Server: 192.168.1.5
Click the "Detail" button there. That's where all the interesting information is kept.
Image

User avatar
amenon
Grand Templar
Posts: 1693
Joined: Thu May 15, 2014 4:11 pm

Re: Suddenly, Connection Issues

#14 Post by amenon »

SperoWolf wrote:As for firefox being buggy, I don't really mind that much. Not like I was going to use it anyways, and no other browsers have its issues; leading me to believe it's not being attacked by malware
Considering the error, this is probably because when it comes to certificates, Firefox has its own ideas about who to trust while Chrome and Explorer both just trust whoever your windows installation trusts. Since it was a fresh Firefox installation and everything, the most likely guess is that something is intercepting your communications.
]]> Twokinds search (search the comic based on art or text!)
     
My most recent Twokinds smutfics, newest to oldest [NSFW]:

User avatar
asphere8
Master
Posts: 296
Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2015 2:52 pm
Location: Great White North
Contact:

Re: Suddenly, Connection Issues

#15 Post by asphere8 »

Your laptop came with McAfee, the antivirus program that is practically a virus itself. It's about as hard to remove as a real virus, too.
If you have a Windows install disk lying around somewhere and it does end up being a virus, the most effective (sometimes simplest) way to remove a virus (and the only way to be completely sure it's gone) is to nuke it by completely reformatting the hard drive. Hard drives should be reformatted every few years anyway to clear out the junk that builds up in the registry.

I've recommended this twice in response to a computer problem now. Ack.
Sometimes, I wish I could art.

Post Reply