[Kingeru]

Hello. For the past week or so, one of my mother's frequently visted websites has been inaccessible. When we try to access it on any of the computers hooked up to our router, the broswers display that the page can't be found. I know it isn't the website, because she's asked other friends to check the site, and she's even been able to access it at work. It's not the router (I've checked), It's not blocked on just the main computer, since we can't get to the page on the other computers as mentioned before. (I've tried googling for help, but all I find are kids wanting to unblock MySpace at school and articles about web censorship.) I've tried everything and I have no idea what to do or why this has happened. Does anyone know? I know I could use a proxy but that doesn't solve anything. Thanks!

[TechyGuy]

I have a few questions to ask first:
* What browser do you use?
* What is the exact URL of te site (e.g. http://yahoo.com)
Is it possible that someone blocked the website by accident, for example, a child in the household? You may want to clear your cache also. (on IE 6, go to "Tools", then "Internet Options", then "General" tab, then click "Delete Files", and "Delete Cookies", then click "Okay" to exit). I am not sure if clearing your cache will work, just a semi-random guess.

[Adama]

Hi, Kingeru. Would you mind telling us what Website you are talking about?

[smax013]

TechyGuy said:

I have a few questions to ask first:
* What browser do you use?
* What is the exact URL of te site (e.g. [/])
Is it possible that someone blocked the website by accident, for example, a child in the household? You may want to clear your cache also. (on IE 6, go to "Tools", then "Internet Options", then "General" tab, then click "Delete Files", and "Delete Cookies", then click "Okay" to exit). I am not sure if clearing your cache will work, just a semi-random guess.

These are good "leads"...the other possibility is the router. Some routers do have some ability to block certain sites (i.e. to protect kids). You might want to look in your router setup and see if your router has that option and if it has somehow been turned on.



Another possibility is your ISP may be blocking certain things. While not too likely, it is still a possibility.

[Kingeru]

The browsers we use are IE7 and FireFox 2.0.0.3. The website is http://www.mnmcharms.com There are no children here, so that's not a possiblity. (I think my mom was the one that did something, but she has no idea what.) I've cleared the cache and everything numerous times with no luck. I checked the router settings; there's no type of parental control thing, and this is just a small business website so there's nothing bad on it. I even did a System Restore to before it stopped getting access and that did nothing.

[TechyGuy]

The only thing I can think of is that your mother must have set some "blocked site" unintentionally. Like smax13 said, your ISP may have blocked it somehow. You may want to contact them(your ISP) and ask if any sites may have been banned. A few more questions:
* How old is your mother's PC / what are the specifications?
* Has this ever happened before on this or any other site?
I happen to have experienced something similar to this before. On my Internet Explorer browser, http://Toshiba.com/ would never load - it would just show a blank white page. On Firefox, it would show. I don't think anything could be wrong with your browsers,though, if this is a problem on both IE and Firefox.

[Kingeru]

If I can not solve this myself, I'll have to contact the ISP as you said. We've never had this sort of trouble before. It's specs are: Compaq Presario 6016US, Windows XP Home, AMD Athlon XP 1.53 GHz, 512MB RAM, 60GB HDD. It's from 2001 or 2002. Hopefully that's enough information. Thanks for the help so far.

[Adama]

I checked the link you showed and it worked fine for me. Maybe your Mom checked on something by mistake. I agree with the guys, perhaps your ISP is blocking access to that Website.

I would contact your ISP by email or telephone and let them know of the problem you're having accessing that Website. They'll check the problem for you and hopefully, help solve this issue for your Mom.

[TechyGuy]

Okay, I just deleted the original content I was about to post, but, by any chance, does your browser have cookies dissallowed? On Internet Explorer, it's "Tools" "Internet Options" "Privacy" Tab. You shiuld see some meter saying something along the lines of "Medium-high", or "High", and blocks third party cookies", and so on. Try lowering that to "Medium-Low" or "Med." or "Low" and see if the site will display. On Firefox, "Tools" "Options" "Privacy" tab. If you see a box that reads "accept cookies" make sure it is checked. Some sights do not display unless cookies are enabled in the web browser. If this does not work, then the only option is to call your ISP.
Hope that this works.

-Techy

[smax013]

Since it is not accessable from any of your computers, I doubt it is a browser "thing" (i.e. someone accidently hitting something that blocked the site)...that would explain it only happening on one computer not all of them.

That is why I was thing either the router or the over all ISP connection. Each of those things in general would effect all computers on your little home network.

[TechyGuy]

I stand corrected.