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Odd Browser Behavior In Win 7

Started by MelissaPleases , Nov 02 2010 11:30 PM

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16 replies to this topic

#1 MelissaPleases

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Posted 02 November 2010 - 11:30 PM

I've hesitated to post this, because I'm not entirely certain that it's an OS issue, though my own experiments tend to make me believe that it has to be.

This issue concerns Firefox and some odd behavior with one forum that I belong to. The issue only occurs at this forum, it does not happen at any other forum or web site. What happens is this:

I open Firefox, and, as I have been doing for almost two years, I try to go to the forum. I receive a 404 error message. I shut down Firefox, then restart it. Sometimes, on the second attempt, the forum portal will open, sometimes it will take me three or four attempts before I can get past that front page. Then, as I try to navigate around the site, I'll continually get 404 messages, requiring me to restart Firefox again.

Initially, I thought that there was probably some bug at the forum. Then, quite by accident, I stumbled on an odd thing - if I have two instances of Firefox open, I have no problem whatsoever entering or navigating around the forum. As soon as I close the instance of Firefox that is not logged on to the forum, the behavior starts up again.

Out of curiosity, because I still have Win XP installed on another drive, I tried going to the forum under XP. Absolutely no problems at all. So, thinking that perhaps I might have a bad installation of Firefox on the Win 7 drive, I uninstalled it, redownloaded the installer, and reinstalled Firefox. The same thing. I have to have two instances of Firefox open in order to have this particular site function normally under Win 7.

In terms of operating systems, applications, etc., I am a n00b when it comes to Win 7. However, I've been playing with computers for almost twenty years, and I like to think that I have a fair level of competence. This is something that I have never, ever seen before. For the life of me, I cannot figure out what the issue could be here.

I've hesitated to even post this here, because I've been a little afraid that you all might think I'm a completely bat-poop crazy little b*tch. But I swear, this is not something I'm making up, nor is it a delusion... :huh:

Any help or thoughts on this?

~ Notorious Thread Killer ~
Case: CoolerMaster Storm Trooper Full ATX | Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z170X | CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 8M Skylake Quad-Core | GPU: MSI Radeon R9 390X 8GB 512-Bit | PSU: EVGA 80 PLUS GOLD 850 W | RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR4 SDRAM [4x8GB] Audio: Integrated Creative Sound Core 3D 5.1 | Internal Storage: Samsung 2 TB HDD | Seagate 1 TB HDD | Samsung 500GB SSD [x2] | Mushkin 500GB SSD | External Storage: Seagate 2TB | Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS324 Dual Layer

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#2 keyboardNinja

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Posted 03 November 2010 - 01:53 AM

Well, first off, the link to this particular forum would be helpful. While I do believe you that it is your computer being wonky, it would be beneficial to solving your problem if we could try the exact same scenario ourselves, then try to track down why it happens (on yours and/or anybody else's).

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#3 MelissaPleases

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Posted 03 November 2010 - 09:56 AM

Well, unfortunately, it's a members-only forum, and invites are rather hard to come by. It's nothing unspeakable, like a terrorist organization. It's more, well, a girly-thing... I'll see what I can do to get an invite.

I have to report, though, that I've asked at the forum, and no one there has experienced anything like this.

~ Notorious Thread Killer ~
Case: CoolerMaster Storm Trooper Full ATX | Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z170X | CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 8M Skylake Quad-Core | GPU: MSI Radeon R9 390X 8GB 512-Bit | PSU: EVGA 80 PLUS GOLD 850 W | RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR4 SDRAM [4x8GB] Audio: Integrated Creative Sound Core 3D 5.1 | Internal Storage: Samsung 2 TB HDD | Seagate 1 TB HDD | Samsung 500GB SSD [x2] | Mushkin 500GB SSD | External Storage: Seagate 2TB | Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS324 Dual Layer

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#4 cryptodan

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Posted 03 November 2010 - 01:55 PM

If you are getting 404's on that one forum then its the server that is the issue. The Apache or web serving software on that server is not serving out content on a constant basis. You need to contact the hostmaster to look into this issue. It has nothing to do with your computer or your ISP.

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#5 MelissaPleases

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Posted 03 November 2010 - 08:13 PM

I don't think so - only because this only happens when I try to log in from the Win 7 drive. When I log in from the XP drive, there is no issue, ever. Everything is the same except for the OS I try to log in from on my machine.

Edited by MelissaPleases, 03 November 2010 - 08:13 PM.

~ Notorious Thread Killer ~
Case: CoolerMaster Storm Trooper Full ATX | Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z170X | CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 8M Skylake Quad-Core | GPU: MSI Radeon R9 390X 8GB 512-Bit | PSU: EVGA 80 PLUS GOLD 850 W | RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR4 SDRAM [4x8GB] Audio: Integrated Creative Sound Core 3D 5.1 | Internal Storage: Samsung 2 TB HDD | Seagate 1 TB HDD | Samsung 500GB SSD [x2] | Mushkin 500GB SSD | External Storage: Seagate 2TB | Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS324 Dual Layer

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#6 keyboardNinja

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Posted 04 November 2010 - 07:57 AM

Well, unfortunately, it's a members-only forum, and invites are rather hard to come by. It's nothing unspeakable, like a terrorist organization. It's more, well, a girly-thing... I'll see what I can do to get an invite.

I'm assuming I don't need an account to login in with just to view the main page. I just need a link to it.

It is impossible to narrow down the possible causes of this error that is specific to one website and one computer if I don't have access to either.

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20 Things I Learned About Browsers and the Web

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#7 Romeo29

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Posted 04 November 2010 - 08:18 AM

I suspect a proxy server is being used by you on your Windows 7 machine. Visit this web site : http://whatismyipaddress.com/proxy-check
Among other things, notice the IP address when logged in from Windows 7 and soon after from XP (without disconnecting your internet). Is the IP same?
Tell us what results you get.

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#8 MelissaPleases

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Posted 05 November 2010 - 08:36 AM

I'm assuming I don't need an account to login in with just to view the main page. I just need a link to it.

It is impossible to narrow down the possible causes of this error that is specific to one website and one computer if I don't have access to either.

http://www.dryerlint-newleaf.com/forums/

I suspect a proxy server is being used by you on your Windows 7 machine. Visit this web site : http://whatismyipaddress.com/proxy-check
Among other things, notice the IP address when logged in from Windows 7 and soon after from XP (without disconnecting your internet). Is the IP same?
Tell us what results you get.

I don't use a proxy, and a check from both systems shows the same IP addy.

~ Notorious Thread Killer ~
Case: CoolerMaster Storm Trooper Full ATX | Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z170X | CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 8M Skylake Quad-Core | GPU: MSI Radeon R9 390X 8GB 512-Bit | PSU: EVGA 80 PLUS GOLD 850 W | RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR4 SDRAM [4x8GB] Audio: Integrated Creative Sound Core 3D 5.1 | Internal Storage: Samsung 2 TB HDD | Seagate 1 TB HDD | Samsung 500GB SSD [x2] | Mushkin 500GB SSD | External Storage: Seagate 2TB | Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS324 Dual Layer

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#9 jgweed

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Posted 05 November 2010 - 09:24 AM

I use Ff and Windows7, and cannot duplicate the 404 error after seven attempts. Have any other members of this forum reported the same difficulty?

Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one should be silent.

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#10 thrillhouse

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Posted 05 November 2010 - 09:45 AM

I have windows 7 and it works in firefox and chrome just fine. Do you use a hosts file?

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#11 buddy215

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Posted 05 November 2010 - 09:56 AM

Using Win7 and IE8, are you able to navigate the site without getting the 404?

When you uninstalled Firefox did you also delete your profile as well?

Do you have the same addons in both XP and Win7?

“Every atom in your body came from a star that exploded and the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. It really is the most poetic thing I know about physics...you are all stardust.”― Lawrence M. Krauss
A 1792 U.S. penny, designed in part by Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, reads “Liberty Parent of Science & Industry.”

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#12 Romeo29

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Posted 05 November 2010 - 01:25 PM

404 error has to be from remote server. This is not the web server of actual site or more people would have got it. So this could be a proxy or a local server among other possibilities.

Download TCPView. For Process of your browser (like iexplore.exe), what Remote Address do you see? If you see localhost:port# as shown below, then you have a local server running which can manipulate your HTTP traffic.
Posted Image

Edited by Romeo29, 05 November 2010 - 01:25 PM.

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#13 MelissaPleases

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Posted 05 November 2010 - 06:00 PM

I use Ff and Windows7, and cannot duplicate the 404 error after seven attempts. Have any other members of this forum reported the same difficulty?

No one that I'm aware of.

I have windows 7 and it works in firefox and chrome just fine. Do you use a hosts file?

Uhm... I assume that there's a hosts file, but I've never attempted to find or modify it in any way.

Using Win7 and IE8, are you able to navigate the site without getting the 404?
Yes - in fact, this only happens with Firefox. I prefer Firefox, though, and would like to solve this issue.

When you uninstalled Firefox did you also delete your profile as well?
I don't believe so - I simply used Add/Remove programs to uninstall it.

Do you have the same addons in both XP and Win7?
Yes - actually, the only add-on I use is NoScript. I had it in Firefox under XP, and it's also there under Win 7.

404 error has to be from remote server. This is not the web server of actual site or more people would have got it. So this could be a proxy or a local server among other possibilities.

Download TCPView. For Process of your browser (like iexplore.exe), what Remote Address do you see? If you see localhost:port# as shown below, then you have a local server running which can manipulate your HTTP traffic.

I'll check this out, and let you know what I find.

~ Notorious Thread Killer ~
Case: CoolerMaster Storm Trooper Full ATX | Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z170X | CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 8M Skylake Quad-Core | GPU: MSI Radeon R9 390X 8GB 512-Bit | PSU: EVGA 80 PLUS GOLD 850 W | RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR4 SDRAM [4x8GB] Audio: Integrated Creative Sound Core 3D 5.1 | Internal Storage: Samsung 2 TB HDD | Seagate 1 TB HDD | Samsung 500GB SSD [x2] | Mushkin 500GB SSD | External Storage: Seagate 2TB | Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS324 Dual Layer

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#14 keyboardNinja

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Posted 05 November 2010 - 07:43 PM

I accessed the site just fine (with Firefox, Windows 7).

A hosts file blocking a site (or ip) does not generate a 404 error. Try some of these real 404 errors. Your browser (Firefox specifically) just has an empty page in the case of a hosts file block (not the case here).

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_404

The 404 or Not Found error message is a HTTP standard response code indicating that the client was able to communicate with the server, but the server could not find what was requested. 404 errors should not be confused with "server not found" or similar errors, in which a connection to the destination server could not be made at all. A 404 error indicates that the requested resource may be available again in the future.

Try to start Firefox in Safe Mode.

Romeo may be on to something with TCPView...

Melissa, next time you get the error, please take a screenshot, and paste the link in this topic.

We'll get to the bottom of it. :huh:

PICNIC - Problem In Chair, Not In Computer

20 Things I Learned About Browsers and the Web

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#15 buddy215

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Posted 05 November 2010 - 09:25 PM

If after following Romeo29's suggestion and still no resolution, I would suggest you
do a clean uninstall of Firefox which includes deleting the Firefox profile.
You should save your bookmarks before deleting your profile.

“Every atom in your body came from a star that exploded and the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. It really is the most poetic thing I know about physics...you are all stardust.”― Lawrence M. Krauss
A 1792 U.S. penny, designed in part by Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, reads “Liberty Parent of Science & Industry.”