Amazon.com not displaying correctly on all of my browsers

[jmt356]

I tried to go to a technician yesterday. He did not recommend replacing the Wifi router; he said that if the router was causing the problem with Amazon.com, then it would cause the problem with all web sites.

He believes it is a software issue. I am considering uninstalling and reinstalling Internet Explorer, but I believe I read somewhere that Internet Explorer cannot be uninstalled from Windows 8. Is that true?

[HansV]

See How to repair or reinstall Internet Explorer in Windows.

[StuartR]

Have you tried using other browsers, such as Firefox or Chrome? You should do this before you mess about trying to repair Internet Explorer.

[jmt356]

Stuart: I tried both Firefox and Chrome. I have the same problem as with IE. However, I am hoping that repairing IE might help ...

By the way, when IE failed to display the page just now, I got an option to launch HP Network Check, which I did. When the process completed, I was informed that the issue was resolved and that the possible root cause was a firewall. However, I then tried to go back to Amazon, but it still was not displaying. I then went to my Windows Firewall and turned it off, but IE was still unable to display Amazon.com. Is there some other Firewall I might be missing? The only AV program I use is the Avast Free version. I could not find a firewall in that program to turn off. Does it have one?

[jmt356]

Any ideas on whether a Firewall is behind these errors and whether I have correctly and completely turned off all Firewalls, per the description under my Post 148315, above?

[HansV]

The free version of avast! is an anti-virus program only, it does not include a firewall. (The paid version avast! Internet Security does come with its own firewall)

So unless you installed a third-party firewall yourself, you're using the built-in Windows Firewall.

[jonwallace]

Back in November, you mentioned your Hosts file. Did you do anything with that at all? If not, you might want to have a look here.

When you remote through another PC you are actually using that other PC to browse, so I wouldn't expect to see the problem.

[jmt356]

I never pursued the Host File issue because, if I recall correctly, my subsequent virus and malware scans did not indicate that the Host File was infected.

[HansV]

If the Hosts file contains an entry such as

127.0.0.1 amazon.com

or

0.0.0.0 amazon.com

then access to amazon.com will be blocked on that computer. So it would be useful to take a look at the Hosts file - it can be opened in Notepad.

[jmt356]

I found a file called hosts in C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc. I have copied the contents of the file below. I assume this is not relevant to the problem at hand?

Also, on another note, I am encountering more and more problems with trying to access web pages. I would estimate that a third of the pages that I attempt to view now display an error on IE, which fails to display the page and then gives an option to launch HP Network Check.

Here is the hosts file content:

# Copyright (c) 1993-2009 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

# localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost

[jmt356]

I just signed in to another account on this same computer. It had no trouble displaying Amazon.com and other web sites. Can I therefore conclude that this is a software and not a hardware issue?

[jmt356]

After signing out of the other account, I signed back into the principal account, which is the one that has been unable to display Amazon.com for months. I went to Amazon.com and was astonished to find that the Amazon.com domain and all of the Amazon.com pages that I visited displayed without any problems.

I really do not understand anything of this, but it seems that signing out of my account and into the other account modified something that was causing Amazon.com to be redirected and to crash.

For now Amazon.com is working. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it continues to work. If it does not, I will repost.

[HansV]

It's all very weird. And indeed, your HOSTS file doesn't contain anything relevant to the problem - all lines preceded by # are comments.

[jmt356]

I had a few weeks where I was able to view all pages on Amazon. However, IE has now again started to display error messages when I visit Amazon. Unlike before, where no Amazon pages could be displayed, I can now at least view some Amazon pages. But that still is not where I need to be ...

[jmt356]

Should “Use SSL 3.0” and “Use TLS 1.2” be ticked under Tools | Internet Options | Advance | Security?

[HansV]

Both check boxes are ticked on my work computer without adverse effects - I have no problem loading web pages.

S080.png

[Leif]

I haven't searched exhaustively, but I couldn't see any reference to your DNS settings in this thread.

What are your DNS server settings for IPv4 and IPv6?

x.jpg

[jmt356]

I don’t know what my Local Area Connection Properties are set to or how to find them, but I don’t believe it is relevant because I believe Local Area Connection Properties refer to LAN settings but the issues I am having are over Wifi, not LAN.

[StuartR]

I think that Leif was suggesting you look at the properties for your Wireless Network, the screenshot was just an illustration.

[Leif]

I think that Leif was suggesting you look at the properties for your Wireless Network, the screenshot was just an illustration.

Sorry - yes, that is what I meant!