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Why does EVERY link lead to a "Server Not Found" page?

  • 18 replies
  • 26 have this problem
  • 300 views
  • Last reply by Jassper

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This problem has been ongoing, on every computer I own (6 total) and all have different settings and such - so no, this is not my issue.

From this unanswered link https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/767320

You can see that the problem has been around for OVER A YEAR and still not address by Firefox.

The problem is as the title says, EVERY link I click will bring up a Server not found error message and I must click "Try again" repeatedly to get the page to load.

It becomes really annoying after typing a long response and clicking the Send button only to have to re-type everything because of "Server Not Found" BS. I will try to bump this post daily until action is taken. I must learn to copy everything I type in case the page does not load.

This problem has been ongoing, on every computer I own (6 total) and all have different settings and such - so no, this is not my issue. From this unanswered link https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/767320 You can see that the problem has been around for OVER A YEAR and still not address by Firefox. The problem is as the title says, EVERY link I click will bring up a Server not found error message and I must click "Try again" repeatedly to get the page to load. It becomes really annoying after typing a long response and clicking the Send button only to have to re-type everything because of "Server Not Found" BS. I will try to bump this post daily until action is taken. I must learn to copy everything I type in case the page does not load.

Chosen solution

Finally found something that works!!!

Step 1: Uninstall Firefox Step 2: Start internet explorer Step 3: Get over the fact that IE sucks green weenies Step 4: Enjoy the fact that every link you click on Actually LOADS A PAGE.

No more clicking "Try Again", thank god.

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (18)

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Just to note, once the first page is loaded everything seems to work within that site, but once I click a link that opens a new tab or window, I get that Server not found page. see attachment

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Hi Jassper, a lot can happen when you see a server not found error, see : Server Not Found - Troubleshoot connection problems


thank you

Modified by ideato

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Hay ideato, Sorry I didn't mention that I already tried all that troubleshoot stuff. None of it works, thanks though.

Also, It's not a fire wall, or other security issues, one of my systems has absolutely no security set up on it at all, not even windows Firewall.

The page simply doesn't try to load before firefox pops that error up. It come up almost instantly when clicking a link. I think it is a simple matter of allowing more time for a page to load before popping that error up.

Modified by Jassper

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then two more things to try:

does it work, when you reset firefox on one of those machines (this will keep your bookmarks & passwords)? Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings

also, is there any change when you switch you system's dns server to the one google is providing? for more information visit https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/using

in case those two things don't work it would be interesting which kind of network you're on (router hardware, internet connection...)

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A possible cause is security software (firewall,anti-virus) that blocks or restricts Firefox or the plugin-container process without informing you, possibly after detecting changes (update) to the Firefox program.

Remove all rules for Firefox and the plugin-container from the permissions list in the firewall and let your firewall ask again for permission to get full unrestricted access to internet for Firefox and the plugin-container process and the updater process.

See:


Do a malware check with some malware scanning programs on the Windows computer.
You need to scan with all programs because each program detects different malware.
Make sure that you update each program to get the latest version of their databases before doing a scan.

You can also do a check for a rootkit infection with TDSSKiller.

See also:

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I'll give all these a go, starting with the Reset. I'll let you now how it goes.

Thanks

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If this error is repeated across 6 machines, all behind the same router/modem, I'd say look there. If your using a firewalled router, it might be setup goofy, or more likely needs a reboot. Don't go hitting reset buttons!!! Try unplugging the power from your modem and or router, wait 15 seconds, plug them back in. Once back up, retry your defunct websites... Routers are like mini computers, after running for a few months they need to be restarted...

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@CompGuru Two of the laptop go back and forth to work, same issue in either place. Another Laptop goes to the coffee shop for my MakerSpace meeting, same issue there.

My wife's laptop does it too, but not as bad as the others, probably 1 in 3 sites come up "Server not found". My son wants to smash his computer it does it so frequently ;) His is a Desktop

I first suspected firewalls and shut them all down, no difference. My home network is Frontier, my office network is Verizon (but I think one owns the other). Not sure what the coffee shop is. But it happens even when I travel to Texas, on the Hotel WiFi.

Incidentally, I get the error page even going to this web site ;) It pops up instantly, like the browser isn't even trying to go to the web site.

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You can try to reset (power off/on) the router.

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The only other thing that comes to mind is a funky hosts file. Are all the computers in question using the same Anti Virus / Spyware tools? Programs like Spybot add known blacklisted servers and such to that file. Usually sites added to that list won't display at all, but a misconfigured / damaged hosts file could cause the issues you described.

You could try Microsofts Hosts file reset tool. I'm assuming they are MS machines? If you try this, you'll need to restart your computer after your hosts file is replaced.

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Well my sons and wife's computers has absolutely no anti-virius or spyware tools what so ever. I told him to stay off the porn sites and other "shady" sites and he won't get a virus. Been going on 3 years and no attacks. My wife's laptop I've just been to lazy to put anything on it, but she don't do anything but look up coupons anyways.

My desktop and one laptop is running TrendMicro, another Laptop is running MS Security and my third that I use strictly for programing Micro-controllers isn't running anything either.

This has been an issue ever since I installed Firefox. It has gotten worse over time and notable worse after the last big update from Firefox. The only thing in common between the 6 computers is Firefox.

I did the Firefox reset suggested by madperson on this machine only, So I will see how it performs tonight and tomorrow at work.

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Firefox Reset - Didn't work Shutting down Windows Security and all Firewalls - Didn't work Restarting router (at home and work) - Didn't work Next - Will try changing to google public DNS but don't see why my current DNS wouldn't work

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Try this. A bit more of an advanced fix, but a sweet little script from my toolbox.

Copy and paste the following into notepad, and save the file as renew-ip-reset-winsock.bat


netsh int ip reset
pause
ipconfig /release
pause
ipconfig /renew
pause
netsh winsock reset catalog
pause

If Windows renames your file as renew-ip-reset-winsock.bat.txt Simply remove the the .txt extension. The file is executable and will reset your IP configuration, as well as restore your winsock. The same effect can be achieved by copying, and pasting each line into a command prompt. Remember to run CMD as Admin under Vista and 7. Start / All Programs / Accessories, right click Command Prompt, "Run as administrator"....

Reboot after running these commands, and report back...

Modified by TheCompGuru

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Well, So far switching to Google public DNS is working the best. I still get the message but only about 2 or 3 times a day rather than every web page.

Much better.

Everything else didn't really seem to make much difference. Non of the spyware/virus stuff did anything at all.

Thanks everyone.

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Well thought this problem went away, but now it is back. It has been giving me this "Server Not Found" error EVERY page I try to go too once again.

Even ones in my favorites, I can click the fav link repeatedly and nothing happens, I MUST click the "try Again" button and the site will instantly appear.

I don't think this is a issue on my end. I have done nothing different and the problem is back.

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What are the current the connection settings?

If you do not need to use a proxy to connect to internet then try to select "No Proxy" if the default "Use the system proxy settings" setting doesn't work properly.

See "Firefox connection settings":

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Thanks, but checking "No Proxy" didn't work. The thing is, nothing has changed from last week to this week. So if everything worked last week, then why does it not work this week? I should not need to change any settings (again).

Is there any way to tell the browser to wait longer for a response from the requested site before displaying that error? That window will pop up instantly, like it doesn't even try to load the page.

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Chosen Solution

Finally found something that works!!!

Step 1: Uninstall Firefox Step 2: Start internet explorer Step 3: Get over the fact that IE sucks green weenies Step 4: Enjoy the fact that every link you click on Actually LOADS A PAGE.

No more clicking "Try Again", thank god.