Question

Firefox doesn't connect.

Asked by: superslamwich

Hi, I'm having a problem with Mozilla Firefox.  I've been using it for over a year now, and it's worked fine, but just yesterday it stopped connecting to the internet.  When I open it it gives the message  "Server not found.  Firefox can't find the server at www.google.com."  The same is true for any site I try to go to.  However IE is still working fine, which means the connection must be fine.  Windows Firewall is also turned off, and Firefox is listed under exceptions anyway.  I tried uninstalling and then reinstalling it, but the problem persisted.

Any help on how to solve this problem would be great, I'd hate to have to switch back to Internet Explorer.

Thanks,
Sam

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Asked On
2006-08-05 at 19:44:58ID21944658
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Answers

 

by: war1Posted on 2006-08-05 at 19:53:14ID: 17257557

Greetings, superslamwich !

Firefox: Error Loading Any Website
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Error_loading_any_website

1. Make sure your connection settings are correct. If you have Internet Explorer and it works, compare Internet Explorer's connection settings (e.g Control Panel -> Internet Options -> Connections: LAN) to those of Firefox (Tools -> Options -> General -> Connection Settings) or Mozilla Suite (Edit -> Preferences -> General -> Connection Settings).

2. Older versions of Panda Anti-virus can cause connection problems. Read this.
http://www.pandasoftware.com/support/card.aspx?idSolucion=43&idProducto=35&idNecesitoAyuda=&idDeseo=&id=20508&IdIdioma=2

3. It may be a problem with IPv6 ("Internet Protocol version 6"). Here are the steps to disable IPv6 (if this doesn't work, re-enable it).

   1. Type about:config in the address bar, press Enter
   2. Find network.dns.disableIPv6.
   3. Right-click -> Toggle
   4. Restart Firefox/Mozilla Suite and try again.

4. Extensions could be a problem.  Did you install any new extension or updated any existing extension. Go to Tools > Extensions.  Right click on each extension and disable it. See if you can connect.

5. When you uninstall and reinstall Firefox, your data still remains.  Create a new Firefox profile.
http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/profile

Best wishes!

 

by: amit_panjwaniPosted on 2006-08-05 at 21:39:40ID: 17257745

Dunno - If proxy settings are set right ? ( as war1 said)

after ruling out Firewalls / ParentalControls . Next thing I could think off the hat is - do you have any plug-ins installed like adblock etc. try checking any plug-ins like fasterfox/adblock etc.

try running Firefox in safe mode with networking prompt - (that too firefox safe mode - minus plugins).

Hope that helps


 

by: mtz1of4Posted on 2006-08-06 at 05:19:06ID: 17258683

Sam,

As War1 pointed out in his first link, first thuing to confirm is make sure File->Work Offline is NOT Checked.


Chances are it's definitely the firewall.  Check your version of firefox. 1.5.0.6 just got pushed out on August 2nd and when a Program Update happens, MOST firewalls will prevent access to the new program because it has chnaged and you haven't given it permission to go out yet.
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Firewalls
 Windows Firewall

Try removing Firefox/Thunderbird/Mozilla Suite from Windows Firewall's exceptions list, and re-adding it.

   1. Close Firefox/Thunderbird/Mozilla Suite
   2. Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Windows Firewall
   3. General tab - Make sure the firewall is switched on and "Don't allow exceptions" is unchecked.
   4. Exceptions tab - Find the Firefox/Thunderbird/Mozilla Suite entry and delete it.
   5. Check the box next to "Display a notification when Windows Firewall blocks a program".
   6. Click "OK" to exit the Windows Firewall window.
   7. Start Firefox/Thunderbird/Mozilla Suite.
   8. Windows Firewall should then ask whether you want to keep blocking or unblock. Select "Unblock".

See the article Troubleshooting Windows Firewall settings in Windows XP Service Pack 2
 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=875357 for more help.

 

by: vallisPosted on 2006-08-06 at 12:25:23ID: 17259794

superslamwich, when you reinstalled Firefox, did you download the latest version?

 

by: superslamwichPosted on 2006-08-06 at 20:21:56ID: 17261095

Whew!  Thanks for all the feedback so fast...  Here's where things stand:

The only thing that workedso far was starting in safe mode.  I ran firefox with all the extensions and themes and it connected fine.  As soon as I rebooted to normal mode it stopped working again.

It sounds like it may be the firewall, but I'm having trouble working with it.  Right now, the firewall options are "being set by Group Policy for your security".  The firewall is turned off, the "don't allow exceptions" is unchecked (although I don't think it applies), and I've removed and added Firefox from the list, tried it both ways, neither gave me anything else to go off of.  I'm an administrator, but I can't figure out how to override the settings on the firewall.

Oh, and I did download the latest version from mozilla.com when I re-installed it.

I hope this helps

 

by: mtz1of4Posted on 2006-08-06 at 22:04:55ID: 17261379

Is this your laptop or a company laptop that has some sort of IT department setting up your Security Settings?  

You should be able to get back control of your Firewall assuming your computer is not a member of an Active Directory domain (such as might be the case in a business) logon as a local administrator and use regedit to open the registry editor. Go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft and if you see any entry for WindowsFirewall then right click the WindowsFirewall key and EXPORT it so you have a backup and then select delete. Look here also HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft.  EXPORT this key and then delete that WindowsFirewall key also.
Then reboot your computer to see if the problem with the firewall is fixed.

Keep in mind that Malware can also disable that key, so you might want to run a few good antispyware programs and at least a good AV scan on your machine.

By the way, what kind of AV do you use?  Which Firewall is your default?

 

by: war1Posted on 2006-08-09 at 08:58:03ID: 17280373

superslamwich,

Did you create a new Firefox profile as I proposed above?

5. When you uninstall and reinstall Firefox, your data still remains.  Create a new Firefox profile.
http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/profile

 

by: superslamwichPosted on 2006-08-17 at 18:25:14ID: 17339222

I am going to try re-installation again soon. There were some major internal problems with the laptop itself and have just now got it back and running. Again, thank you for all the suggestions. I will see what is going on with firefox and the computer itself after I try re-installing again.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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