I can't connect to Google for two days

Server time's out.

[bouncybunny]

For two days now I have been unable to connect to Google. Is it just me, or has the world ended? All other sites work fine.

[jdMorgan]

Check your hosts file for an unauthorized modification. On Windows XP it's located at
c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

Open it with Notepad or any other plain-text editor.

If it contains one or more entries for "google.com" and/or "www.google.com", then it's been hacked. For example:
127.0.0.1 google.com

This would point your requests for google.com back to your own machine, and since you're not running a server for google.com, it would of course time out.

Either way it would be an excellent idea to scan your PC now and periodically for malware using Ad-Aware, SpyBot Search & Destroy, Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, and any other free scanners from reputable sources that you can find. Also, set your IE Internet Zone to a higher security level to disable ActiveX by default, or use a safer browser for everyday use, such as Firefox or Opera, reserving IE for trusted sites and testing only.

Jim

[bouncybunny]

Hi

Thanks. I should have said, I'm using a Mac. OS X 10.4.9 with latest patches.

It has started to become an intermittent thing. I think it's either a system issue or, perhaps a local ISP issue? I'll check it at the office tomorrow.

Maybe this needs to be moved to the Mac folder...

[jdMorgan]

You might still want to look at the 'hosts' file. Macs are not bullet-proof -- They're just not shot at as often as PCs are... Any general-purpose computer that connects to the internet will have a 'hosts' file, regardless of the operating system.

The now-intermittent nature of the problem does point to a fault outside the machine, though. I'd suspect that one or more of your ISP's DNS servers (or perhaps those of an up-stream provider) got corrupted or poisoned. In that case, all you can do is check your local hosts file, flush your local DNS cache ("ipconfig /flushdns" on a PC), restart your browser, and if that doesn't help, then just wait for your ISP to sort things.

Jim

[bouncybunny]

Thanks Jim.

I did, on your recommendation, check the hosts file and it looks normal.

##
# Host Database
#
# localhost is used to configure the loopback interface
# when the system is booting. Do not change this entry.
##
127.0.0.1localhost
255.255.255.255broadcasthost
::1       localhost 

There are a few other sites that seem to be giving me jip also. Rather irritating. Looks like I'll just have to sit it out.

Thanks again.

[g1smd]

There should be a space between the IP and the domain in your HOSTS file. Your example is missing the space.

When you next can't get Google, try direct access at 66.102.11.44 and see if it comes up.

If it does, then you have a DNS problem.

[bouncybunny]

Thanks.

There is a space. It got lost somewhere between the copy and the paste. ;)

All seems to be working OK now (touch wood). I cleared local DNS also (which is something I didn't even know about , so I've learned something), and the intermittent issues have cleared up also. At one point I couldn't even get Apple or Yahoo, but other sites worked fine, including Microsoft.

I'm sorry I posted this in the Google thread, but at first it was only Google that appeared unobtainable. I didn't think to try some of the other 'big boys'.

I'm just wondering if my ISPs IP addresses could have gone onto a spam blacklist temporarilly and now been talken off after sorting out whatever he problem was? It just seemed strange that this only affected some of the bigger sites.

Thanks for the responses.