Technical problems logging in to at least two sites

How to deal with excessive security settings?

[ronin]

I've never had this kind of problem before but hopefully someone else has and they know how to deal with it, because right now I'm clueless.

I updated Ad-Aware on Tuesday morning. Since then (coincidence or not) I have been unable to access one of the affiliate networks I work alongside as a publisher. The login just continually returns me to the login page without taking me through to the control panel.

I have changed the password, deleted cookies, deleted internet temporary files, internet history etc., tried different browsers (Firefox, Opera, Safari), restarted the computer numerous times, re-deleted everything two or three more times, uninstalled Ad-Aware, uninstalled my main browser (Deepnet) and reinstalled it...

Several times I have gone to Tools > Internet Options > Security in Deepnet / IE and made sure that the site is not listed under "Restricted Sites" and is specifically listed under "Trusted Sites" - I have even switched off Windows Firewall and tried everything before switching it back on again.

Nothing. I can't get past the login screen.

I have phoned the network twice and sent them emails. They tell me there is nothing wrong with my account and it is working at their end when they attempt to login using my account name and the temporary password I set up. Their guess is that it is something to do with security settings on my laptop.

Now I discover there is another network which won't let me login either(!)

Everything else online and offline on my laptop works perfectly and just as normal.

What on earth is going on? Thanks in advance for any pointers.

[lorax]

>> Several times I have gone to Tools

Did you delete the temporary Inet files?

[ronin]

Yes. See paragraph 3.

[lorax]

Sorry I missed that.

[physics]

Can you try logging on from a different pc or friend's house?

[physics]

My wild guess: Ad-aware somehow configured your system (don't ask me how, especially since you uninstalled it) to block cookies from those networks. You might try searching for their domain in the windows registry.

[ronin]

Can you try logging on from a different pc or friend's house?

I'm guessing that will work and I think that's my only option for now.

My wild guess

Yeah, that was one of my wild guesses as well. >;->
My second wild guess was that when I uninstalled Ad-Aware, it (correctly from security perspective) did not undo any registry changes it had already made.

Does anyone know how I can access the registry manually and go through it with a toothcomb?

[coopster]

Start > Run
Type

regedit

and click OK. You are into the registry editor. Do yourself a favor and make a backup copy first.

Before all that though, double check your firewall and firewall settings. Temporarily disable the firewall and access the site to see if it works.

Another option that you may want to consider first is Windows System Restore. Restore to the last known good date, the last date you knew for certain you were able to access the site.

[ronin]

Coolio. Thanks coopster - I'll give all that a shot.

[lorax]

Ya, be very careful in the registry.... there is no pause or hold. Once you make a change it's live - though you may not see the effects until the next time you reboot.

[ronin]

Well, I didn't change anything in the registry. I didn't find it particularly self-evident what was what and I couldn't find anything which seemed to relate to cookie-blocking.

Now I see that I can't install the Alexa toolbar either. It appears to be blocked from displaying properly. I've also noticed that whenever I come back to WebmasterWorld, I'm automatically logged out and I have to login again.

Sigh.

Too much stress. I guess I'll try Windows System Restore now. Then, if that doesn't work, I'm going to try reinstalling Ad-Aware (assuming that it was the agent which modified the security settings in the first place, which I can't confirm) and see if I can use it to change the settings on my OS back from "totally paranoid" to "cautious".

If not, then I'll just save all the files and programs I need and reinstall the entire OS.

[ronin]

Remarkable!

Windows System Restore has fixed everything.

Thanks so much lorax, coopster and physics for helping out and especially to coopster for suggesting Windows System Restore (which I never knew existed!)