"Cannot connect to the real (insert web address here).com." Anyone else have this problem?

ATS has done me wonders whenever I have any computer problems (I'm not very tech-savy, I'm an artist for christ's sake). I've decided that ATSers know their stuff a lot better than anyone on Yahoo Answers (speaking from experience).

My fiance and I bought a beautiful 500 GB desktop from my flea market, for 90$. It worked wonderfully when we first bought it, then we installed a couple things (Steam, Fraps, Skype, etc...)

Something we installed--I dunno what--screwed everything up.

We've gone back and uninstalled everything we don't use, but it hasn't solved the problem.

SOME websites still work, but most of them display a page that says, "Cannot connect to the real (insert web address here).com." The little paragraph goes on to say that the certificate is untrusted or something. I re-installed AVG, which usually solves these kinds of problems, but it did nothing. We wiped the computer clean and put another operating system on it, and it STILL keeps blocking most of our websites with this page.

Now, I have another problem.

While writing this thread, I attempted to turn the computer on to better describe the problem, and the monitor refuses to acknowledge the computer's existence. I tried re-connecting the monitor to the tower in every way possible, but the monitor still won't turn on.

I don't understand what the hell's wrong with this thing.

It worked perfectly when we first bought it.

Something we did screwed it up.

Does anyone have any advice?

reply to post by XxNightAngelusxX


Perhaps check if the clock, Date and time settings for the computer are set correctly.

as far as the monitor goes all i can say is perhaps the problem is driver related. You may have more luck setting the computer back to an earlier state.
Which OS are you running? A list of computer hardware. These will help to diagnose the issues, provided you can get the monitor to work.
Good luck

ThoughtIsMadness
reply to post by XxNightAngelusxX

 

Perhaps check if the clock, Date and time settings for the computer are set correctly.

as far as the monitor goes all i can say is perhaps the problem is driver related. You may have more luck setting the computer back to an earlier state.
Which OS are you running? A list of computer hardware. These will help to diagnose the issues, provided you can get the monitor to work.
Good luck

edit on 26-1-2014 by ThoughtIsMadness because: (no reason given)

Why?

as far as the monitor goes all i can say is perhaps the problem is driver related. You may have more luck setting the computer back to an earlier state.
Which OS are you running? A list of computer hardware. These will help to diagnose the issues, provided you can get the monitor to work.
Good luck

It was running Windows XP, and is now running Tiny 7.

reply to post by XxNightAngelusxX


It almost sounds like your dns server is behind it.

Try using opendns or something just to see if that is it?

" The little paragraph goes on to say that the certificate is untrusted or something."

Sounds like your browser settings.
Uncheck the "require web certificates" option.




If Fire Fox -
Tools
Options
Security > uncheck Block reported attack site

Sure it's similar with other browsers.

I hear the reported attack site warning, is troublesome because the NSA or what have you has blocked safe conspiracy sites for example- though would look into that.

All suggestions noted

I'll look into all of it once the damn thing decides to turn on.

Do you have a way to test the monitor on another machine?
Do you have a way to test the computer with a different monitor?

Once you get past the hardware issue above...

If it's a Windows machine do you have a registered copy to do a format and reinstall?
Try one of the flavors of Linux if you do not have a registered copy of Windows as you can get that full OS for free.

If its from a "flea" market and only $90...I'd say it was prob the computer itself. Then, without anticipating problems with an inexpensive unit and not expecting any issues, you slammed it with programs.

Didnt you wonder why it was at a flea market and "beautiful' for only $90?

(ps I do myself buy things at f.markets and resales etc...just not any electronics)

I have a similar problem. its because my ip is blacklisted. You can check and see if yours is.

Go here and get your extenral ip address. It will be at the top of the page.
www.whatismyip.com...

go here and put that ip in the blacklist search
mxtoolbox.com...

You can check the monitor by going into its menu, if you get the menu then its good.

The computer may have a bad video card.

shaneslaughta
I have a similar problem. its because my ip is blacklisted. You can check and see if yours is.

I see..and which layer of the OSI model explains how a blacklisted IP causes a monitor or CPU to not turn on? =P

Once the OP gets past that bigger issue then we can worry about DNS and blacklisted IP addresses.

sounds like

needs to have security / permissions reset to medium level. sounds like it is over-reacting to certificates authenticity. i'd follow the suggestions of the guy who said it may be certificate related problem

opethPA

shaneslaughta
I have a similar problem. its because my ip is blacklisted. You can check and see if yours is.

I see..and which layer of the OSI model explains how a blacklisted IP causes a monitor or CPU to not turn on? =P

Once the OP gets past that bigger issue then we can worry about DNS and blacklisted IP addresses.

I was clearly referring to the failure to load certain pages. Not the separate hardware failure!

shaneslaughta
I was clearly referring to the failure to load certain pages. Not the separate hardware failure!

Now that you edited your post to include the monitor part it makes sense .

reply to post by opethPA


Accidentally hit reply instead of preview in my haste to help.

shaneslaughta
reply to post by opethPA

 

Accidentally hit reply instead of preview in my haste to help.

Yup I know how that goes..

Once they get the monitor/computer issue resolved their are a couple of good ideas:

1. Certs first
2. DNS (easy to troubleshoot)
3. Blacklisted IP (link to checker posted)

Best of luck, let us know what you find.

reply to post by XxNightAngelusxX


Does the monitor display anything at all when you start up the PC? If not I wouldn't say you have a driver problem, since the BIOS would use a default dispay driver until the OS starts up. The only way I could see it being a driver problem is if the motherboard is very outdated (VGA only) and someone installed a new video card (e.g. HDMI) then it might be a driver problem.

What kind of connection are you using to connect the monitor to the PC? Did you try a different monitor?

As for the connection, it sounds like you may have installed some malware.
If you can get your monitor up, try running Malwarebytes and if all else fails, run HijackThis.

p.s. is it a laptop or pc?

before trying to do any cleaning or tinkering with the inside of the machine, unplug it from the wall and then remove excess voltage by using the unplugged electrical cord end, and rub it on the back of the computer case where it originally plugged into it. look up how to ground yourself from any potential power still existing in an unplugged machine, so you don't get electrocuted

may need to clean the various parts of the machine, including the cpu processor, cpu fan and ram sticks. but to do that, you have to take it apart. one of the problem is, once you remove the cpu fan section, it may bring the cpu up with it, thus revealing the cpu processor section that attaches the cpu itself (and attached cpu fan) to the motherboard and it contains a hundred or so prongs that have to line up precisely when reinstalled into the motherboard. if not reinstalled correctly the pins bend and then the thing won't turn on. and you have to sit with a tiny object and straighten out every bent pin, which can take more time than most are willing to do. it's very tedious and frustrating. have to make sure the release lever for the cpu process unit is in the release position when putting it back in.

on top of that, you may need new thermal paste between the cpu fan and the cpu. if they are stuck together by the thermal paste, it's probably best to leave it that way, although sometimes someone has put too much thermal paste between the cpu and the cpu fan and it negatively impacts the ability of heat sink transference of heat. too much thermal paste and not enough heat transference and thus the cpu processor and the motherboard overheat. not enough thermal paste and same problem.

if it's your graphics card, remove the side of the computer and turn the computer on to see if the fan on the graphics card is moving, if not, the only solution i know of, short of buying a new graphics card, is to keep the side of the computer case off, and use a house fan to keep the inside of the machine cool. the problem here is air flow issues. if you direct the air flow in the wrong way, it can trap hot air inside the case, so the house fan has to be directed inside the case at an angle so the air inside will be redirected outside of the case. the other potential problem with the graphics card is if someone removed it and plugged it back in incorrectly. there's a little cord that comes out of the graphics card unit and typically has more than one slot it can plug into. if plugged into the wrong socket, it won't work.

could be the power supply. if blowing it out with compressed air for that purpose, you're still not getting power, you may need to replace the power supply. you need to know what type of power supply that particular computer needs.

on the outside / back of the machine is a little switch, typically directly below where you plug the power cord into the machine case. if the voltage doesn't match your power supply, it can keep the machine from turning on.

there's also a tiny thing called a jumper. every machine is different, so the settings for the jumper may be different. make, year, model of the machine usually will reveal if the jumper is there, what you need to do to reset it and etc. this part is very painstaking and specific. almost as bad as straightening out bent pins. this resets the bios. there's a way to manually reset bios without even being logged into windows or messing with the machine, but i don't recall what it is and it may be different, depending your comp specs. you can probably google it by asking for manual bios reset.

it could take a week or more to fix it yourself, only to find out some part is irreparably broken, so proceed with the understanding of your time available.

and whatever you do, don't follow any of my advice if you have an official guide for your computer type to follow. they will have the most relevant and up to date information.

reply to post by kx12x


My video card still displays the bios through hdmi output. No os installed. I guess it could be different for each vendor.

Cant hurt to check though.


OP: Was this PC out in the cold for a while before being turned on? I have popped a power supply from bringing in a pc from the cold and turning it on. I imagine that could effect any part inside.
Just a thought.

undo


before trying to do any cleaning or tinkering with the inside of the machine, unplug it from the wall and then remove excess voltage by using the unplugged electrical cord end, and rub it on the back of the computer case where it originally plugged into it. look up how to ground yourself from any potential power still existing in an unplugged machine, so you don't get electrocuted

That will not discharge capacitors in the power supply. Not to mention its a 12 volt system unless you open the power supply you will be ok.

undo
there's also a tiny thing called a hopper. every machine is different, so the settings for the hopper may be different. make, year, model of the machine usually will reveal if the hopper is there, what you need to do to reset it and etc. this part is very painstaking and specific. almost as bad as straightening out bent pins.

Whats a hopper?

Im 26 and have been building systems since i was 14....never heard that one.
I think your talking about a jumper to reset the bios.