Errors causing URLs to not be found

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This seems to be a Win8 or 8.1 problem. I never see it on my other computers. I try to access a site, such as Newegg or Facebook (various others, but not all) and my browsers say that the URL cannot be found or does not exist. I usually start with Firefox, but switching to Opera, Maxthon, or IE results in the same problem. But, if I reboot the computer, all of the browsers can find the missing sites immediately.

This error does not happen if I run a Linux virtual machine in Virtualbox, but still under Win8.1. It does not happen when I use my Win7 or Mint computers, connected to the same router. So, my guess is that something is getting screwed up within 8.1. Has anyone else had this problem? Is there any way to fix it, other than having to reboot? Unfortunately, I can’t remember if it was happening before I moved from 8 to 8.1.

The computer is a Haswell i7 4770. Mobo: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD5H. I doubt that anything else matters.

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This is the first time I have heard of this. I would try a couple of things.

Clean out all the TIF and Cookies from all browsers. In IE I would try to set IE back to default. Internet Options, Advanced tab. Reset IE. You can also disable all add-ons and see if it works.

I have no idea what could affect all 4 browsers. Perhaps a Reset of Won 8.1 would be in order.

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ruirib – I haven’t tried the ping test. This problem is one I cannot induce, I have to wait and it appears. It seems that most of the times I have had it happen have been in the morning. My computer may be doing something that activates the problem shortly after I start it in the morning. I am not sure if it has ever happened a second time, after I reboot. The next time it happens, I will try the ping.

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When this happens, if you open a command prompt window and type:

ping URLYouWantToVisit

What do you get?

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Medico – Thanks for replying. It seems to me that this cannot be a browser issue, since various browsers have the same problem. Why would they all suddenly not have the problem after I reboot? I also have virtually no cookies in IE, since I rarely use it. I can try dumping them all.

It appears that something is happening when some web addresses are being converted to their numerical values.

I wish I could remember if this was happening under Win8. So far, I have found that there was nothing obvious to be gained by going from 8 to 8.1, but I assumed there were changes that might include security issues, so I went with the update. A couple of previously working applications stopped working, but I did not need them. My mouse developed the lag problem that MS has noted. They have a patch, but it didn’t solve the problem.

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I am thinking you may have a problem with the DNS resolving, which the ping command may help confirm. You should probably check the Event Viewer for system errors or warnings, as they can shed some light on what may be happening.

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The browsers themselves can be set to use a different DNS than the DNS that your Ethernet Adapter is set to, but I would not expect them all to be set at the same time, or to be reset when you reboot.

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I just ran the ipconnect/all command and got a lot of screen entries. Most of them said that this or that was enabled. I then tried the email ad link again. It gave another Invalid URL error.

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I just ran the ipconnect/all command and got a lot of screen entries. Most of them said that this or that was enabled. I then tried the email ad link again. It gave another Invalid URL error.

What you are looking for is the line that says DNS Servers for the Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection

C:UsersUser>ipconfig/all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Windows-7
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8168
Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-24-1D-7D-1A-
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::ecd9:a4f0
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.100.101
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.100.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 234890269
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-12-

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.100.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

If it does not change from the time you boot up and things are working to the time you have the problem, then The not the problem. If it does change, you would need to figure out why.

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ruirib – The only two sites that I am sure this happens with are Newegg.com and Facebook.com. There may be others, but I don’t recall them right now.

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Now while your browsers are working, do a “ipconfig/all” and write down the IP address of the DNS that you are currently using.

Then when it fails the next time, do “ipconfig/all” again, and see if it is connected to a different DNS.

If it is the same, then the DNS is probably not the problem, but if it is different, then the next step is to figure out why.

It could be that there is a certain randomness in your computers start up, or someone could be high-jacking your DNS.

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I just now had an invalid URL error with Newegg. It happened from an email link (ad). I decided to ping Newegg. Message says
packets sent = 4
received – 0
lost = 4

Then I pinged Yahoo and all 4 packets were received.

Curiously, I was able to connect to Newegg from the browser by not using the email link. Then I used the email link and it connected. This has happened often. I only recall Newegg and Facebook as having this behavior.

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After getting the Invalid URL (per my last message), I rebooted the computer. Then I went to the Newegg ad and clicked the link again. This time it worked perfectly.

In this instance, the computer did not show the problem in the morning, but did show it after 5 PM. So, my prior observation that it might be dependent on time of day is apparently wrong.

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Unfortunately not much can be gathered from what you said. More data is needed.

If I understood correctly, you don’t lose connection to the internet during the problems, is this a correct inference?

What are you using in terms of security, what apps?

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ruirib – I do not lose connection to the internet. In fact the browsers work fine for most sites, but have this strange behavior with at least two. I am using the MS security software that is part of Win8.1 (defender and the fire wall). I have various on-demand scanners that I run regularly (SuperAntiSpyware and MalwareBytes). I also have Spybot installed, which is a different kind of application, but the problem has been around for longer than this has been installed. I also run an on-ling Panda scan once in a while (this is also a recent thing).

I just checked Firefox and confirmed that it has no ad-ons.

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I confess that makes it very hard to figure out what may be going on. What sites does this happen with?

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Prescott – Thanks. I captured the output and will paste in in below. I suppose I should do a second capture, when I see the problem again.

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Haswell
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) I210 Gigabit Network Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 94-DE-80-6B-DE-C5
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Ethernet 2:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Ethernet Connection I217-V
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 94-DE-80-6B-DE-B5
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::89d9:4f21:89f6:9882%3(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.110(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, December 03, 2013 7:41:50 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, December 04, 2013 7:41:53 AM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 328523392
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-19-56-2E-4C-94-DE-80-6B-DE-C5
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter VMware Network Adapter VMnet1:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet1
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-50-56-C0-00-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::d864:699:f2c5:6212%10(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.140.1(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 83906646
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-19-56-2E-4C-94-DE-80-6B-DE-C5
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter VMware Network Adapter VMnet8:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet8
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-50-56-C0-00-08
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::b466:9817:871a:440c%11(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.153.1(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 100683862
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-19-56-2E-4C-94-DE-80-6B-DE-C5
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.{31D86330-2B60-4BB9-AFA3-76E4ACF696C4}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{7FC38BA5-A06D-486C-A50C-DC74AA74F5AA}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{3D995D62-D0CC-41A2-8FEB-14D41460F9FB}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

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Has this ever been resolved?

I built a new system last week and ran immediately ran into this exact issue as I attempted to download my favorite system utilities and security tools. Some sites would appear to be fine, yet others would yield the same message that the original poster mentioned in the thread-starter. I found that the same url that failed in Firefox would sometimes, but not always, open in Chrome or IE. And vice-versa. There seemed to be no consistency or clues as to why this was happening. In some cases, just to move things along with my setup, I’d go to one of my XP machines and download the files to a USB stick in order to install them on the new 8.1 system. Clearly, there’s nothing wrong with my home internet connection.

After struggling with this behavior, it occurred to me that I’d seen the same thing on 3 other machines that I’d recently upgraded to 8.1 for friends, but didn’t recognize it as a problem specific to 8.1. I thought it was just a temporary problem with my connection or ISP. Thinking back, however, I was reminded that my XP machines and my one Windows 7 system never failed to connect to a website during this time.

There are plenty of similar reports, as evidenced by web searches, and at least one proposed solution that seems to improve the situation. The simplest proposal was as-follows:

Run CMD “Command Prompt” as admininstrator.
In the command line type: netsh winsock reset
Press Enter then restart your PC.

I did that on the affected machine, and it seemed to fix my problem. Hurray! After a while, though, it reappeared, but didn’t seem to be as bad as it was initially. Reading further, I found another site that repeated the advice listed above, but also mentioned clearing the winsock catalog. (Don’t have that syntax handy, so won’t try to list it…)

At any rate, it doesn’t look like this is an isolated case — a lot of others are experiencing the same thing. It’s also possible that some users don’t recognize it as a problem if it only results in the occasional error message indicating the inability to access a given website. Having the luxury of being able to try the same url simultaneously on multiple computers and only having it fail on the one loaded with Windows 8.1, makes me smell a rat.

I’ll be watching this thread in hopes of seeing a definitive answer. and will pass along whatever I learn that may be of assistance, as well.

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This thread is getting a bit L….O….N….G and even though I’ve skimmed through it, I’ve not read every word.

But in my skimming, one word did not pop out at me and that was the “HOST” file.
The HOST file determines exactly what URL’s your browser(s) are allowed to go to.

I’ve used a little program called “Hosts Manager” for several years. It can download a list of bad url’s and put them in the HOST file, which prevents your browser from ever going to those sites. It’s totally possible, that if you examine your own HOST file, you will find the URL’s you seek have been added there. Then they are re-directed back to your own computer. All browsers will use that same file, so if you’re not able to get to a desired URL, with any browser, it’s a pretty safe bet that the desired URL is listed in your HOST file. Removing it from that HOST file, will allow you access.
With the “Hosts Manager”, I can actually Turn Off the HOST file so it no longer stops me from going to any web site.

There are a number of Security Programs that add URL’s to your HOST file. Spybot Search & Destroy and ‘Spyware Blaster’ are two that come to mind. Generally speaking, you have little or NO control over your HOST file. But, “Hosts Manager” gives you Total Control.
Being somewhat of a Control Freak myself I do like the control that the ‘Hosts Manager’ gives me.
The program is both small and FREE, so anyone can have it and use it.

When you first open the program you will see something like this:

Just click on the Green ‘H’ and it will turn off the hosts file and the H will turn RED.

You can also select the servers from which you can download new entries to the Hosts file.

Recently, I had my own problem with my browser not wanting to go to certain web sites and sho’ nuff’ I found those addresses in my Hosts file.
So I used Hosts Manager to temporarily turn off the HOST file and VOILA!, I was able to go to any site I pleased.
I could have also edited my HOST file, to remove those addresses, but that’s too much like work. :rolleyes:

Good Luck and Happy Holidays!
The Doctor

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For my specific situation, it seems very unlikely that the HOSTS file could cause the problem, as any given url (or domain) does not fail every time, and can even work in Chrome or IE, but not Firefox. If there’s an entry in the HOSTS file that’s causing this, the result should be consistent and exhibit the same behavior across all browsers.

But thanks for weighing in — it may help somebody…

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For my specific situation, it seems very unlikely that the HOSTS file could cause the problem, as any given url (or domain) does not fail every time, and can even work in Chrome or IE, but not Firefox. If there’s an entry in the HOSTS file that’s causing this, the result should be consistent and exhibit the same behavior across all browsers.

No, your problem doesn’t seem to be Hosts file -related, though HostsMan can bypass what could be related to your problem, the Windows’ DNS Client Service.

In most cases the DNS Client Service is not needed, it is recommended to turn it off. These instructions are intended for a single (home-user) PC. If your machine is part of a “Domain”, check with your IT Dept. before applying this work-around. This especially applies to Laptop users who travel or bring their work machines home. Make sure to reset the Service (if needed) prior to connecting (reboot required) to your work Domain …

To resolve this issue (manually) open the “Services Editor”

Start | Run (type) “services.msc” (no quotes)
Win8 users – Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services
Scroll down to “DNS Client”, Right-click and select: Properties – click Stop
Click the drop-down arrow for “Startup type”
Select: Manual (recommended) or Disabled click Apply/Ok and restart.

Hostsman includes an option to turn off the DNS Service

From http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

Windows’ own automatic network discovery is frequently not the best thing for a stand alone PC either (it’s primarily built/designed for business/networked computers), I always set (Internet Options > Connections tab > LAN settings) to NOT to automatically detect settings.

3rd party browsers usually have their own connection settings, usually set to the System settings by default – if you want to test without affecting anything System-wide, in Firefox > (Alt) Tools > Options > Advanced tab > Network > click the Settings button for connections and set No Proxy. You may need to restart Firefox for this setting to take effect.

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Hi folks, I had this problem too and I _think_ I fixed it…

I have, like Bob W, a Gigabyte Z87X-UD4H motherboard. It’s brand new and I started experiencing the issue as soon as I’d fully installed win8.1 with all available updates – the back end of last week. My build was Win7 pro -> upgrade to win8.0 pro -> store online upgrade to 8.1 Pro
I can add some detail to the symptoms already described – firstly, any suggested fix that involves rebooting the PC is going to be hard to prove out because rebooting on its own seems to change which urls are broken.
I have seen “404” messages and missing images on pages which are fine on my RT 8.1 tablet, and bizarrely I regularly arrived at my router’s login page whilst browsing links on cnet’s news pages. Resetting the router, or ipconfig/release and /renew had an effect but didn’t fix the issue. Like some of you I assumed it was some sort of DNS issue but then I discovered that I couldn’t print to my wireless printer, until I gave up & plugged in a usb lead. So I suspected the network drivers and on Tuesday went looking for driver updates for the network hardware. The latest version at Gigabyte was already installed, so instead I went directly to Intel. here you need to select “Ethernet components”, “Ethernet Controllers” and “Intel Ethernet Connection I217-V”.
The link directly to the driver I downloaded is here (64 bit version).
Since downloading and installing this driver on Tuesday I haven’t seen a single repeat of the problem. I have been running IE, Chrome and Firefox together and all seems fine.

For anyone with different hardware, can I suggest that you try to borrow a PCI network card and see if using that instead of the motherboard network gets you a fix? That was my next step but it seems I don’t need to go that far.

Hope this helps someone!

Nige B

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Hi folks, I had this problem too and I _think_ I fixed it…

I have, like Bob W, a Gigabyte Z87X-UD4H motherboard. It’s brand new and I started experiencing the issue as soon as I’d fully installed win8.1 with all available updates – the back end of last week. My build was Win7 pro -> upgrade to win8.0 pro -> store online upgrade to 8.1 Pro
I can add some detail to the symptoms already described – firstly, any suggested fix that involves rebooting the PC is going to be hard to prove out because rebooting on its own seems to change which urls are broken.
I have seen “404” messages and missing images on pages which are fine on my RT 8.1 tablet, and bizarrely I regularly arrived at my router’s login page whilst browsing links on cnet’s news pages. Resetting the router, or ipconfig/release and /renew had an effect but didn’t fix the issue. Like some of you I assumed it was some sort of DNS issue but then I discovered that I couldn’t print to my wireless printer, until I gave up & plugged in a usb lead. So I suspected the network drivers and on Tuesday went looking for driver updates for the network hardware. The latest version at Gigabyte was already installed, so instead I went directly to Intel. here you need to select “Ethernet components”, “Ethernet Controllers” and “Intel Ethernet Connection I217-V”.
The link directly to the driver I downloaded is here (64 bit version).
Since downloading and installing this driver on Tuesday I haven’t seen a single repeat of the problem. I have been running IE, Chrome and Firefox together and all seems fine.

For anyone with different hardware, can I suggest that you try to borrow a PCI network card and see if using that instead of the motherboard network gets you a fix? That was my next step but it seems I don’t need to go that far.

Hope this helps someone!

Nige B

Welcome to the Lounge and thank you for posting your solution. Some Intel Windows 8.1 drivers seem to be a bit problematic, at this moment. One wonders how this is possible with such a big profile company as Intel.

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