Won't connect to yahoo or google

Question

Level 1

5 points

Won't connect to yahoo or google

Here's a weird one. For the last week or so, I have not been able to connect to any Yahoo or Google site. Mail hasn't received from my primary email server since Feb 8, and most (but not all) of my RSS feeds are down. Safari (4.0.4) cannot open the page of any Yahoo or Google site because "Safari can't connect to the server..." It's not a Safari problem however, as the same or equivalent thing happens no matter what browser I use. (Firefox, OmniWeb, Stainless, Sunrise, Wyzo) All other websites are connected with no problem. It's just Yahoo and Google I can't connect to...which means I have to get my email from my mobile phone. (micro screen)
As I'm an OTR truck driver and am presently away from my home DSL, my internet access is via SPRINT using a Sierra Wireless USB T598 Rev 1.0 broadband aircard.
I've run every maintenance/repair program I have, (Onyx, Preferential Treatment ect.) and all software is up to date.

MacBook 13" aluminum unibody, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Feb 14, 2010 9:11 PM

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Answer 1

jaykog

Level 2

225 points

Feb 14, 2010 10:37 PM in response to MDoorkeeper

Have you tried emptying the cache on Safari and Firefox? or Maybe you can try to flush the DNS cache
http://www.ehow.com/how4531053flush-dns-cache-mac-os.html

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Answer 2

MDoorkeeper Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 15, 2010 9:18 AM in response to jaykog

Yes I did empty the caches. Just now flushed DNS cache. No joy, Safari still won't have anything to do with Yahoo or Google. Haven't tried Firefox yet. Like I said, weird.

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Answer 3

etresoft

Level 8

46,086 points

Feb 15, 2010 9:47 AM in response to MDoorkeeper

Similar reports in other threads have been traced back to PeerGuardian.

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Answer 4

MDoorkeeper Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 15, 2010 11:56 AM in response to etresoft

Just uninstalled PeerGuardian, removed all traces of it from my hard disk(THAT was a chore!), and flushed DNS cache again. Can get to Yahoo! startpage but cannot sign in or access any news links or go anywhere from there. Still won't connect with Google at all. Any other ideas?

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Answer 5

etresoft

Level 8

46,086 points

Feb 15, 2010 12:28 PM in response to MDoorkeeper

If you had PeerGuardian, that was certainly the cause. Are you sure you removed it all? Such programs are best removed by their own uninstaller. Download Peerguardian again and run the uninstaller. Then reboot.

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Answer 6

MDoorkeeper Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 15, 2010 2:28 PM in response to etresoft

What I did was to uninstall using AppCleaner and then, when I noticed PeerGuardian Growls still showing up, I searched using EasyFind, which is set to search the entire hard disk. It found a lot of files, (plists, kexts, ect) some in hidden folders. I then manually tossed these into the trash and emptied the trash. Then I rebooted. Had to reboot twice, but now everything connects...except I'm still having trouble getting Tor to connect to the Tor network. Can't prove it yet but my gut feeling is that this is a seperate and unrelated problem.
What I don't understand is why this problem with PeerGuardian suddenly showed up. I've had it installed for the better part of a year with no problem whatsoever. What changed?
Anyway, thanks a lot for your help.

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Answer 7

etresoft

Level 8

46,086 points

Feb 15, 2010 5:02 PM in response to MDoorkeeper

MDoorkeeper wrote:
I'm still having trouble getting Tor to connect to the Tor network. Can't prove it yet but my gut feeling is that this is a seperate and unrelated problem.

Perhaps you got a little carried away with the manual deletion. I'm surprised it didn't render your machine unbootable.

The only legitimate users of Tor are the US government agencies that created it.

What I don't understand is why this problem with PeerGuardian suddenly showed up. I've had it installed for the better part of a year with no problem whatsoever. What changed?

PeerGuardian regularly updates its databases using big blacklist databases. Those databases are always getting updated and are notoriously bad. The only thing worse than no security is a false sense of security.

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Answer 8

Mar 1, 2010 2:15 PM in response to etresoft

I am the administrator ("Dad")and have Apple's parental controls for my two sons. If I click the box for Safari to discern sites, they can't connect to parts of yahoo or google. If I uncheck the box, they can. Even if I enter the exact addresses into the list of allowed sites, they cannot connect. (I'm talking about some basic areas of yahoo, google and myspace that are not really of any concern to me.) I have been frustrated with this for weeks, but only today discovered the issue definitely directly relates to Apple's parental controls. But, I don't know what to do about it... ?

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