Can't access Facebook in IE or Firefox.

-System specs at end.-

Hi all,

I've been having this problem since last weekend, and I'm slowly running out of ideas to what it could be so any advice or tips would be great please.

First of all, last night I booted into Ubunto 10 and could access Facebook ok without any problems, so I think it's not a hardware problem with my broadband dongle.

Now here's my problem;

When I try to access Facebook all I get is a blank page and the message in the status bar of Firefox says "waiting for static.ak.fbcdn.net" and the page never loads.

If I go into my options in Firefox and disable java script the page will load but I can't post updates or chat.

If I leave java script enabled but type https for the facebook address it will load fine but when I click on any link it then tries to load the http version and stalls again.

What I've done so far;

- I've done these steps numerous times and rebooted/scanned between removal and installs. Installed one step at a time, etc.) -

Cleared browser cache and cookies, both IE and Firefox.
Pinged Welcome to Facebook - OK
Pinged static.ak.fbcdn.net - OK
Uninstalled Firefox and Java.
Ran CCleaner to clean out old files and registry.
Installed the latest Java for 32Bit IE & 64Bit IE.
Installed the latest Firefox.
Checked my hosts file and removed all entrys and put it back to standard. (Entries were added by SpyBot S&D as part of it's immunisation process)
Scanned my system with Avast, SpyBot S&D, MalwareBytes Anti-Malware, SuperAntiSpyware & Windows Defender.
Scanned disk for file errors.
Scanned disk for file and sector errors.
Turned off Avast, Zonealarm & Windows Firewall. (After bootup but not disabled from startup through MSConfig, will try that tonight)

Basically, I can't access Facebook through either IE8 or Firefox. (Not sure what version of Firefox but it is the latest download.) Unless I turn of javascript or use the https thing. No other site I've tried gives me any errors at all.

One thing I have noticed. In Firefox when Facebook hangs, if I click on Tools and bring up the error console, there are a LOT of errors from Facebook ending in .css which I think are javascript stylesheets? So it looks, if it's at all possible, that something on my system is corrupting the stylesheets sent from Facebook to me. If that is a possible cause, I'm thinking something in Avast or Zonealarm is scaning the network traffic and corrupting it, or part of it maybe thinking it's a danger? Is this possible? Am I on the right track? Would that explain why https would load ok but not the http?

At this point I think I'm running out of ideas before I give up and restore a disk image or install Windows 7 again. So anything I might not have thought about will be very helpfull.

Thanks all.

Alex Devlin



Windows 7 64Bit Home Premium
Avast FREE AntiVirus
Zonealarm Free
Windows Defender Turned on.
Windows Firewall Turned off.
SpyBot S&D Anti Spyware installed but not running. Run, update and scan system once per week.
MalwareBytes Anti-Malware Free Version Installed but not running. Run, update and scan sytem once per week.
SuperAntiSpyware Installed but not running. Run, update and scan once per week.
All Windows updates installed.

No other new software installs or updates done before this problem started except for Avast which is set to automatic updates, Windows Defender & any other recently released Windows updates.

I think I've covered everything

noobvious said:

alexdevlin said:

Basically, I can't access Facebook through either IE8 or Firefox.

Tews said:

Have you tried using a different browser?

I think he has...
Also, ken9122 has a good point with ZoneAlarm....I'd get rid of it too.

LOL, thanks for pointing that out

I'll try dumping ZoneAlarm. I had issues with it years ago and downloaded Yenc files from usenet so it wouldn't surprise me.

Keep any other ideas coming guys!

Alex Devlin

The last time I used spy bot it did not just install a spyware scanner, other software was added too. It installed some sort of real-time monitor for spyware... tea timer? I can't remember its name exactly. Maybe that is intercepting the Facebook browsing?

Make sure that this additional spy bot software is not running in your browser or system tray, if it is, disable / close it.

Rei Tumult said:

The last time I used spy bot it did not just install a spyware scanner, other software was added too. It installed some sort of real-time monitor for spyware... tea timer? I can't remember its name exactly. Maybe that is intercepting the Facebook browsing?

Make sure that this additional spy bot software is not running in your browser or system tray, if it is, disable / close it.

Yeah you're right about the name, TeaTimer, or close to it. It's not activated, at least it wasn't. but I'll double check it tonight too just to be sure.

*RESOLVED*

A big thank you guys, you all suggested to ditch Zonealarm and that was indeed the problem.

I started down the path of taking that out of the loop by disabling it after booting, but not stopping it from starting up in the first place. But then as usual at my age, I got distracted chasing a different possible cause and just never got back to it.

This is twice I've had Zonealarm screw up internet traffic, the other time was with Yenc files from usenet many years ago. And I have no idea why I installed it again apart from it was probably late one night and it's the first thing I thought of at the time. (And I like to know exactly what's conecting to the web from my system and where it's going. Something that windows firewall doesn't do, so I install a software firewall even if I'm behind a router on a network. Guess I'm just old and paranoid.

So if you ever hear of anyone else having this problem, now you know what the cause was.

Thanks again guys. I just needed a fresh set of eyes on the issue and you all did that excellently, even TEWS with his "obvious but already tried" answer that just made me smile. Thanks dude.

Thanks again y'all.

Alex Devlin

Tews said:

Glad its all sorted out!! My eyes aren't what they once were...

That's ok. I actually work in IT, imagine how I feel...

Alex Devlin