Solved Lowes.com - Only site I can not access properly

[golem]

This has been happening on and off for the past year but is now a terminal problem. First noticed problems with their site search box always dropping down (at each page change) with unsolicited suggested findings from a search that was performed a year ago, this was while using Firefox. This annoyance required me to click on a blank space for it to retract the search suggestions. This over time progressed to the cart not allowing me to check out. Most often after clicking the "complete transaction" button it would simply display a blank page or a page prompting me to re-sign in but when attempting to it tells me my UN/PW is incorrect. This ultimately morphed into completely unusable as now it simply goes into an infinity loop right after opening the site.

Early on I had switched to using Edge to complete transactions but now that browser is exhibiting many of the same actions to the point it can't be used successfully. Even the rarely used Waterfox Classic which scarily was working no longer is with Lowes.com. Frustratingly this is the only site I have any issues with. I've cleared cache, cookies and history for each browser. Tried each in private mode with all plugins and extensions disabled. The only AV on comp is Defender and it also happens with NordVPN switched off. Forgot to add -- Yes, all browsers are latest version.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[michael diemer]

Have you tried "User Agent Switcher?" It's a firefox add-on, in case you don't know. It allows you to set Windows 10 and the latest Firefox as your system and browser. Which in some cases will spoof software intended to work only on later systems and browsers. I have had some success with it, but I haven't tried it for this sort of problem.

 

[golem]

Appreciate the suggestion michael!

I did give the Firefox extension a try but unfortunately it made no difference no matter which browser spoof was used. The site initially opens to the Lowes.com homepage, within a second switches to the plumbing search results performed a year ago (including propagation of search findings drop box), then proceed into an infinite reloading loop.

All history, cache, and cookies were again cleared before and after system reboot.

 

[michael diemer]

Wow, what a bizarre problem. Never heard of anything like it. Good luck!

 

[file3456]

It might, might be a DNS cache issue. Or you have something running there that's messing around with the TCP/IP stack.

Go to the Windows start orb. In search enter cmd Right click command prompt and run as Admin. Now enter the following: ipconfig /flushdns.

Now delete all cache and cookies once more in Firefox et al and try again.

If there's still issues we'll try something else.

 

[golem]

Thanks for taking an interest F22!

Flushed the DNS as suggested and received a "Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache" notification. Sadly the infinite loop remains.

 

[file3456]

From what I see in the Gif it's working as I would think it would. You type in a search and it drops down with suggestions.

Most often after clicking the "complete transaction" button it would simply display a blank page or a page prompting me to re-sign in but when attempting to it tells me my UN/PW is incorrect.

Does this still happen after clearing the cache and cookies?

as now it simply goes into an infinity loop right after opening the site.

Explain to me more about this. Does it still happen?

 

[golem]

Explain to me more about this. Does it still happen?

The loop you see in my attachment above is what I get whenever I place lowes.com into the address bar and click enter. For a quick second it opens the Lowes homepage then immediately proceeds, without any prompting by me, to switch the page to the plumbing section. As soon as this happens it immediately begins (all by itself) to populate the site search box, drops down a few suggestions, then the page refreshes to start this behavior all over again into infinitum (or until I close the tab). The image I attached above is not a series of screenshots depicting my click-through of that site, that is the devil doing it all on its own. Because of this I am unable to navigate to any page on the site, which includes checkout.

 

[file3456]

What does the bookmark URL look like? Any query in the link? It'll have a ? somewhere in the link. It should just be https://lowes.com

I'm also wondering if perhaps you have some software there messing around with things since this is happening across multiple browsers. Download and run Autoruns. After Autoruns loads everything which may take a good 15 seconds. (the old version was never like that) go to File and save the ARN file. Zip that ARN file and upload here and I'll have a look at it.

Autoruns for Windows - Sysinternals | Microsoft Learn

 

[golem]

Much appreciate the additional suggestion F22. That said -- Think I got the issue sussed.

While I would swear that I have, on numerous occasions of attempted trouble shooting, disabled all extensions and plugins in conjunction with safe boot network-only use I must have missed the one add-on that most would think innocuous -- LastPass! I've been using it for years with mostly no issues. After performing another complete non-core software disable it cropped up as the culprit when enabled and went away when disabled. Amazing how it only effected that single website so badly.

I'll give it a bit of a trial tomorrow before marking this thread solved.

 

[golem]

It's 100% verified that LastPass was the culprit. After a day of testing and use the issue can be duplicated and eliminated at will. Wish I hadn't inadvertently overlooked it during the troubleshooting process. Interesting how whatever "upgrades" that were being made incrementally to LasPass first reared its head with Firefox then over time progressed to the other browsers, each being debilitated at differing rates until they were all rendered useless when using just that one site.

Thanks again for the replies to what was my dilemma. Aside from no longer having an issue I've also come away smarter with new (to me) software insights and usages.

 

[file3456]

First read this: LastPass - Wikipedia

Now read this: https://www.sevenforums.com/site-st...-could-not-processed-why-not.html#post3526361

I don't recommend the use of an extension for your passwords. Even Bitwarden's.

And their compliance. So if you're a doctor, fear not. Compliance | Bitwarden

There's also a bug bounty program (finding code bugs, reporting them and making some cash).

 

[golem]

Thanks F22!

You have spurred my much delayed intentions. For some time I've been wanting to ditch LastPass due to the known and disclosed security breaches. My hesitation was due to (as the poster in the linked thread eluded to) the all too many passwords, both active and semi-active, that I've accumulated and the daunting task it would be to migrate. Looks like Bitwarden has a CSV migration option for LastPass to alleviate this concern. I'll perform a little due diligence and if all pans out will be switching over in short order.

Funny that, the HIPAA compliance reference. What amazes me is the CCP(A) compliance.

- - - Updated - - -

Hey there F22!

It didn't take long to deem Bitwarden was worth giving a try. It had no problems absorbing the way too many logins that were imported from LastPass via CSV. This also prompted me to accomplish some much needed housecleaning.

It so far seems to work flawlessly with Firefox and Edge. Just for its-n-giggles I coaxed their Firefox extension onto the Waterfox Classic I use only on occasion when needing to make use of an XUL based extension. This was performed using Michael's User Agent Switcher suggestion from post #2 above. While not fully integrated it does allow the option to sidebar it for easy copy/paste. That said, it no longer resides on the legacy browser simply for security reasons, it was just curiosity.

Thanks again to all!

 

[file3456]

Glad it works out.