Hello All,

Recently, my home computer which is hard wired to the modem, has developed a weird problem. It has stopped going to 3 websites the family used regularly including Facebook. I have tried using the browsers Safari and Firefox. No matter how I search for the sights via Yahoo, MSN, Google search engines, I only get a blank screen and the address bar looks like it has loaded the main business webpage. We can access the sites using our home wi-fi via tablet or phone.

I went in search for answers via the Apple questions over the past several days. Nothing seems to help.

I spent of 2 hours of my life I will never get back messaging with Xfinity/Comcast regarding this. We went through settings, software updates, spam settings, etc. Nothing was changed based on all of their questions and trial/error settings. At the end of our texting conversation they wanted to know if I was happy with the problem being solved. Obviously the person on the other end was following a script. He/She was caught off guard when I typed No, I haven't been helped and the problem hasn't been solved.

I'm hoping one of the many Sigforum experts has experience with this problem and can help me solve it. Otherwise it's box the computer up and go to Apple.

Nothing has been changed intentionally in the household related to the computer that I am aware of.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

quote:

Originally posted by Knighthawk:
It has stopped going to 3 websites the family used regularly including Facebook. I have tried using the browsers Safari and Firefox. No matter how I search for the sights via Yahoo, MSN, Google search engines, I only get a blank screen and the address bar looks like it has loaded the main business webpage.

I've no clue what "the main business web page" even means.

First thing I'd try is install an entirely new browser, say Brave, not import anything from the existing browsers, and try going directly to the affected sites, rather than via search engine results.

If that worked the next thing I'd try is clearing all data (cache, cookies, etc.) in Safari and Firefox and try them again.

If a new browser didn't work or clearing all data in the old browsers didn't work I'd suspect a computer virus. (I more than half suspect it, anyway.)

Are y'all using a shared login on the computer? Does that login have the ability to do administrative tasks, such as install software, change system settings, etc.?

Are the browsers up to date? I had / have the same problem with Safari- My MacBook Air lost the ability to display 2 websites and a browser update brought them back.

My MacBook Pro seems to be stuck at Version 13.1.2 (13609.3.5.1.5) and can't display those 2 sites I mentioned and it can't be upgraded.

Good point, braillediver!

Knighthawk, is this a fairly old Mac, with very outdated browsers? As cryptographic standards advance, older browsers are unable to meet them and will stop working.

I think I have seen this one before. If I recall, browsers share cache and so if a link is busted on one browser, it can be busted on all. I would open all of your browsers and empty the cache. Maybe do Safari last. If that doesn't help, try the forums on macrumors.com. Those guys are helpful.

quote:

Originally posted by xd45man:
I think I have seen this one before. If I recall, browsers share cache ...

Not that I've ever seen.

If the above suggestions don't do the trick, I might suggest having your favorite malware checker do a complete scan.

Might be a bug in the latest versions of the OS or Safari. I have some of the same issues occasionally, even here on the forum.

Apple suggested turning off all extensions and ad blockers... didn't help.

What does seem to work is Chrome. I can have Safari and Chrome open side by side and Chrome will immediately pop open the sites that Safari stalls on. Hopefully a fix soon.

Clean my MAC reports no issues.

You may want to try to delete them from your favorites or bookmarks and type in the addresses again. I had the problem once and when I did that it worked. I just added the new ones back to my bookmarks or favorites. Don't ask me how but it did.

quote:

Originally posted by cparktd:

I can have Safari and Chrome open side by side and Chrome will immediately pop open the sites that Safari stalls on.

I have seen that behavior with a few websites.

ENSIGMATIC,

Main Business Web Page. Think of it like the main page that opens when you go to SIGforum (The front page that says Welcome to Sigforum, with the ENTER button and Sig P225 photo)

The entirely new Browser idea was what Xfinity/Comcast had me try during my phone conversation with them.

All of the cache, cookies, and any other thing that could house old data was also cleared as well during the Xfininy/Comcast phone call.

Shared Login: No, each of us have our own and Administrative Tasks are only done by after after the Password is entered. No one else knows the password.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by Knighthawk:
It has stopped going to 3 websites the family used regularly including Facebook. I have tried using the browsers Safari and Firefox. No matter how I search for the sights via Yahoo, MSN, Google search engines, I only get a blank screen and the address bar looks like it has loaded the main business webpage.

I've no clue what "the main business web page" even means.

First thing I'd try is install an entirely new browser, say Brave, not import anything from the existing browsers, and try going directly to the affected sites, rather than via search engine results.

If that worked the next thing I'd try is clearing all data (cache, cookies, etc.) in Safari and Firefox and try them again.

If a new browser didn't work or clearing all data in the old browsers didn't work I'd suspect a computer virus. (I more than half suspect it, anyway.)

Are y'all using a shared login on the computer? Does that login have the ability to do administrative tasks, such as install software, change system settings, etc.?

Braillediver,

My computer claims that all my software and apps are up to date. I just checked manually and see that the operating system is not up to date. I'm going to update that and start from there. Thank you for the suggestion.

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:
Are the browsers up to date? I had / have the same problem with Safari- My MacBook Air lost the ability to display 2 websites and a browser update brought them back.

My MacBook Pro seems to be stuck at Version 13.1.2 (13609.3.5.1.5) and can't display those 2 sites I mentioned and it can't be upgraded.

Everyone Else,

Thank you for your suggestions. I am going to do a new O.S. install and hopefully, that will solve the problems.

quote:

Originally posted by Knighthawk:
I just checked manually and see that the operating system is not up to date. I'm going to update that and start from there.

I suppose it's possible the browsers might use system cryptographic libraries that are not up-to-date because the OS is out-of-date.

How old is this computer?

Some firewalls, browser add ons or computer settings like “don’t run javascript” can block webpages for various reasons (nasty popups, certificate out of date, etc.). Normally they’ll give you a message on screen when that occurs, but not always. Just an idea if your browser machinations don’t pan out.

I had a similar problem with my iMac. Not matter what I tried there were a couple web sites it would not open with Safari. After talking with Apple, I finally updated my OS to the latest. It worked.

Try a different browser?

Check out Content Blockers on Safari as well as Paternal Controls. You may have to turn those off, stop you browser, and restart your machine. (Power off and restart)

My old iMac desktop won’t go to Sig Sauers website. At all. Same issue. I use Firefox. Tried Safari with no luck.