Related links on CNN not working

[Trieste]

Whenever I click on 'related content' on CNN.com, it gives me the error "Firefox can't establish a connection to the server at traffic.outbrain.com."

I made sure Firefox is allowed through Windows Firewall, and I tried disabling adblock plus to see if that was the culprit - it was not. Something is blocking outbrain (the service that CNN.com uses to sift through articles and bring related content to the bottom of the screen). Has anyone had this problem? Were you able to fix it? It's really annoying.

[Vekseid]

What's your hosts file look like?

Often located in
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc

[Trieste]

Under file:///C:/WINDOWS/system32/drivers/ or its subfolders, there is nothing containing a hosts file or subfolder. When I do a system search for hosts, I find a file under my documents called hosts, with a system file named hosts in it, but I can't open the file.

I'm not really sure what I'm looking for, though.

[Avis habilis]

Try looking in here: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc

The file is just called "hosts", no extension. Your machine might be set to hide files without one.

[Caeli]

The hosts file might also be hidden. If that's the case, you'll have to change that in your folder options before being able to see it.

[Trieste]

So, I can see it, it's there. As I said in the last post, I cannot open it. Probably because it has no extension? Or am I supposed to open it in Firefox, or what?

[Caeli]

Open with Notepad.

[Oreo]

I could be totally off base, but I downloaded this Bitberry software free file viewer 2010 and can open just about any file now. Even those pesky ones that say 'cannot' be read. O.o I generally don't touch them, but I can look to my heart's content.

[Trieste]

Okay, so I was able to open it in wordpad. traffic.outbrain.com is in the HOSTS file - should I remove it?

[Avis habilis]

Depends. Is there an actual IP beside it, or does it say "127.0.0.1"? If the latter, ditch it.

[Trieste]

Yeah, it has the 127 next to it. Let me see how that works...

[Trieste]

Nope, tried deleting, saving, and rebooting the computer and still no go, not even with a cleared cache and cookies.

[Soran]

Have you tried with any other browsers, like Google Chrome? If it works with Chrome, then you may just have to uninstall FF and reinstall it (after saving your bookmarks) Usually any issues I've had with FF are fixed with a remove an fresh install.

[Trieste]

Took me a while, but I finally snagged the time to look at this. When I try in Google Chrome, it can't connect either. I tried a fresh install of firefox anyway, just in case, but no dice.

I'm out of ideas on what could be the cause (was stumped when I posted this, frankly). :/

[Soran]

Damn...sorry hun, I thought that would do it. I'll have a search around over the weekend see if others have had this issue and let you know what I find.

[Trieste]

I've been googling my fingers off, but I can't find a solution, so another set of eyes can't hurt.

[ShamshielDF]

My own suggestions:

A) Rename the Hosts file to something different.  This should prevent the system from trying to read it at all.  For most people, they don't really need a hosts file for things anyway, but a lot of anti-adware programs work by basically redirecting any known ad site to 127.0.0.1.  However, it is possible that you have a hosts file for other things.  Usually, though, it is more for a business environment not running their own DNS servers.

A bit of background on the Hosts file and DNS for Non-technical users:  Think of the hosts file as something like a phone book.  Whenever you try to go to a site or browse to another machine, your computer looks to the hosts file first, similar to looking something up in an old fashioned personal notebook.  It may be out of date, the numbers may be wrong, but it's right there.  The way anti-adware works is similar to the idea of listing every commercial number in your phone book as your home number.  Whenever you try to call it, you get yourself (or a busy tone).  Same thing for ad sites.  127.0.0.1 is the universal loopback address, effectively a phone number that, no matter where you dial it from will always be the phone you dialed from.

If your computer can't find the server your trying to find in the hosts file, it tries to look at your DNS server.  Without getting into the nitty gritty particulars of how the DNS system works, think of this more like dialing information and getting a phone number from them.  Generally, their going to be correct, considering that their the ones assigning the numbers out in the first place.  Sometimes things may be out of date or out of synch, but usually it all clears up fairly quick (ie. within 24 hours by and large).

By renaming your hosts file, we're effectively hiding the personal phone book from Windows, so it will have to call information for every server it wants to talk to.

As with any metaphor, this isn't perfect, but it suffices for giving an idea of what is going on.

B) Check your Internet Options via the control panel.  Even if this is largely an IE configuration tool, most other browsers will look at this for their configuration.  Go to the Connections tab and see what is listed.  Are there any listings under Dial up and VPN?  Then check under LAN Settings.  Is anything in their checked?  Is there a proxy server specified?  If so, please re-post here any particulars of what is listed.  It's possible that you are set to use a software proxy on your own machine or something that may be interfering.

[Trieste]

Thank you for the awesome explanation! Renaming hosts file didn't work.

B) Check your Internet Options via the control panel.  Even if this is largely an IE configuration tool, most other browsers will look at this for their configuration.  Go to the Connections tab and see what is listed.  Are there any listings under Dial up and VPN?  Then check under LAN Settings.  Is anything in their checked?  Is there a proxy server specified?  If so, please re-post here any particulars of what is listed.  It's possible that you are set to use a software proxy on your own machine or something that may be interfering.

I do have one VPN account set up currently, my school's VPN. They require it for internet access at school - you connect to the school LAN and then you dial up the VPN with your school username and password. So that is there, although when I go into the settings for that particular VPN, the proxy server is unchecked.

Under LAN settings, there are only three tickboxes: automatically detect settings (checked), use automatic configuration spot (unchecked), and use a proxy server for your LAN (unchecked). I'm using Windows 7, in case you need to know that.

[ShamshielDF]

Hrm...I'm trying to check the site myself to see exactly what all it's trying to connect to/pull up when that link is clicked, but I can't seem to find anything in any of the articles that I've opened labeled "Related Content".  I have a "Related Topics" which seems to be an internal set of topics/categories, "We Recommend" which appears to be similar articles from other CNN sites (CNN World, CNN Justice, CNN Entertainment), and a "From Around the Web" which appears to be links to related articles on CNN affiliates (health.com, wired.com, NYMag).  Can you post a link to one of the articles that you're seeing this on?  Maybe we can parse through this another way and figure out exactly where it's failing.

[Trieste]

It's only the ones that go through traffic.outbrain.com.

For instance, when I go to one of the top stories, Professor embeds camera in head, I go to the bottom and on the left they have "We recommend" which I can never connect to, and then there is "From around the web" which I can connect to just fine.

When I click on any link under "We recommend", it gives the error message:
Unable to connect
Firefox can't establish a connection to the server at traffic.outbrain.com.

Chrome gives a similar message. I haven't tried it on IE because IE is the debil. >.>

[ShamshielDF]

So, lets try the next step here.  Pull up a command prompt (hit the start button, go to run and type 'cmd' and hit enter).  You should now have a black DOS window.  In that window type the following command and hit enter:

ping widgets.outbrain.com

Also try this one:

ping traffic.outbrain.com

And copy the results here.  If you right click inside the window and select 'mark' you can then left-click highlight a section of text.  Right click will then automatically copy the text to the windows clipboard so you can paste elsewhere.  The results should look something like the text below.

C:\Documents and Settings\ShamshielDF>ping widgets.outbrain.com

Pinging orig-10004.outbrain.cotcdn.net [208.93.141.90] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 208.93.141.90: bytes=32 time=57ms TTL=54
Reply from 208.93.141.90: bytes=32 time=56ms TTL=54
Reply from 208.93.141.90: bytes=32 time=57ms TTL=54
Reply from 208.93.141.90: bytes=32 time=62ms TTL=54

Ping statistics for 208.93.141.90:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 56ms, Maximum = 62ms, Average = 58ms

C:\Documents and Settings\ShamshielDF>ping traffic.outbrain.com

Pinging traffic.outbrain.com [208.68.171.10] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 208.68.171.10: bytes=32 time=71ms TTL=53
Reply from 208.68.171.10: bytes=32 time=68ms TTL=53
Reply from 208.68.171.10: bytes=32 time=68ms TTL=53
Reply from 208.68.171.10: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=53

Ping statistics for 208.68.171.10:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 68ms, Maximum = 71ms, Average = 69ms

Hopefully, that will give a hint as to where things are failing.

[Trieste]

ping widgets.outbrain.com

Pinging orig-10004.outbrain.cotcdn.net [98.142.106.60] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 98.142.106.60: bytes=32 time=20ms TTL=56
Reply from 98.142.106.60: bytes=32 time=27ms TTL=56
Reply from 98.142.106.60: bytes=32 time=20ms TTL=56
Reply from 98.142.106.60: bytes=32 time=20ms TTL=56

Ping statistics for 98.142.106.60:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 20ms, Maximum = 27ms, Average = 21ms



ping traffic.outbrain.com

Pinging traffic.outbrain.com [127.0.0.1] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 127.0.0.1:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

[Oniya]

traffic.outbrain.com is still going to the loopback address.  widgets.outbrain.com seems to be going outside and returning properly. 

[ShamshielDF]

Very interesting...it's coming back with a 127.0.0.1 even with the hosts file renamed.  Lets try another command and see if this helps us find out what's going on a bit better.  Once more, at the command prompt:

Code Select Expand

nslookup traffic.outbrain.com

This should return something like this:

Code Select Expand

C:\Documents and Settings\ShamshielDF>nslookup traffic.outbrain.com
Server:  home.domain.actdsltmp
Address:  192.168.0.1

DNS request timed out.
    timeout was 2 seconds.
Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    traffic.outbrain.com
Address:  208.68.171.10

[Trieste]

No, it looks nothing like that.

nslookup traffic.outbrain.com
Server:  cns.chelmsfdrdc2.ma.boston.comcast.net
Address:  68.87.71.230

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    traffic.outbrain.com
Address:  69.9.45.36

[ShamshielDF]

Hrm...curiouser and curiouser...

Lets try another query and see what's going on a bit more behind the scenes.  Again, command prompt:

Code Select Expand

ipconfig /flushdns
ping traffic.outbrain.com
ipconfig /displaydns

You should get a rather big pile of ugly responses to the last command, looking something like this:

Code Select Expand

lt.andomedia.com
----------------------------------------
No records of type AAAA


lt.andomedia.com
----------------------------------------
Record Name . . . . . : lt.andomedia.com
Record Type . . . . . : 1
Time To Live  . . . . : 81445
Data Length . . . . . : 4
Section . . . . . . . : Answer
A (Host) Record . . . : 174.129.250.132


Record Name . . . . . : lt.andomedia.com
Record Type . . . . . : 1
Time To Live  . . . . : 81445
Data Length . . . . . : 4
Section . . . . . . . : Answer
A (Host) Record . . . : 174.129.224.43


Record Name . . . . . : lt.andomedia.com
Record Type . . . . . : 1
Time To Live  . . . . : 81445
Data Length . . . . . : 4
Section . . . . . . . : Answer
A (Host) Record . . . : 174.129.210.179


Record Name . . . . . : lt.andomedia.com
Record Type . . . . . : 1
Time To Live  . . . . : 81445
Data Length . . . . . : 4
Section . . . . . . . : Answer
A (Host) Record . . . : 174.129.210.177


Record Name . . . . . : lt.andomedia.com
Record Type . . . . . : 1
Time To Live  . . . . : 81445
Data Length . . . . . : 4
Section . . . . . . . : Answer
A (Host) Record . . . : 174.129.209.98


Record Name . . . . . : lt.andomedia.com
Record Type . . . . . : 1
Time To Live  . . . . : 81445
Data Length . . . . . : 4
Section . . . . . . . : Answer
A (Host) Record . . . : 184.73.206.70


Record Name . . . . . : udns2.ultradns.net
Record Type . . . . . : 1
Time To Live  . . . . : 81445
Data Length . . . . . : 4
Section . . . . . . . : Additional
A (Host) Record . . . : 204.74.101.1


Record Name . . . . . : udns1.ultradns.net
Record Type . . . . . : 1
Time To Live  . . . . : 81445
Data Length . . . . . : 4
Section . . . . . . . : Additional
A (Host) Record . . . : 204.69.234.1


1.0.0.127.in-addr.arpa
----------------------------------------
Record Name . . . . . : 1.0.0.127.in-addr.arpa.
Record Type . . . . . : 12
Time To Live  . . . . : 585896
Data Length . . . . . : 4
Section . . . . . . . : Answer
PTR Record  . . . . . : localhost


traffic.outbrain.com
----------------------------------------
No records of type AAAA


traffic.outbrain.com
----------------------------------------
Record Name . . . . . : traffic.outbrain.com
Record Type . . . . . : 1
Time To Live  . . . . : 291
Data Length . . . . . : 4
Section . . . . . . . : Answer
A (Host) Record . . . : 208.68.171.10


Record Name . . . . . : dns12.cotdns.net
Record Type . . . . . : 1
Time To Live  . . . . : 291
Data Length . . . . . : 4
Section . . . . . . . : Additional
A (Host) Record . . . : 208.93.136.12


Record Name . . . . . : dns11.cotdns.net
Record Type . . . . . : 1
Time To Live  . . . . : 291
Data Length . . . . . : 4
Section . . . . . . . : Additional
A (Host) Record . . . : 208.93.136.11


localhost
----------------------------------------
Record Name . . . . . : localhost
Record Type . . . . . : 1
Time To Live  . . . . : 585896
Data Length . . . . . : 4
Section . . . . . . . : Answer
A (Host) Record . . . : 127.0.0.1

Mind, we're most interested in the part regarding traffic.outbrain.com, but there may be other clues buried in the other responses.

[Trieste]

When I carry out those commands, the final command produces a result that some of it seems to scroll out of the command line's buffer. I'll paste you what I have, but it's probably only a fraction of what's there.

    Record Name . . . . . : roulettevip.net
    Record Type . . . . . : 1
    Time To Live  . . . . : 86400
    Data Length . . . . . : 4
    Section . . . . . . . : Answer
    A (Host) Record . . . : 127.0.0.1


    roulettevip.net
    ----------------------------------------
    No records of type AAAA


    quicktime-download-now.com
    ----------------------------------------
    Record Name . . . . . : quicktime-download-now.com
    Record Type . . . . . : 1
    Time To Live  . . . . : 86400
    Data Length . . . . . : 4
    Section . . . . . . . : Answer
    A (Host) Record . . . : 127.0.0.1


    quicktime-download-now.com
    ----------------------------------------
    No records of type AAAA


    quicktime2008.com
    ----------------------------------------
    Record Name . . . . . : quicktime2008.com
    Record Type . . . . . : 1
    Time To Live  . . . . : 86400
    Data Length . . . . . : 4
    Section . . . . . . . : Answer
    A (Host) Record . . . : 127.0.0.1


    quicktime2008.com
    ----------------------------------------
    No records of type AAAA


    paginebianchwe.it
    ----------------------------------------
    Record Name . . . . . : paginebianchwe.it
    Record Type . . . . . : 1
    Time To Live  . . . . : 86400
    Data Length . . . . . : 4
    Section . . . . . . . : Answer
    A (Host) Record . . . : 127.0.0.1


    paginebianchwe.it
    ----------------------------------------
    No records of type AAAA


    ofexpect.com
    ----------------------------------------
    Record Name . . . . . : ofexpect.com
    Record Type . . . . . : 1
    Time To Live  . . . . : 86400
    Data Length . . . . . : 4
    Section . . . . . . . : Answer
    A (Host) Record . . . : 127.0.0.1


    ofexpect.com
    ----------------------------------------
    No records of type AAAA


    oaginebianche.it
    ----------------------------------------
    Record Name . . . . . : oaginebianche.it
    Record Type . . . . . : 1
    Time To Live  . . . . : 86400
    Data Length . . . . . : 4
    Section . . . . . . . : Answer
    A (Host) Record . . . : 127.0.0.1


    oaginebianche.it
    ----------------------------------------
    No records of type AAAA


    www.mydailyaap19.com
    ----------------------------------------
    Record Name . . . . . : www.mydailyaap19.com
    Record Type . . . . . : 1
    Time To Live  . . . . : 86400
    Data Length . . . . . : 4
    Section . . . . . . . : Answer
    A (Host) Record . . . : 127.0.0.1


    www.mydailyaap19.com
    ----------------------------------------
    No records of type AAAA


    www.meinfahrschultest.com
    ----------------------------------------
    Record Name . . . . . : www.meinfahrschultest.com
    Record Type . . . . . : 1
    Time To Live  . . . . : 86400
    Data Length . . . . . : 4
    Section . . . . . . . : Answer
    A (Host) Record . . . : 127.0.0.1


    www.meinfahrschultest.com
    ----------------------------------------
    No records of type AAAA


    www.mbsex.info
    ----------------------------------------
    Record Name . . . . . : www.mbsex.info
    Record Type . . . . . : 1
    Time To Live  . . . . : 86400
    Data Length . . . . . : 4
    Section . . . . . . . : Answer
    A (Host) Record . . . : 127.0.0.1


    www.mbsex.info
    ----------------------------------------
    No records of type AAAA


    lovezest.com
    ----------------------------------------
    Record Name . . . . . : lovezest.com
    Record Type . . . . . : 1
    Time To Live  . . . . : 86400
    Data Length . . . . . : 4
    Section . . . . . . . : Answer
    A (Host) Record . . . : 127.0.0.1


    lovezest.com
    ----------------------------------------
    No records of type AAAA


    www.keinegefahr.com
    ----------------------------------------
    Record Name . . . . . : www.keinegefahr.com
    Record Type . . . . . : 1
    Time To Live  . . . . : 86400
    Data Length . . . . . : 4
    Section . . . . . . . : Answer
    A (Host) Record . . . : 127.0.0.1


    www.keinegefahr.com
    ----------------------------------------
    No records of type AAAA


    katawerb.it
    ----------------------------------------
    Record Name . . . . . : katawerb.it
    Record Type . . . . . : 1
    Time To Live  . . . . : 86400
    Data Length . . . . . : 4
    Section . . . . . . . : Answer
    A (Host) Record . . . : 127.0.0.1


    katawerb.it
    ----------------------------------------
    No records of type AAAA


    jhzjyj.bigwww.com
    ----------------------------------------
    Record Name . . . . . : jhzjyj.bigwww.com
    Record Type . . . . . : 1
    Time To Live  . . . . : 86400
    Data Length . . . . . : 4
    Section . . . . . . . : Answer
    A (Host) Record . . . : 127.0.0.1


    jhzjyj.bigwww.com
    ----------------------------------------
    No records of type AAAA


    www.internet-media-download.com
    ----------------------------------------
    Record Name . . . . . : www.internet-media-download.com
    Record Type . . . . . : 1
    Time To Live  . . . . : 86400
    Data Length . . . . . : 4
    Section . . . . . . . : Answer
    A (Host) Record . . . : 127.0.0.1


    www.internet-media-download.com
    ----------------------------------------
    No records of type AAAA


    www.gvsex.info
    ----------------------------------------
    Record Name . . . . . : www.gvsex.info
    Record Type . . . . . : 1
    Time To Live  . . . . : 86400
    Data Length . . . . . : 4
    Section . . . . . . . : Answer
    A (Host) Record . . . : 127.0.0.1


    www.gvsex.info
    ----------------------------------------
    No records of type AAAA


    gbazzetta.it
    ----------------------------------------
    Record Name . . . . . : gbazzetta.it
    Record Type . . . . . : 1
    Time To Live  . . . . : 86400
    Data Length . . . . . : 4
    Section . . . . . . . : Answer
    A (Host) Record . . . : 127.0.0.1


    gbazzetta.it
    ----------------------------------------
    No records of type AAAA


    frrari.it
    ----------------------------------------
    Record Name . . . . . : frrari.it
    Record Type . . . . . : 1
    Time To Live  . . . . : 86400
    Data Length . . . . . : 4
    Section . . . . . . . : Answer
    A (Host) Record . . . : 127.0.0.1


    frrari.it
    ----------------------------------------
    No records of type AAAA


    www.flwview.com
    ----------------------------------------
    Record Name . . . . . : www.flwview.com
    Record Type . . . . . : 1
    Time To Live  . . . . : 86400
    Data Length . . . . . : 4
    Section . . . . . . . : Answer
    A (Host) Record . . . : 127.0.0.1


    www.flwview.com
    ----------------------------------------
    No records of type AAAA


    flwsolution.com
    ----------------------------------------
    Record Name . . . . . : flwsolution.com
    Record Type . . . . . : 1
    Time To Live  . . . . : 86400
    Data Length . . . . . : 4
    Section . . . . . . . : Answer
    A (Host) Record . . . : 127.0.0.1


    flwsolution.com
    ----------------------------------------
    No records of type AAAA


    fionasteel.com
    ----------------------------------------
    Record Name . . . . . : fionasteel.com
    Record Type . . . . . : 1
    Time To Live  . . . . : 86400
    Data Length . . . . . : 4
    Section . . . . . . . : Answer
    A (Host) Record . . . : 127.0.0.1


    fionasteel.com
    ----------------------------------------
    No records of type AAAA

[ShamshielDF]

Running "ipconfig /flushdns" should clear that list, meaning it should be fairly short when you do the "ipconfig /displaydns".  If that's still too long, then we'll have to change the buffer length.

When you open the command prompt, right click on the title bar at the top and go to properties.  Go to the Layout tab.  In there you should see a screen buffer size that, by default, is set to 80 wide and 300 long.  Width isn't really a problem, so lets change the length to something a bit more usable, like... 9999 or so.

(Just because most every machine I use at work ends up with that setting at some point...300 lines is never enough...though you would probably be safe around the 2000 - 3000 range)

Once you've done that, try running the previous commands again:

Code Select Expand

ipconfig /flushdns
ping traffic.outbrain.com
ipconfig /displaydns

Also, I would suggest closing anything else that you might be running that might use the network.  That should help clean the DNS list as well.

[Trieste]

Errrr. I have it, and I saved it to a Word doc. I can email it to you - the list is 182 pages in Word, though, so it's a hella long list. The ping and whatnot looks like this:

Code Select Expand


Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Trieste>ipconfig /flushdns

Windows IP Configuration

Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.

C:\Users\Trieste>ping traffic.outbrain.com

Pinging traffic.outbrain.com [127.0.0.1] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 127.0.0.1:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms


And there is no specific outbrain entry among displaydns. It's all other random sites.

[Oniya]

I think the more interesting thing is that all of the addresses are 127.0.0.0, even after the flush.

[Trieste]

I have no idea of the significance of that.

[Oniya]

A bit of background on the Hosts file and DNS for Non-technical users:  Think of the hosts file as something like a phone book.  Whenever you try to go to a site or browse to another machine, your computer looks to the hosts file first, similar to looking something up in an old fashioned personal notebook.  It may be out of date, the numbers may be wrong, but it's right there.  The way anti-adware works is similar to the idea of listing every commercial number in your phone book as your home number.  Whenever you try to call it, you get yourself (or a busy tone).  Same thing for ad sites.  127.0.0.1 is the universal loopback address, effectively a phone number that, no matter where you dial it from will always be the phone you dialed from.

...

As with any metaphor, this isn't perfect, but it suffices for giving an idea of what is going on.

Basically, your computer is 'calling itself' when it should be calling the other servers.

[Trieste]

Well, yes, I understood that. I'm just not sure what the flushdns does. I renamed the hosts file and whatnot, I understood that part.

What is the significance of flushdns?

[Oniya]

When a computer visits a website for the first time, it stores the website's DNS information in cache. The next time the computer visits a website, it looks in the cache to see if the website's information is present to use.  If you watch the little message in the lower left of your browser, this speeds up the time is spends 'Looking up [whatever]'. This can cause problems if the website's DNS information has changed since the computer's last visit - or in this case, when the wrong information seems to be stored in memory. Flushing the cache is supposed to remove all the information stored in cache, forcing the computer to find the new DNS information for the website.

[ShamshielDF]

That strongly suggests to me that it is pulling the hosts file still (somehow) or that it is using an internal proxy server of some variety, which is going to take a bit more doing to sort out what it might be.  Also, checking the various sites that were listed in the sample section before they all seem to be the generic "this site doesn't exist yet, but someone is camping it with ads" variety, which implies to me that something is blocking access to them intentionally.  I'm going to poke around a bit do some research...I'm not as intimately familiar with the particulars of Windows DNS subsystem a I might like for the direction this appears to be going.

[Trieste]

I wonder if it's Adblock acting up. I only have it on Firefox, though, and this happens with both Firefox and Chrome.

[Oniya]

I thought you said you'd tried turning that off, though?

[Trieste]

Yeah, I just tried turning it off again and didn't work.

[Oniya]

Try turning it off, doing the flush thing again and then trying CNN?

[Trieste]

Nope.