Strange URL transformation

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tom Hall
  • Start date Start date
T

Tom Hall

Recently, something strange has started happening here. I participate in a
few forums on the net which send me via email URLs to topics I'm following
such as the following:

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=3165425#3165425

These links take you to the thread, and then to the bottom where the latest
post(s) is/are.

For some reason, when I click on such a link in the email message, when the
browser opens, the URL looks like this:

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=3165425#3165425

where the "#" has been replaced by "%23".

My mail program is Eudora Pro 7.1, but I've discovered the same problem if
I receive such a URL in Outlook 2003.

I have two versions of Firefox plus IE7 installed here, and no matter what
the default browser is, the URL gets changed.

What makes it interesting is that I can copy the link from the message and
paste it into any browser address bar, and the transformation does not
occur. Furthermore, I can, using Eudora, send the entire message to the
default browser and click on the link there, and the transformation does
not occur. It seems to ONLY happen when the link is clicked from within the
body of the actual email message.

Someone in the Firefox forum suggested a recent security update from
Microsoft might be to blame:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS07-061.mspx

However, uninstalling this update and restarting the system did not solve
the problem.

I've even tried shutting off my AV software (AVG Pro 7.5), to no avail.

So far as I've noticed, no other URL types are affected - only the ones
formed like the one above. I get the same kind of messages in both the PGP
and Firefox forums, and they are both affected.

I've also looked at the actual raw message in Eudora's inbox, and the link
looks exactly like it should: the "#" is there, not the "%23".

I'm also aware that the "23" is the hex value of the "#" character.

I keep my AVG up to date, and I also use both AdAware and Spybot which I
keep current as well.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


Tom
 
Tom said:
Recently, something strange has started happening
here. I participate
in a few forums on the net which send me via email
URLs to topics I'm
following such as the following:

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=3165425#3165425

These links take you to the thread, and then to the
bottom where the
latest post(s) is/are.

For some reason, when I click on such a link in the
email message,
when the browser opens, the URL looks like this:

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=3165425#3165425

where the "#" has been replaced by "%23".

My mail program is Eudora Pro 7.1, but I've
discovered the same
problem if I receive such a URL in Outlook 2003.

I have two versions of Firefox plus IE7 installed
here, and no matter
what the default browser is, the URL gets changed.

What makes it interesting is that I can copy the link
from the
message and paste it into any browser address bar,
and the
transformation does not occur. Furthermore, I can,
using Eudora, send
the entire message to the default browser and click
on the link
there, and the transformation does not occur. It
seems to ONLY happen
when the link is clicked from within the body of the
actual email
message.

Someone in the Firefox forum suggested a recent
security update from
Microsoft might be to blame:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS07-061.mspx

However, uninstalling this update and restarting the
system did not
solve the problem.

I've even tried shutting off my AV software (AVG Pro
7.5), to no
avail.

So far as I've noticed, no other URL types are
affected - only the
ones formed like the one above. I get the same kind
of messages in
both the PGP and Firefox forums, and they are both
affected.

I've also looked at the actual raw message in
Eudora's inbox, and the
link looks exactly like it should: the "#" is there,
not the "%23".

I'm also aware that the "23" is the hex value of the
"#" character.

I keep my AVG up to date, and I also use both AdAware
and Spybot
which I keep current as well.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


Tom
Click to expand...

Well, the "#" in a URL is a bookmark. That's the part
of the URL that sends you to the bottom of the page, or
wherever that bookmark is located in the file you are
going to.

Then: Hex 23 = Decimal 35, = &#35, which are all the
"#" screen character. So, the browser has merely
converted the "#|" to a 'net-understandable character.
Seems clear to me; what's the issue? Or am I missing
something?

HTH

Pop`
 
Seems clear to me; what's the issue? Or am I missing
something?
Click to expand...

The link does not work with the "%23". It does work with the "#".

The former sends you only to the top of the thread. The latter sends you to
the bottom of the thread, which is where you want to go.

Tom
 
Recently, something strange has started happening here. I participate in a
few forums on the net which send me via email URLs to topics I'm following
such as the following:

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=3165425#3165425

These links take you to the thread, and then to the bottom where the latest
post(s) is/are.

For some reason, when I click on such a link in the email message, when the
browser opens, the URL looks like this:

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=3165425#3165425

where the "#" has been replaced by "%23".
Click to expand...

The same thing happens when I click the first link above here while reading
the message. The link that appears in my browser address bar is altered
just like the second one posted above.


Tom
 
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