URLs not resolving correctly...?!

  • Thread starter Thread starter AV
  • Start date Start date
A

AV

Hi,

I'm getting a very strange problem with our internet setup that I'm hoping
someone will be able to shed some light on...

We are using a Windows 2000 server as a proxy server for internet access.

When we initially set this up, we had no problems - everything ran smoothly.
However, recently we're finding that clicking on links brings up 404 errors.

Now, that in itself would not be unusual, if it weren't for the fact that we
KNOW the address exists AND that the 404 errors are coming from the domain
that *contained the link* and not the domain shown in the link's url!

Quick Example:

We do a search in google for something - ("Foobar")

Google brings up results as expected. We then click a link
(http://www.foobar.com/take/me/here.html). What we get is a Google 404
error, "The requested URL /take/me/here.html was not found on this server".

It's as if the domain in the link is somehow getting substituted with the
previous domain (in this case, Google). And this is intermittent - sometimes
it works, sometimes it doesn't.

We've also noticed that we can be browsing the net for a while and all of a
sudden the Google error occurs, even if our Google visit was 2 or 3 links
back! VERY odd.

Also, if we take Google out of the equation, we still get 404 errors, just
with a different domain.

A quick fix we've found is to go to "Internet Options..." in IE and then
Connections->LAN settings. If we ok these settings (without altering), we
find we are then able to continue browsing. Of course, we're looking for a
more permanent fix! ;)

So, my question is: what could be causing this? Are there any Win2k
services that affect URL resolving? We get errors on startup regarding
failed services but these appear to be unrelated.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance,

AV
 
Thanks for the tip, Bob - I actually read about the QHOST trojan earlier
today, but the hosts file is ok.

I should add that the problem does not occur when we access the internet
from the server directly, only when we use a client set to access the
internet via the server. So the urls seem to be getting mangled somewhere
inbetween.

AV
 
Wild guess But under Internet Options, Advanced, try toggling HTTP thru
proxy connections?
 
I encountered a "some sites not loading" problem, *only* for computers
accessing the Internet via (pre-SP1) Windows XP ICS, that still
effects Windows 2000. This was an MTU size using NAT problem. Where
between the ICS Client computer, and the server on the Internet, there
was an MTU less than the 1500 defalt value used by the client system's
ethernet adapter. For the details see:

http://www.allensmith.net/Windows/ICS/xpICS.htm

Allen
 
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