Porn Blocker???

Are you always using the same Internet access? Have you tried it at other locations using different accounts? Have you tried to access these sites via proxies?

Try a google search for: free proxy servers. Select one and give it a try. Go to the proxy site and there will be a place to type in the url you want to access.

There are almost infinite reasons for the errors you are getting.
 
try finding out the ip address of the site you want to visit and then typing that into ie, if your dns server is programmed to not resolve cirtain ip addresses, you wont be able to visit some sites by typing in the address because the dns wont give your computer the ip address. one way to check this is by opening a command prompt window and typing in ping followd by the address, if it does not show you the ip address then this is what is stopping you viewing the site.
 
I'm on the fence about offering advice for defeating a porn blocker for someone who can't confirm how old they are. There are good reasons to surf carefully and your parents would appear to want you to be safe.

But assuming you're 18 ....

My first recommendation would be to talk to your parents about this. Because some nonporn sites are being blocked you can use that to initiate the conversation and see if they know what is installed.

Second you can go to http://www.freeproxy.ca and type in an address and see if you can browse through the proxy. That will tell you if your pc is blocking the addresses you are attempting.

And lastly you could go to start/run and type in 'msconfig' and look at the 'startup' tab and see if you can identify the blocking software.

I think I've said too much. Let's be careful out there.
 
It may be something as simple as the Restricted Sites settings in Internet Explorer. If you have IE7, you'll be able to find the settings on the Tools menu, under Internet Options, on the Security tab. This is what you're looking for:

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r47/Yang4yin/IE7Opts.jpg

If you have IE6, it should be almost, if not exactly, the same.
 
zMaria said:
I highly appreciate your concern to keep underage kids from looking at that kinda stuff but i can assure that i'm a 20yr old college girl :)

I've tried the proxy thing and it doesnt seem to work though... maybe i'm doing something wrong?

I dont see anything in startup either so i guess i might have to bring it up with the folks

thanks for the help

Oh, well, if you can assure me, I guess it's okay. LOL
 
Yang4yin said:
It may be something as simple as the Restricted Sites settings in Internet Explorer. If you have IE7, you'll be able to find the settings on the Tools menu, under Internet Options, on the Security tab. This is what you're looking for:

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r47/Yang4yin/IE7Opts.jpg

If you have IE6, it should be almost, if not exactly, the same.

Actually, I think the "Content Advisor" on the Contents Tab is a more likely culprit. If the Content Advisor is Enabled, it will require a password to disable -- hopefully the parents are at fault and can provide a password, otherwise, it will probably require a complete wipe and re-install of windows to get rid of the problem. (a simple re-install won't work because that will pick up the old settings, including any passwords and restrictions.)
 
she tried different browsers so it must be an operating system application
 
I doubt your parents installed anything on it because you are in college. Are you operating on wireless? And whos internet connection are you on? Is it the schools? Or your families?
 
If your accessing a wireless network connection to get online, content can be blocked via the router. This is one of the key ways I safeguard our computers. You can bypass the router by plugging directly into the cable or dsl modem.....Oops! I've said to much.

Snowman
 
That's very odd. Things I'd check include checking your firewall permissions (if you have one installed, which you probably do if you're at college), and any ip blocking software (peerguardian comes to mind, there are probably more out there).

What I'd probably do, if all else failed, would be to open up the task manager, go to the processes tab, and search google for each one individually to figure out what it does. It's possible you have something running in the background there that's blocking things, and a simple google search should tell you if the process is doing that. Usually the first or second hit will work.
 
blocked

i doubt that anything really sophisticated is going on; it could be some way of specifying 'parental controls' in windows. So assuming you are a legal adult, i'd offer the following comments.

I'd start by seeing what kind (type) of account you have; i.e., is it a lower level one, or one with administrative privileges. Do your parents have a way of signing in on your computer? Possibly you need to create a new account with equal or greater privileges to the parents' account, so that you can assess theirs and even delete it. (Or maybe just do as you please, since they won't have specified the new account's permissions.) Every account has its 'permissions', and if they have a higher level account they can control your 'permissions.' Alternatively, if you can get into their account, you can change the 'permissions' they assigned to you.

You should also check among the programs installed, for unless it's sophisticated so as to hide itself, it will be on lists of 'all programs' or 'add/delete programs', possibly with a non informative name, i.e., 'netservice', not 'parental repression.'

You might, in talking, point out the futility of trying this method (assuming there is something going on). It's a bit like phoning late at night to see if you're home, or sleeping over somewhere. You might point out that you can access porn--if you wanted to-- from lots of spots, cafes, friends computers, etc.
 
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A simple way to try and see if it is your computer is by downloading "the ultimate windows boot cd" it runs from the cd drive and boots into a windows xp like desktop, there u can set up your wireless connection and load a clean copy of firefox. if you still cant get to a site then its not your computer. If you can on the other hand, re-install windows and you should be ok lol
 
At this point, I'd download a linux distribution for an Intel machine, burn it to a CD, then boot the computer into linux from the cd.

I like ubuntu from http://www.ubuntu.com/

It is free. Download. Burn the image to a CD. Boot from the CD. Launch Firefox.

If things work--the problem is Windows/software.

If things don't--its your network/connection.

It may sound scary, but it is really simple.

Doing so changes nothing on your computer--unless you choose to install it.
 
1. Check your firewall settings

2. Check IE settings

3. Check for installed blocking software, should be basic i suspect, if any, and will show in progammes

Once you get it sorted have fun!
 
zMaria said:
Thanks for the help!


though i've tried a lot of it and it doesnt seem to be working...

I've changed all the settings to different things over and over again in both IE and Firefox and that doesnt seem to be helping...

I found that if i use a proxy it works for some which is ok cause theres only a couple of sites that I would like to visit on regular basis and they work.

Currently I am using wireless to access the net but i have had problems both here and at school where i use a LAN Connection or whatever its called and have problems with both.

It's not really a big deal, i was just curious to see if there was anyone else who knew what was going on with this...

At least i can go to craigslist now! haha

The danger of over-parenting. In an attempt to curtail porn enjoyment, she's got an even stronger urge fueled by the thrill of the hunt. Now, instead of sampling from the forest of porn, she's wandered off into Craigslist territory when she otherwise might not have.

Be safe if you take this to the real world honey. You cannot Ctrl-Alt-Delete yourself out of real world bad situations....
 
I suspect you may have some entries in your hosts file. This is a file that Windows will look at to find name resolution before it goes to the internet. Modifying the hosts file is a common trick to fool pop-up engines, but it can sometimes cause other access problems like you're seeing.

To check, let's first display all of your files.

Go to file explorer, choose Tools.. Folder Options.. View tab. Scroll down a little in the Advanced Settings box, and CHECK 'Show Hidden Files and Folders' and then UNCHECK 'hide protected operating system files' and 'hide extensions for known file types'. If they're already set this way then obviously leave them as is.

Then the most likely location for the hosts file is C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc

Find the file in there called HOSTS and open it. To open, just double click the file and it'll ask what application you'd like to use to open it - choose notepad.exe.

A normal, empty hosts file will look like this:

# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

127.0.0.1 localhost

If you have other entries, delete EVERYTHING except what is shown above & save the file. Make sure it saves as HOSTS with no extension, and NOT as HOSTS.TXT (case doesn't matter - upper or lower is fine).

Hope that's it! If not, my next suggestion would be format & reload and start from scratch.
 
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