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Resolved Question

Getting ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED on a specific website

Sep 20, 2016 10:04AM PDT

Hi!

As the title says, I am getting the ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED error when trying to connect to reddit (and only reddit so far). I have looked around and I have tried several fixes but none seem to work.

I am on Windows 10, it does not work with Chrome, Opera or IE. My computer is connected to my router with an ethernet cable.

I can connect to reddit on my mobile phone via the wifi (same network).

I cannot connect to reddit when I boot in Ubuntu (I have a dual boot) and use firefox!

I can connect to reddit on windows when I use Tor instead.

I have tried the following:
-ipconfig /release
ipconfig /all
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /renew
netsh int ip set dns
netsh winsock reset (did not fix it)

-Changing the DNS to 8.8.8.8 and alternate to 8.8.4.4 (did not fix it)

- Disabling windows firewall (did not fix it)

- I emptied C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts (which was full of stuff, did not fix it)

Obviously plenty of restarts in all these steps.

If anyone has an idea I would love some help!

Thanks!

Discussion is locked

Tracthor has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

Best Answer

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Is the date and time correct on your PC?
Sep 20, 2016 10:08AM PDT
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Speccy link
Sep 20, 2016 10:59AM PDT
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I think I see K9 in there.
Sep 20, 2016 11:19AM PDT

That's a web filter.

I think I see overlapping malware protection. You should pick one.

Speccy could get the memory slots wrong but looking at https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B75MA-P45.html#hero-overview I'd be sure the memory sticks are in the blue or black slots to get the most out of my PC.

The DNS Server: 192.168.10.1 would not be my choice. I've lost count of how many times having the router do the DNS work to cause issues. This is not what's up here but I'd change it.

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Mmmmh
Sep 20, 2016 11:38AM PDT

K9 is indeed installed. I have tried accessing reddit after being in supervisor mode (no restrictions) and it did not change anything.

I installed spybot just for the scan, I have removed it now (it found nothing).

Thanks for the memory sticks, I'll check that tomorrow!

Should I use the 8.8.8.8 DNS instead or do you suggest something else?

Regarding my problem, any idea?

I tried what the other poster suggested:

ipconfig /release
ipconfig /all
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /renew

netsh int ip set dns
netsh winsock reset

and it did not change anything.

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Here's a thing.
Sep 20, 2016 12:00PM PDT

Long ago I had a firewall that I proved to still work even when it was disabled. This has lead me to more instances where off is not truly off and super mode is not enough. As you do have one or more internet filters and firewalls I can't help but think they are still working.

Thanks for the SPECCY as it saved a lot of back and forth.

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New error message
Sep 20, 2016 12:30PM PDT

I still can't connect to reddit, but I get a different error message now:

ERR_SSL_PROTOCOL_ERROR

Does it help?

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Maybe.
Sep 20, 2016 12:50PM PDT
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Virus scanner
Sep 20, 2016 1:19PM PDT

Do you have any good free virus scanner to do a full system scan?

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I don't suspect a Virus.
Sep 20, 2016 2:09PM PDT
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Fixed!
Sep 21, 2016 7:38AM PDT

I ran everything linked in that post, the winner was adwCleaner, ran it and it detected 51 threats, removed everything, rebooted and I could connect to reddit again. I still did all the rest just to be sure.

Thanks a lot for the help!! Happy

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Good to read.
Sep 21, 2016 8:52AM PDT

I admit it was not looking good at times but you kept at it.

I'll keep in mind that something clue about Reddit, Malware and ADWCLEANER but it's not something I recall from before and my google searches didn't find that either.

What brought me to scanning with Grif's list was that we did the rest of the work and it was not giving up clues.

-> Very strange it only showed up as affecting Reddit. Makes you wonder what the malware's motive here was.

Be safe!

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Speccy report
Sep 20, 2016 2:17PM PDT

Nothing to do with your problem.
It looks like your sata ports to your disk are backwards.
Connect the ssd to the sata 3 port.

Turn off superfetch.

Do you have any AV running on the machine?

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Answer
try this
Sep 20, 2016 11:13AM PDT

Solution 1: Using Command Prompt

Open CMD (command prompt) Admin and RUN below command one by one.

ipconfig /release
ipconfig /all
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /renew

netsh int ip set dns
netsh winsock reset

Now Restart your computer to get rid of ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED error.... (more)

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Did not fix it
Sep 20, 2016 11:41AM PDT

I tried what you suggested but it did not fix it.