My online tax prep site won't load on my primary machine - in any browser

[britechguy]

I've been using olt.com (Online Taxes) to do my income taxes for years now. To my knowledge, I have not done anything odd on this machine since I did them last year.

I cannot get the site to load in Firefox, Chrome, Brave, Edge (or Edge Dev), or Vivaldi on this laptop. The process starts in all the browsers, and the tabs show the site identifying information almost instantly, but seems to "stick" mid-load and the page never comes up. It just spins and spins and spins. I even tried IE just to see if it would load there (but I'd never use IE to actually do the taxes) but same deal. In IE I get the message:
Can’t reach this page
The connection to the website was reset.
Error Code: INET_E_DOWNLOAD_FAILURE

I already ran System Ninja and BleachBit for clearing cache, as well as manually clearing it in the browsers those don't touch. Still no change.

I have a second laptop I can use, and did when doing my mother's taxes, but this is a weirdness that I've never encountered before. Internet burps where websites, plural, don't want to load for a certain period of time, sure, but never a single site and with a behavior persisting across browsers and several days. I don't even know where to begin to look on this one.

Any ideas?

 

[Sky-Knight]

That's an Internet Explorer error... Reset it!


The error INET_E_DOWNLOAD_FAILURE: means the download has failed due to the connection was interrupted. Furthermore, let's troubleshoot the issue by performing the steps below:

1. Press Windows key + R, then type in inetcpl.cpl and press Enter.
2.. Select Advanced Tab
3. Click Restore advanced settings
6. Click Apply and then click OK to save changes.

 

[britechguy]

Followed your instructions, and did a restart. Not a lick of difference in IE other than it's currently in spinning and spinning and spinning mode and will eventually crap out.

Like I said, this appears to be related exclusively to this particular site, and the endless spin behavior is occurring across browsers.

And none of the above is meant to sound ungrateful, because I am grateful for any potential fixes I can apply. This one just happened to seemingly have no effect, though I haven't gotten the error message back under IE yet. It's been in spin cycle for about 2 minutes now, which is also odd in that all the browsers will hang and keep trying to download rather than quickly crapping out, too. Very weird.

 

[nlinecomputers]

The site is rejecting your attempt to access. Blocked IP address in the firewall is the likely cause. Time to call your isp. You can confirm this by trying with a VPN or connecting with a hotspot. I would not do my taxes at starbucks but if you can pull up the site there then you know it’s a firewall error.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Very strange indeed... the only thing left I can think of is to try a winsock reset.

Have you checked the host file?

If another machine running off your wifi on the same network works... then ISP / firewall issues are patently impossible on either end. Well... aside from a firewall on your own equipment configured to block that particular site?

Does the problem device have a 3rd party software firewall on it?

 

[britechguy]

Gentlemen,

Thanks to you both.

For the sake of clarity, I am using the exact same internet connection on both machines, which is the mobile hotspot on my phone, so it cannot be chalked up to ISP issues, as one machine works fine, and the other doesn't. I also have my partner's laptop right next to me right now, and connected via the same internet connection, and it loads right up in Brave.

I use only Windows Security, no third-party firewall.

I have not looked in hosts.

 

[britechguy]

My hosts file:

# Copyright (c) 1993-2009 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

# localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost

# unchecky_begin
# These rules were added by the Unchecky program in order to block advertising software modules
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 # fix for traceroute and netstat display anomaly
0.0.0.0 tracking.opencandy.com.s3.amazonaws.com
0.0.0.0 media.opencandy.com
0.0.0.0 cdn.opencandy.com
0.0.0.0 tracking.opencandy.com
0.0.0.0 api.opencandy.com
0.0.0.0 api.recommendedsw.com
0.0.0.0 rp.yefeneri2.com
0.0.0.0 os.yefeneri2.com
0.0.0.0 os2.yefeneri2.com
0.0.0.0 installer.betterinstaller.com
0.0.0.0 installer.filebulldog.com
0.0.0.0 d3oxtn1x3b8d7i.cloudfront.net
0.0.0.0 inno.bisrv.com
0.0.0.0 nsis.bisrv.com
0.0.0.0 cdn.file2desktop.com
0.0.0.0 cdn.goateastcach.us
0.0.0.0 cdn.guttastatdk.us
0.0.0.0 cdn.inskinmedia.com
0.0.0.0 cdn.insta.oibundles2.com
0.0.0.0 cdn.insta.playbryte.com
0.0.0.0 cdn.llogetfastcach.us
0.0.0.0 cdn.montiera.com
0.0.0.0 cdn.msdwnld.com
0.0.0.0 cdn.mypcbackup.com
0.0.0.0 cdn.ppdownload.com
0.0.0.0 cdn.riceateastcach.us
0.0.0.0 cdn.shyapotato.us
0.0.0.0 cdn.solimba.com
0.0.0.0 cdn.tuto4pc.com
0.0.0.0 cdn.appround.biz
0.0.0.0 cdn.bigspeedpro.com
0.0.0.0 cdn.bispd.com
0.0.0.0 cdn.bisrv.com
0.0.0.0 cdn.cdndp.com
0.0.0.0 cdn.download.sweetpacks.com
0.0.0.0 cdn.dpdownload.com
0.0.0.0 cdn.visualbee.net
# unchecky_end

-----------------
Note: hosts on my partner's machine is identical

 

[nlinecomputers]

Very strange indeed... the only thing left I can think of is to try a winsock reset.

Ditto.

Could also be issues with, flash, java, etc. Or a faulty wifi driver. Though any of the latter would likely exhibit symptoms on other sites.

what are the build numbers and patch level between the two machines? Perhaps the bad one is running something that the other is not.

And finally I will do my usual mantra of checking event logs. Something maybe stumbling when you hit that site and gets logged.

You may also try this on safe mode with networking enabled to see if a service is causing the problem.

 

[Markverhyden]

What does event viewer say? Have you tried Tweaking's AIO tool?

Since it's all the same website I'd tend to think it's some kind of credentials thing. Each browser looks at the same credential. Have you tried reseting Credentials Manager?

How do I clear cached credentials from my Windows Profile?

Windows seems to be saving my credentials for a variety of applications (terminal servers, etc) and I'd like to purge this data. How can I backup and purge this data?

security.stackexchange.com

 

[phaZed]

@britechguy
Can you get the IP addy of your site from the working computer, then try browsing to the IP on the borked one? If so, DNS.

 

[britechguy]

I am actually "on break" at the moment after having been doing data entry for this all afternoon (and having the site itself get cranky and throw me off on several occasions.

I shall endeavour to follow-up on proposed options once I've had some "decompression time."

 

[timeshifter]

I'd want to completely rule out or confirm any operating system / software related issues. Boot the computer from a live Linux distro or bootable Windows PE or disconnect your main drive, pop in a blank SSD and install Windows real quick.

 

[britechguy]

If so, DNS.

I realize that this is a side loop, but DNS on my machine right now is in "whatever the ISP [T-Mobile, in this case] wants to do automatically" mode. Do folks have preferred DNS-s and, if so, what's your rationale for your choice?

 

[britechguy]

I'd want to completely rule out or confirm

. . . and, in this case, I don't. That's way more effort than I'd be willing to put into this. (Not that the idea isn't appreciated, but it's one I won't be following up for this particular situation.)

 

[nlinecomputers]

I realize that this is a side loop, but DNS on my machine right now is in "whatever the ISP [T-Mobile, in this case] wants to do automatically" mode. Do folks have preferred DNS-s and, if so, what's your rationale for your choice?

Quad9.com

 

[phaZed]

9.9.9.9 and 1.1.1.1 are my usual go-to's. Rational being that the ISP will snoop your DNS requests - notably for a few things.... malware & virus activity and illegal activities (illegal downloads, RIAA/MPIA suites, etc.)

Verizon shut me down for 3 days, once upon a time, for a clients computer downloading torrents... Verizon got the DNS requests. I had to call and plead with them for almost a full day, "Yes, I'm a computer repair shop and you can look up my shop, etc.. a client computer did that, not me!".

I'd get business internet service as it purportedly excludes business internet from such scrutiny (for the most part) but they don't offer it for my address.

So, I change all my DNS's for practicality and principle.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Using 3rd party DNS doesn't prevent anything. ISPs can simply use a port forward to force those IPs to impact on their own gear. And yes... they often do.

In theory DNS over TLS, or SSL solves this... but it also has issues.

But if your ISP isn't hijacking things, using 3rd party DNS can have performance and security benefits.

 

[phaZed]

Using 3rd party DNS doesn't prevent anything.

You're right in everything you say there... seems to have stopped my anecdotal "issue" with my ISP - although I suppose it could be chalked up to other factors just as easy.