Posted on 02/18/2015 10:14:24 AM PST by WhiskeyX
GoDaddy is working with me to solve an access problem that appeared yesterday. The configuration of multiple clients are MS Windows XP with IE8. Browsing to www.godaddy.com began to result in an error message saying there was a problem with the security certificate, and the IE8 browser then crashes.
Godaddy says they have no other reports about this problem. We have at least 6 or more such clients showing the same issue.
Does anyone else have a similar configuration, and do they experience the same problem?
Note: Firefox seems to function normally on this same client.
The easiest first: is your antivirus/antimalware up to date. Then try reinstalling the browser on one of the clients.
“IE8 browser”
There’s your problem right there.
This appears to be a security certificate issue affecting all of the WinXP IE8 clients only. The issue appeared simultaneously late yesterday on at least 6 clients with the WinXP IE configuration. The issue has so far affected only two websites out of hundreds so far in the last 24 hours. The affected websites are GoDaddy.com and a subscription financial services website. The MS Vista and Win7 clients with IE11 and FireFox are not affected. The same clients with the WinXP IE8 configuration do not have this issue while using FireFox as the browser instead of IE8. The clients have variously been online as much as 24/7 and offline as much as 9 months, so the question of problems with updates to XP and/or IE8 appears to be excluded as a potential difference.
With respect to anti-virus and/or malware software, none of the 6 clients tested have the same configuration or much of anything in common. They either have no anti-virus software or have different versons of malwarebytes.
GoDaddy tried to make GoDaddy.com a trusted site, which had no effect upon the problem. Clearing the browser caches across the six clients has no effect upon the issue.
GoDaddy says they have received no other reports about a problem with this configuration, so they are assuming it is a “local issue” until they receive more reports from other users at other IP addresses. So, the purpose of the post was to further the process of elimination by determining whether or not anyone else using WinXP with IE8 is experiencing the same “security certificate” error message when browsing at godaddy.com?
“There’s your problem right there.”
Of course it is. As I said, the website responds correctly while using FireFox.
The purpose of the post, however, was to troubleshoot by seeing whether or not other clients at other IP addresses are now experiencing the same problem with IE8.
I’m using XP and have IE8. Could not get to Godaddy.com. A page came up (very quickly) that said “cannot display the webpage.” No problem getting there with Firefox. Hope this helps.
Page loads for me, in XP with IE8, but I get a popup about IE blocking the website from displaying content with security certificate errors.
Maybe trying putting godaddy.com in your “Trusted Sites” zone under Tools > Internet Options > Security? If you set that zone to the lowest level on the slider, it may bypass some certificate error problems.
Use a different browser
Hmm.. amending my post. As soon as I clicked the popup to see what options were there regarding to handle the certificate error, IE crashed.
Yes, godaddy loads with no issues in XP with Firefox 35.01 for me.
If IE8 has the ability to be reset to an initial blank configuration I would try that. This is a complete reset, which clears all ActiveX controls, cookies, saved information, etc.
Also, make sure your Windows XP is at the latest Service Pack level (SP3) and is fully updated. Microsoft has ended support for XP so that may pose a challenge.
I would also try to create a new user on the XP machine and access the site with IE. It’s possible that profile corruption may be contributing to the problems.
Finally, many sites are disabling SSLv2 and v3 handshaking to protect against the Poodle SSL vulnerability. I don’t believe IE8 under XP supports the latest connection standards, although that would tend to break all XP machines rather than some.
Thank you, you’re seeing some of the same errors we are seeing.
Since this problem affects at least one other website other than GoDaddy, it appears as though the problem is common to the MS Internet Explorer 8 browser and its handling of the security certificates after something somewhere was changed on 17 Feruary 2015. What we saw here is all such clients working properly on those websites in one hour and then not working properly the next hour. It is as though someone flipped a switch disabling all such specific client configurations.
Yes, that is exactly the message we saw.
On one of the clients the home page loaded until that error message halted the loading. Selecting the options caused the webpage to load and halt again with the same errors and results. After the third cycle, the browser simply started to crash before reaching the error message about the security certificate.
“If IE8 has the ability to be reset to an initial blank configuration I would try that. This is a complete reset, which clears all ActiveX controls, cookies, saved information, etc.”
Already tried, but didn’t work.
“Also, make sure your Windows XP is at the latest Service Pack level (SP3) and is fully updated. Microsoft has ended support for XP so that may pose a challenge.”
All clients were updated to SP3 and latest available patches before XP Life Cycle support was terminated in early 2014.
“I would also try to create a new user on the XP machine and access the site with IE. It’s possible that profile corruption may be contributing to the problems.”
Already tried, but didn’t work.
“Finally, many sites are disabling SSLv2 and v3 handshaking to protect against the Poodle SSL vulnerability. I don’t believe IE8 under XP supports the latest connection standards, although that would tend to break all XP machines rather than some.”
GoDaddy says they last updated their security certificate and their encryption standards by November 2014. Also, the other website experienced the same problem as GoDaddy at the same time yesterday. There is also the difference between the same installation of WinXP failing while using the IE8 browser beginning yesterday while the exact same WinXP installation works correctly with FireFox today. This circumstance suggest whatever was changed yesterday affects IE8 and its handling of the security certificates while not affecting the FireFox browser on the same WinXP OS and OS encryption protocols.
I have to renew 6 domains soon (5 more later in the year) and I see GoDaddy wants $16 now for each one.
I use Lunarpages for hosting. http://www.lunarpages.com
Lunarpages charges too much for domains.
I will look for another place then GoDaddy as a quick search found several far cheaper.
Any suggestions to the best one?
“Any suggestions to the best one?”
No suggestions.
My domains have been costing one-third to two-thirds of what you are paying, because I qualify for major discounts on my bulk purchases of the domains. GoDaddy is warning domain prices are increasing by the end of 1Q 2015, so I expect to be paying more this year.
Unlike a lot of registrars it seems GoDaddy answers a telephone and often makes an effort to negotiate a lower price or answer a technical support issue. Of course, they are like all organizations when it comes to first faulting the client instead of immediately accepting the possibility the issue is on the server end of things. Nevertheless, they’ve been more helpful than most outfits I’ve experienced.
I did a search and will over these for starters
http://www.consumer-rankings.com/hosting/?vn=default&a=148&c=2968&s1=107357291.107565018&ls=g&gclid=CKzr0Z3c7sMCFYGUfgod3HkAPw
Interesting set of reviews. I haven’t spent any time looking at such reviews for a few years.
HostGator ad says: Powered by 130% wind energy!
130% ??
I guess I will skip these guys : )
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