"The proxy server is refusing connections"

Wammer

My desktop cannot connect to the internet using Opera, Firefox or IE.

It started when I closed Opera because it had lost the latest Adobe Flash version. Closing it and opening it usually makes it work again.

When I opened Opera, I got an error message on all the tabs that it couldn't connect. After trying various things like running CCleaner and Mbam, I uninstalled a programme I had installed earlier. When that didn't work I did a System Restore.

Once it rebooted I opened Opera and Firefox and both still has error messages. The one in Firefox said, "The proxy server is refusing connections"

I have OpenDNS and wonder if that was the problem, but I have a Sky router where you can't change the DNS settings and I can't remember how I set it up to be able to reverse it.

The netbook is working fine so I have been trying to find a solution using that. One suggestion was to change the settings to "No proxy" and I was then able to access some sites. I made the same change in Opera. However I never touched the proxy settings in the first place.

Any ideas what may have caused this and how to fix it?

Vista
Opera / Firefox / IE
ISP - Sky

Wammer

I still can't access several sites and am now getting this in Firefox

The connection was reset
The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading."

samtel

Hi wammer,

Can you open the command prompt (start -> search for 'cmd' in windows 7) and enter 'ping google (full web address - sorry it wont let me post a link)' to see if this resolves to an ip address. If this fails it would point to a DNS issue.

S

Wammer

Thanks for the reply and suggestion.

These are some of the error message I got

“The proxy server is refusing connections” in Firefox.

“Cannot display webpage” in IE

“Firefox is configured to use a proxy server that is refusing connections”

“Unable to connect to server”

“Cannot display proxy settings”

I spent 3 hours trying several System Restores and reboots before I finally got one that took me back to before the problems started.

I have emailed the company that sent me the app / programme that I had installed just prior to this.

Probi

Have your tried to ping google as suggested above? This will show if you have any connection at all.

Also what sky router model do you have?

System

Chrome and Firefox use the proxy settings set up in Internet Explorer.
Open up Internet Explorer, select Internet Options, click on the Connections tab and then LAN settings.

Ensure that 'Automatically detect settings is ticked and 'Use proxy server...' IS NOT.

Restart all your browsers and see what happens.

Wammer

Sorry, I was shooting out when I posted the previous message. Thanks for the replies.

I checked the proxy settings in IE in the middle of having all the problems and there was a proxy address there.

There was a workaround of disabling proxy settings, but I shouldn't have had to do that in the first place and I prefer to solve a problem rather than work round it.

The programme I had installed was a desktop app from Ipsos, the survey company.

I see that I forgot to mention something relevant as I was in a bit of a panic in the middle of the night and grabbed the opportunity to post while I had a connection.

After installing the app, I closed and opened my browser. I kept getting numerous security certificate warning which appeared to relate to Google programmes and the certificate was from “DigitalMarketresearchapps”. Rebooted pc, but it was still the same. It was after this that I had the proxy settings problem. I have emailed Ipsos and made them aware. This is the second app from them that has caused major problems and this one was supposed to be fixed, but I won't be downloading it a third time.

It all seems to be working fine now, but I was really panicking in the middle of the night when nothing I tried was working

Here are my ping results

Pinging www.google.co.uk [173.194.66.94] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 173.194.66.94: bytes=32 time=62ms TTL=49
Reply from 173.194.66.94: bytes=32 time=62ms TTL=49
Reply from 173.194.66.94: bytes=32 time=62ms TTL=49
Reply from 173.194.66.94: bytes=32 time=63ms TTL=49

Ping statistics for 173.194.66.94:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 62ms, Maximum = 63ms, Average = 62ms

System

I'm not quite sure why you have a proxy setting in the first place. Normally that should be blank unless you are instructed by your ISP (for example) to set one up.

Disabling the proxy isn't a workaround, rather the question you should be asking is why you have one in the first place. At a guess since Ipsos is a survey company then they want to see everywhere you go. The downside being that they can control where you go. Do you want that?

Wammer

I didn't have a proxy setting set up. It must have been the Ipsos app that set up the proxy settings. I use OpenDNS and I'm wondering if that didn't allow the proxy settings to be used.

I understand what you mean about disabling the proxy not being a workaround. Perhaps I worded that badly.

What I meant was that my settings had been changed and rather than change them back manually, I wanted to know what changed them in the first place and get rid of that.

Looks like I have, as everything is back to the way it was, but not without a lot of grief.

Companies should test their software thoroughly before unleashing it on the unsuspecting public, especially as it was their second attempt. Obviously I wasn't the only one to have problems with the first version.

GunJack

nowt to do with opendns, all to do with either the ipsos prog you installed, or even more commonly by malware. Run a quick malwarebytes scan and post the resulting logfile

Wammer

Mbam was the first thing I did when I started having problems and it came back clean as always. I also ran CCleaner.

It's all working fine now and I won't be installing that app again even if they do release an updated version.