Strange browser errors

I've been having some strange browser-related errors since I switched to Win7, but I'm not entirely convinced that it is OS related. The main symptoms are:

1) In Firefox I randomly get "server not errors" when I try to load a new site that I have not been to before. This can last up to a minute or two, during which time trying to access all new domains results in the same error, almost as if DNS lookup is not working. Then once one tab starts working again, they all work. This only happens in FF and not IE8.

2) In both FF and IE8 there seem to be some problems with selected parts of pages involving javascript, where portions will not display at all. For example, the right side of ncix.com has these little picture ads above the quick links section, but this section is completely blank. Then there are certain digital flyers that don't display at all, such as the ones at provigo.ca.

I have tried other wifi networks but the problems still persist. The strange thing is that if I use browsers through Expressgate or in Safe Mode, the second problem is fixed. Once I go back to normal Windows, the picture ads on ncix work fine, probably because they are now in the FF cache. I haven't had the chance to confirm whether the first problem is still there in Safe Mode.

So I suspect there is a problem with something that does not load in safe mode. I'm running Kaspersky Internet Security 2010, so I wonder if there is some setting there that is messing with things... Any suggestions or leads I can investigate here?

 

Many security suites have options to scan network traffic on port 80 in order to scan websites BEFORE they are being processed by the browser. This sometimes can cause timeouts and other connectivity issues while surfing the web. You could try turning this off in KIS2010. I'm sorry, I can't tell you where that setting is located in KIS' user interface.

This would of course lessen the overall security of your system, but this kind of malware detection - just as regular anti-virus - is reactive and not secure enough alone nowadays anyway. I recently wrote a post that contains information on how to further secure webbrowsing on Windows Vista and Windows 7 machines.

 

While I used KIS 2010 I don't think I ever had JavaScript problems...
High security settings could interfere with Flash though...

 

JavaScript can lead to problems in this case if the site loads content asynchronously via it.

I've actually already seen this causing websites to not load correctly or look different because for some reason the live http analyzing function of the security suite wasn't able to work flawlessly. This was with different security suites (I think it was KIS once and GData twice). Last, but not least, if turning this feature off doesn't help, we can still try other things. But Delta_CT said he'd get "server not errors", so I suppose it's "Server not responding" or similar, which would also point to this function being the cause.

I'm really curious now what causes this phenomenon in this specific case.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I had a chance to play quickly this morning before work. Turning off scanning on port 80 does solve the javascript(?) problems of the side panel on ncix and the eflyers not loading. However, it seems that the "server not found" error is still there. I will play around more tonight using safe mode to see if the "server not found" error can be attributed to the firewall. I used to run KIS2009 when I used Vista because I hate the lack of application grouping in KIS2010, among other things. But once I went to Win7, I had to use KIS2010, but fortunately there is a skin that brings back a lot of the old functionality.

If the server error problems persist in Safe Mode, my other suspicion is that my ISP (Bell) is messing around with the DNS lookup. I think I had these errors before Christmas, but they were very infrequent and didn't last more than a couple of seconds, so I just thought maybe it was a flaky connection or something.

 

Did you clear your browser's cache and cookies after changing KIS' settings?

 

No, I forgot to do so, will try tonight.

 

HA! I finally got a handle on what was going on, at least with the "javascript" problems. Looks like KIS2010's anti-banner component was causing all the trouble as it works when I turned it off. A bit of a silly feature considering that it doesn't block the banners I'd like to it, but it kills the ones I want...

 

Strange - I never used to have any problems in that respect - always worked well for me.

But good to hear its sorted for you

 

Well, the online flyers and ads problem has been solved. Unfortunately Firefox is still having issues with loading pages and all. So there is still another underlying cause. I wonder if my ISP (Bell) is doing something funny...