/home/null error message

[ray1inJT]

Greetings!
I'm using VISTA, IE7, and OneCare.
Have been for months. I pay my bills on-line all of the time.
Today, I went to 'discovercard.com'.
I access the page for a brief moment, then,
the address changes to: 'discovercard.com/home/null';
and I get a message that the web page can not be found.
I spoke with DISCOVER for some time, they assure me that the problem is here.
I've called friends, and they, like DISCOVER, can access the page.
I've made no changes, other than live updates. IE7 had an update on 12/12/07.
Don't know what else it could be. If I can not make a change to allow access,
can I/should I go back and un-install the critical update? How?
Or, is there something else?
Thank you for your time,
Ray

 

[ray1inJT]

Guess everyone is as stumped as me, and Discover Card Tech support.
FYI: I downloaded and installed Firefox, and I can access discovercard.com with no problems.
So, it's not my computer, per say, but something with Microsoft.
I"ve run all of the AD-Aawre, Spybot programs I can. Onecare it seems has kept my system very clean.
Never the less, I still get re-directed to the non-page when I try to use I.E.

Ray

 

[corkyg]

Interesting! I go to Discover regularly, but use the following URL:

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="https://www.discovercard.com/cardmembersvcs/loginlogout/app/ac_main">https://www.discovercard.co......logout/app/ac_main</a>

It works for me. All you need to do is log in.

 

[bruceb]

Also put the real site url in your Trusted Sites Zone
That may be all it is. And in some cases, just clearing
your Cookies and Temp files will fix the issues.

 

[ray1inJT]

Nope. Doesn't work.
The EXACT same thing happens.
I get a glimpse of the page, and then it goes to the "...null page".
AND/BUT...if I paste it into FIREFOX, I do get to the DISCOVER page, no problem.
Thanks for the thought, though.
I still have no idea....

Ray

 

[ray1inJT]

Thanks, bruceb, but I did all of that on the phone the first day with Discover tech support.
Added them to the trusted list, cleaned out everything;
rasied, and then lowered security settings.
Ran a full scan with OneCare.
Nothing worked from IE; just Firefox.
I pay Chase, Verizon, AT&T,
my Electric Co., and Cable Co. on line each month.
They continue to work from IE.
Discover: only via Firefox.
Something is re-directing the page, but just that page.
As I said to corkyg, I get a brief view of the page, then it's gone.
Tried stopping it a dozen or so times. Never works.

Strange indeed...

Ray

 

[bruceb]

If that is the case, I would suggest one of the following as the cause

Bad Hosts File

The Host file is here:

A way to make it easier for system administrators to quickly edit the hosts file is to
create a desktop shortcut using the following path:

%SystemRoot%\system32\notepad.exe c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

Then right/click on the shortcut and choose Run as Administrator (use wordpad to edit it)
You will likely find a line in there that is redirecting the site URL .. if so remove it and save
the file.

You can also try this:

If the customer is unable to browse to secured sites perform the following troubleshooting steps

First register the following Internet Explorer dll files

Click Start, click Run, type:
Regsvr32 jscript.dll
Regsvr32 softpub.dll
Regsvr32 mssip32.dll
Regsvr32 initpki.dll
Regsvr32 msxml3.dll
Now optimize Internet Explorer for browsing secured sites

Open Internet Options, make the folowing changes
General Tab\ Delete...
Delete cookies, temporary internet files
Security Tab
Reset all zones to Default
Privacy Tab
Reset to default
Content Tab
Clear SSL State
Programs Tab
Reset Web Settings
Advanced Tab\ Security
Check SSL 2.0 & 3.0
Un-Check Use TLS 1.0
Restore Defaults

And if you are going thru a router, be sure the MTU is set to 1400
Some sites do not work properly if the number is below that.

 

[OBWan]

I have exactly the same problem as described by ray1inJT! Tried everything, including following Bruceb's instructions above to the letter but nothing worked. The bad host file shows only one IP (127.0.0.1) there which can not be the culprit. Really don't know what happened, as my friend's PC doesn't have the problem. BTW my system is XP Pro (w/o OneCare), and this computer doesn't have any firewall software installed. I prefer to use IE 7 for my online billing needs, as the browser makes better (also headache-free) printouts than FireFox. I will try to uninstall the 12/12/07 update and see if that solves the problem.

 

[OBWan]

Ok I removed that security update (KB942615) but the problem is still there. I want to add that I started noticing this page redirecting issue since about middle of December, which coincided with the date of the security update. Even though the security update is removed now, I suspect there's some element(s) staying in my system that can't be removed while causing the page redirecting problem. It'd be great if someone knows how to get rid of them.

 

[bruceb]

A check showed that the update you mentioned casued a
problem in the registry. But you still need that update for
security. So reinstall it and then install this update

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946627

which will correct the registry so everything works again.
Also it may be best to reboot Twice after you reinstall the
first Update, then put in the next one.

 

[OBWan]

Thanks Bruce, I appreciate your following up with this issue. I followed your advice, restored the security update and downloaded the fix. The problem doesn't go. Incidentally, I tried running IE 7 without add-ons (right click the IE icon and select the "Start without Add-ons" option) and the discovercard.com page finally stayed without redirecting. I did not log in and check my account, lest my computer would be compromised without IE add-ons. On IE status bar, I saw an orange (not yellow) shield icon with a big exclamation mark inside. I guess that means it's unsafe to browse the site.

 

[ray1inJT]

After all of this time, and all of the failed above fixes, I MAY have stumbled onto something. My local news station?s homepage starts with a video link that requires Adobe Flash. I always update whenever prompted. I?ve been too busy struggling with this discover.com problem to pay attention, but, when I first installed Flash 9, all seemed well. Shortly thereafter, however, I couldn?t go to the video link. I then noticed it at cnn, and nfl.com, too. Was to busy to be overly concerned at first, but: Can?t do without the videos; can?t do videos without Flash. I un-installed and then re-installed, and the videos are playing again. AND, although I can?t see any way that the two are connected: I can go to discovercard.com/
Anything is possible; could be a coincidence, but if they are not related, what fixed dicovercard.com, then?
Thanks to all that have helped. Hope this helps others.
Ray

 

[OBWan]

Before this issue I already have Adobe Flash Player 9 (ActiveX + Plugin) installed. I don't think that it is the culprit, but I will uninstall & reinstall it again just to see if that makes any difference. Will post back when it is done.

 

[OBWan]

Ok I just tried Ran1inJT's suggestion above but it didn't work. First I uninstalled both Flash 9 ActiveX and Plugin, and then I was able to stay at discovercard.com site without getting bounced off. "Great!" I thought, then I went ahead and downloaded the latest Flash 9 Player (ver 9,0,115,0). But, as soon as the ActiveX was installed, the IE got bounced off the discovercard site again! This is when I haven't even tried and installed the Flash 9 Plugin yet. Now I believe the issue must relate to Flash 9 (found the culprit at last), but I wonder what version or what kind of trick it requires to appease IE through the installation process. Someone please help.

 

[OBWan]

I just removed Flash 9 ActiveX, and installed Flash 9 Plugin (which is the ActiveX counterpart for Firefox/Netscape/Opera; the Flash 9 ActiveX is for IE only) for Firefox. The IE can open & stay at discovercard.com all right, so the Plugin doesn't affect IE. Now it's narrowed down to the ActiveX for sure. For the time being, I will search online and find an older version of Flash ActiveX (before ver 9,0,115,0) as a workaround.