Can't access Facebook

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Fri Dec 01, 2017 7:35 pm

I spend many hours a day on FB forums and once in a while I can't access it.
I click on a FB bookmark or link and I get the "Your connection is not private" screen and it will not take me to FB.
Do you happen to know why?

Post by **Philip** » Sat Dec 02, 2017 9:04 am

Hello Lurch,

The Chrome message "Your connection is not private" means there is some issue with the site SSL certificate. It is usually due to an old SSL certificate, SSL certificate issues (subdomain, etc.) anti-virus program issues, etc. I would try the following when it happens:

1. Clear browser cache: "Settings > Show advanced settings > Clear browsing data", or, even reset the browser if you want (you shouldn't have to do this): "Settings > Show advanced settings > Reset settings > Reset".

2. Check and make sure your PC date is correct - if it is some date in the future it may cause SSL certificate expired errors.

3. Try turning off third-party anti-virus for a minute to test, they can sometimes cause SSL certificate issues.

4. Simply click on the "Advanced" link in the lower left corner of that message and "Proceed to the site" (you should only do this if you know what the error details mean, i.e. look at what is wrong with the security certificate). To see the security certificate in Chrome, try: F12 > Security tab.

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Sat Dec 02, 2017 6:19 pm

Thank you for these idea.

FB sometimes will not show images also.
It just started doing that again so I turned off AdBlock for FB and the images immediately seemed to start showing up.
So I'll probably not run AdBlock on FB any more.

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Sat Dec 02, 2017 6:20 pm

Your connection is not private

Attackers might be trying to steal your information from http://www.facebook.com (for example, passwords, messages, or credit cards). Learn more
NET::ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID

Automatically send some system information and page content to Google to help detect dangerous apps and sites. Privacy policy
ReloadHIDE ADVANCED
http://www.facebook.com normally uses encryption to protect your information. When Google Chrome tried to connect to http://www.facebook.com this time, the website sent back unusual and incorrect credentials. This may happen when an attacker is trying to pretend to be http://www.facebook.com, or a Wi-Fi sign-in screen has interrupted the connection. Your information is still secure because Google Chrome stopped the connection before any data was exchanged.

You cannot visit http://www.facebook.com right now because the website uses HSTS. Network errors and attacks are usually temporary, so this page will probably work later.

Post by **Philip** » Sat Dec 02, 2017 7:23 pm

Good catch about adblockers being the possible culprit

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Sun Dec 03, 2017 12:11 am

I emptied my cache and reset the page and I still can't get into FB.

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Sun Dec 03, 2017 12:13 am

I can't get into FB with MS IE either. I got this :

There is a problem connecting securely to this website.

The security certificate presented by this website was issued for a different website's address.

The security certificate presented by this website has expired or is not yet valid.

Security certificate problems may indicate an attempt to fool you or intercept any data you send to the server.

You should close this webpage.

Recommended iconClick here to close this webpage.

More information More information

Post by **Philip** » Sun Dec 03, 2017 9:15 am

I would look at the security certificate itself. In Chrome: F12 > Security tab. See if the page is requesting a different resource, the dates on the certificate, etc.

Do you use any third-party anti-virus, like Avast or Bit Defender? I would turn off their web protection temporarily to test.
Also, run Malwarebytes and AdwCleaner just in case, to make sure there is no malware on your system causing this.

Read through this FAQ to see if there is anything you've missed: https://www.speedguide.net/faq/chrome-w ... rivate-492

I hope this helps..

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Sun Dec 03, 2017 9:34 am

Thanks a lot Philip.

Last night I signed into FB and seemed OK for a while before I went to bed. But it's back to slow again today, awful slow. THe share button won't work, I can't pull down the notifications to check them, etc.

I looked at the certificate on FB at F12 and the date seems OK and valid to sometime in 2018.

The only AV I run is MSSE. Should I try to disable that for a bit? I tried to last night with no luck.

I got AdwCleaner. I had never seen it before. Will run it and also Malwarebytes and will check back here soon.
I appreciate the help. I'm kind of a FB addict and when it won't work I feel like a fish out of water.

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Sun Dec 03, 2017 10:07 am

AdwCleaner did find and remove

PUP.Optional.Legacy
PUP.Optional.AmazonBrowserBar
PUP.Optional.Auslogics.DriverUpdater

Then I restarted and went to FB.
It loaded but pics won't load or show up there.
Pics says this instead :

Image may contain : 1 person, text

I'm going to run Malwarebytes now.

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Sun Dec 03, 2017 10:17 am

Facebook pages don't load fully and they do not show pics and link buttons, and the spinning hourglass thing on top is always spinning like the pages are waiting to load.

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Sun Dec 03, 2017 1:15 pm

I did DL AdwCleaner and Malwarebytes.
MWB quarantined 44 PUPs.
I'm into FB now and it seems to work for now.

Post by **Philip** » Sun Dec 03, 2017 3:35 pm

Good to hear it's working now, probably some type of adware/malware/browser hijack.

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Sun Dec 03, 2017 6:09 pm

I was on FB for hours today and it still seems to load.
Sometimes the photos are slow to load but if I'm not mistaken that is improving.
Thanks again. Would you like me to donate a little something to SG as a token of my appreciation?

Post by **Philip** » Sun Dec 03, 2017 9:12 pm

Nah, it's all good!

If you want to contribute back, just don't use your ad blocker on SG, or help others

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Sun Dec 03, 2017 9:19 pm

OK. I think AdwCleaner disabled AdBlock anyway.

It was much better on FB today but I tend to think it's a seasonal thing with lots of people being online to do Christmas shopping and just people online because it's cold and dark outdoors. I hoped to avoid that with 66 Mbps broadband.

Post by **Philip** » Mon Dec 04, 2017 8:29 am

I use Ublock Origin in Chrome (but turn it off for some sites), seems to work ok.

FB seemed to be loading fine for me yesterday, not sure.

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Mon Dec 04, 2017 4:45 pm

I'm going to copy you on the Ublock Origin add on.

FB is slow, very slow lately. I often can't access images or even reply to posts sometimes.
I'm going to disable MSSE and see if that makes a difference. That's my only AV.

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Mon Dec 04, 2017 8:33 pm

Facebook has gone to hell for some reason. It's like I have 2 mb dial up internet again. The spinning hourglass thing spins and you cannot navigate to check on other posts you replied to earlier, see images, or anything very much of the time. It's depressing because I had gotten to like FB a lot and without it I have nothing much to do. I live alone with my 3 cats. Now the privacy error thing is popping up again. I've cleaned my cache about 4 times, tried disabling MSSE with no results. I tried Mozilla and that gets the same error message.

First you can't do a thing with it, then all of a sudden it works fine for a while, but at any given time it goes to hell again.

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Mon Dec 04, 2017 10:14 pm

I found a YT video from some lady in Malaysia and it changes the DNS numbers to a manual setting of 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. and I'll be damned if my FB pages all seem to be working well again. I couldn't even see images in my own photo albums on FB but I can now.

Here's the video I'm referring to (if it's OK to post here) :

https://youtu.be/Z_4V2AtgTgE

Post by **Philip** » Tue Dec 05, 2017 1:50 pm

That would indicate issues with your ISP's DNS servers... It would affect other sites as well. The DNS servers you listed above are Google's, they are usually a good choice.

Lately, I prefer NTT/Verio's DNS servers, we have a list of different DNS providers here: https://www.speedguide.net/faq/what-alt ... -i-use-128

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Tue Dec 05, 2017 6:07 pm

I'll definitely check those out. My connection is definitely improving.
Do you run FF? I'm running it right now and I seem to like it but anything is better than going back to that DNS setting I was using.

I downloaded freeware called DNS Jumper. Do you use that? According to that, the Google settings were the lowest miliseconds, if I got that correct.

I also DLd freeware called nameserver which is supposed to be better but it seemed to take forever to search for the best servers so I got impatient with it and got DNS Jumper and used that instead, and it really seems to help.

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Tue Dec 05, 2017 6:08 pm

I tested to get over 66 Mbps today, yet on FB I couldn't do a thing at times. But now I do much better.
It sure seems good to not get the damned error page any more.

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Tue Dec 05, 2017 6:15 pm

Thank you. I took down the NTT DNS numbers and put them into my settings in IP4.
After doing this, should I reboot my PC?

Glad to learn this stuff. If there one thing I hate is a sluggish internet connection.
I think the holiday shoppers and surfers really made it more necessary for me to do something about it.

Post by **Philip** » Tue Dec 05, 2017 8:28 pm

You don't have to reboot for DNS server changes to take effect. Either NTT or Google's are fine, for me NTTs are consistently low latency (low name resolution time), not sure if it is that way everywhere in the US.

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Wed Dec 06, 2017 10:41 am

I've been fiddling around with DNS Jumper. I can test many DNS servers and one called US UltraDNS has the shortest resolve time for what that's worth. It's resolve time in only about 19 seconds whereas most others are up over 100 miliseconds. So I selected that DNS to be on my settings, and then today I got that facebook error page once on that DNS so I jumped DNS again. I can select "default" DNS which includes about 30 servers to test, or I can select "secure" which only contains about 3, and one of them is Norton and another is Comodo. I switched to Comodo, even tho the resolve time is much higher, about 200 ms, but I haven't seen that error page pop up again since. I'm just starting to understand a little about DNS Jumper but it's good to know that I can stay on a DNS server that should give me at least good performance.