I can't access any Microsoft website. Other sites work fine

Question

I have tried all the Microsoft websites - microsoft.com, windows.com, live.com, even bing.com won't open. All other websites are opening. What is the problem? Google Chrome just gives the error that the website is not available. Opera gives the error "Connection closed by remote server." Internet Explorer can't open it. It just stays blank in Safari.

I'm running Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate. Chrome is throwing this error:

This webpage is not available. The webpage at microsoft.com/en/us/default.aspx might be temporarily down or it may have moved permanently to a new web address

More information on this error

Below is the original error message

Error 101 (net::ERR_CONNECTION_RESET): Unknown error.

Answer 1

I noticed that this issue only occurs on Chrome when signed in to Bing or any of the Microsoft accounts. When the cookies are cleared, it will load properly. Perhaps this is some sort of cookie issue.

Answer 2

I've been getting this a lot lately.

Although it has become clear that wiping out all cookies since the "beginning of time" fixes the problem, this has the major setback of resetting all logins for all your other sites, and if you have 2 factor authentication, it is a major hassle.

A simple fix is to open the broken site, click the icon over the left of the URL, and click the "Cookies" link, where you will have a chance to delete all domain-specific cookies (which BTW does not work if you just search for cookies using the search history method).

Now if only Microsoft could prevent this, that would be great!

More:

https://www.ghacks.net/2016/08/26/fixing-microsoft-site-cant-be-reached-error-in-chrome/

Answer 3

Download and install these 2 scanners.

Install MBAM, use the update tab to update (update it twice) the program before scanning.

http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html

Then install and run this one http://download.cnet.com/SuperAntiSpyware-Free-Edition/3000-8022_4-10523889.html

.

Answer 4

1: Make sure you don't have a proxy setup. In ie: Tools -> Internet options -> Connections -> LAN Settings -> uncheck proxy if its setup

2: see if it works now. If not, keep on going

3: open command line (start -> type run [enter]) and try to ping those domains. ping microsoft.com ping live.com etc.

See if you can even ping them. You can also try a tracert microsoft.com to see if you're going to the right place. If not, keep on going

4: Click on start and search for notepad and run as administrator. Open the file c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

5: Make sure you don't see a bunch of entries that would point those domains to other IP's. Look for any lines that don't start with # and have an IP and a domain ex:

255.255.255.255 microsoft.com

If you find any then something added entries in your host file. Very likely a virus or some other malware. Remove all those entries and save the file (make sure you open notepad as administrator or it wont let you save since its a system file, unless you're already running as admin).

Once the file is saved, click start, type run [enter] ipconfig /flushdns [enter]

This will reload your hostfile and flush your currently resolved dns cache.

6: Try again.

7: If that doesn't work, make sure that if you're running a firewall, you're not actually blocking those domains.

8: Make sure you're not pointing to some rogue DNS server.

After this, I'd have to think some more to figure out what's going on...

Answer 5

Lately, Google Chrome maybe blocked for many Microsoft.com sites including the very important Microsoft Download Center. For example, these site were blocked for me

Microsoft's main site (https://www.microsoft.com/) and Microsoft Download Center https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36179

Reason:

It's an invalid, old or stale cookie.

Solution:

The solution is to clear your cookies. Buy you do not have to clear ALL your cookies, and remove all your saved passwords for countless sites you have visited.

You only have to delete only cookies for Microsoft.com domain. Google Chrome does not make this easy, since it allows only 1 cookie to be deleted at a time. I had over 30 cookies for microsoft.com alone.

You need to erase multiple cookies from microsoft.com at once. If you need further instruction on how to do this see this post here.

Answer 6

I am able to get to the link you provided. I am assuming it can be related to your DNS not getting to that web. Try to clear your cache on Google chrome first:

• Open Chrome.
• On your browser toolbar, tap More.
• Tap History, and then tap Clear browsing data.
• Under Clear browsing data, select the checkboxes for Cookies and site data and Cached images and files.
• Use the menu at the top to select the amount of data that you want to delete.
• Tap Clear browsing data.

Then try clearing your DNS cache. If you use Windows 7, perform the following steps:

• Click Start. Enter cmd in the Start menu search text box.
• Right-click Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator.
• Run the following command: ipconfig /flushdns

If the command succeeds, the system returns the following message: Windows IP configuration successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.