Windows 7 SOME links on website pages won't open in ANY browser

[ruggb]

SOME links on website pages won't open in ANY browser.
Firefox, Waterfox, Chrome, or IE.
When I hover over the link nothing appears on the status bar.
If I clk on it nothing happens. Other links on the webpage will work.
They appear on status bar and open on clk.

in particular, http://hwinfo.com/download.php
none of the program download links work but the other links do work.

Must be an issue with the registry. My laptop works fine.
both r W7 x64. same browser versions.
I ran SFC but NPF... so I guess files r ok.

out of BILLIONS of bits on this which one is wrong????

 

[Fixer1234]

If some links on a web site work and others don't, and they also don't work in any other browser (particularly IE), it is a pretty good bet the problem is with the web site. If you hover on the link and get nothing, it is a pretty good indication that it is a defective link. If you right click on a link and get options that only deal with web page objects, and no link options (like Open or Open in another tab), it is a pretty good indication that it is a defective link. The web page whose link you embedded is full of defective links. The problem isn't on your computer. Often, the issue is not a corrupted web page but a problem with the web site's server. If you try again later or the next day, the same links may work.

 

[Joe S]

What are you using for AV and other security protection? Maybe one of those is blocking it.
Joe

 

[Fixer1234]

What are you using for AV and other security protection? Maybe one of those is blocking it.
Joe

Good suggestion. In this case, the web site links are actually bad.

 

[ruggb]

OK - the LINKs that do not work r actually drop down menus. They work fine on my laptop so I assume it is a Windoz issue and not a website issue. ALL browsers ( FF, WF, Chrome, IE) do it on the desktop. They do not show the link in the status bar on either laptop or desktop. On the desktop, when clicked, they don't drop down as they do on the laptop. The button has no DD arrow - it just clicks.
I ran SFC - no problems.

 

[Fixer1234]

The plot thickens. I hadn't thought about the buttons being drop down menus instead of links, which would explain why they didn't behave like links. On my computer, the buttons do not work at all with FF but do work with IE. However, IE blocked the embedded links and gave me the option to unblock it. Don't know if the behavior is different today than when I looked before or whether I previously just stopped looking when FF did not work at all and the buttons did not behave like links in IE.

There is nothing wrong with your computer. If there was, you would be having trouble with most web sites. This web site is just not well-behaved. It appears that the programming for this web site is extremely particular about the browsers and settings it will interact with. I'm not sure why IE blocked the web site's links, but the same characteristics may be causing problems with other browsers, as well. It is also possible that add-ons in your browsers are preventing your browsers from handling the site properly. Another possibility is that the site, itself, is refusing to function because it wants to do something as a condition of your using the web page that is being blocked, like loading cookies or funneling user information to a third party. You could try opening your browsers in "clean" mode (all add-ons suppressed) and see if you have more luck, but you may be having problems for a reason (you are being protected from something that is set to be rejected by default).

 

[ruggb]

thx for the reply
the thing that confuses is that it works with any browser on my laptop - same OS, W7 ; same AV, Vipre; same network - and works with NO browser (IE, FF, Chrome, Waterfox) on my desktop.
That eliminates the add-ons idea, and the website idea and points to a W7 config setting.

 

[How2win7]

Have you checked your host file? C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc, then open the file called 'hosts' with notepad, and see if the websites that won't open show in the list. If they do, delete those lines. See this: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/972034 for the default host file text.

 

[ruggb]

thx for the reply.
The website opens so the host file isn't stopping it - what does not work is the boxes at the bottom that open a drop down to select a file to download.
i actually forgot about it because it seems to only happen on that site and i haven't been back to it.
but it is still broken.
links on that site work fine. it is just those download buttons at the bottom of the page with pull downs.
and it all works on my laptop - same W7 OS - so it must be in the registry.