tomshardware.com not responding

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When first opening the main page of toms hardware, I get the message "tomshardware.com" not responding.
I notice on task manager a very high cpu active spike for about 10 seconds when the web site responds and all is well.
I suspect some request is being ignored, and I need to find out what the cause is.
The delay is very annoying.
 
Solution
I've got a better workaround that doesn't require changing system files. Just add the URL to the Restricted zone in Internet Options. I've got a GIF showing how to do it here. To remove it later you just need to come back to the same dialog, select the URL from the list, and click remove.
I am using IE11.

There might be some sort of ad blocker involved, but I can't find it.

For example using google if I search for newegg, the first hit has AD in a square and if I click on it, I get can't reach this page.
If I click on the next link without the AD I go to newegg.

Same results with Bing as a search app.

I need some help in finding any ad blockers that I might have inadvertedly activated.

 
I may have had adblock plus installed for IE.
I uninstalled it and still the same high cpu usage.
I have task manager open on a second monitor.
It shows 100% usage for one of my 6cores for about 10 seconds.

Once the 10 seconds are past, all frees up.
When I click on an article to open on a new tab, the same thing happens there.

FWIW, a link to the what's new forum list wouks fine.
 
I would like to resume this post.
I find that if I use firefox or chrome as browsers, tom's opens properly.
There must be some setting in IE11 that is causing a problem.
Watching task manager, it looks like a single thread running at 100% for about 10 seconds(8600K@5.0)
The same thing happens when I open a tom's link on a new page.
 

SHaines

Community Manager
Staff member
Apr 1, 2019
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We're investigating reports of issues, but could always use more info. For anyone else running into issues logging in, please post in this thread for us.
Include as much info as possible (no need to add it again, if you've already provided this info to us):
  • A screenshot of the exact issue (if at all possible).
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  • Does the issue continue after disabling adblockers?
  • When did you first start having trouble?
  • How often does this happen? Are you completely blocked from our forums completely, or just sporadically?
Thanks for any additional info you can provide for us.
 
We're investigating reports of issues, but could always use more info. For anyone else running into issues logging in, please post in this thread for us.
Include as much info as possible (no need to add it again, if you've already provided this info to us):
  • A screenshot of the exact issue (if at all possible).
  • What browsers you've tried and which ones have the errors.
  • Does the issue continue after disabling adblockers?
  • When did you first start having trouble?
  • How often does this happen? Are you completely blocked from our forums completely, or just sporadically?
Thanks for any additional info you can provide for us.
No screenshot. There is a small message at the bottom that says tomshardware.com is not responding. It invites me to recover web page.
So far as I know, I do not have any ad blockers.
The problem happens only with IE11, not with edge, chrome or firefox.
I abandoned the other browsers because of issues with favorites and printing.
I am using windows 10 pro. It may not be the latest update since I defer on updates as long as I can.

I first started noticing this way back in January.
As a result, I no longer access your home page when I can avoid it.

The delay always happens; after 10 seconds the page displays normally and links are active.
Other parts of the forum seem to be ok.
I use the what's new link to get to the forum and that works ok
 

randomizer

Champion
Moderator
I am able to reproduce the problem. I have used the IE11 profiler to track the problem down to a polyfill (a backwards compatibility script to mimic functionality which is native in newer browsers) that is only loaded in IE. Below is a screenshot of the call stack showing where the vast amount of time is being spent.

0Wcfzki.png
 

randomizer

Champion
Moderator
Now, what can you or I do about it??

We can't fix it but we can work around it. The simplest workaround is to use another browser (which I am already doing; I never use IE except for testing if things work in IE :)). Another more involved option that should work is to use your hosts file to null route the hostname. Add this line to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts:

0.0.0.0 widgets.future-fie.co.uk

Then ensure your browser is closed and run this command from the command line to clear your DNS resolver cache:

ipconfig /flushdns

This will cause that hostname to resolve to 0.0.0.0 (effectively nowhere) and prevent any scripts from that server from loading. Obviously it will break whatever feature is using scripts from there, but it should mitigate the performance issue. If it causes intolerable problems, just remove the line and flush your cache again.
 
D

Deleted member 14196

Guest
adblockers can get bogged down here on this site. on safari it's like a slug, so i use chrome on the phone
 
I have tried other browsers which do fix this delay problem.
Edge, chrome, firefox.
But, each has issues with me of one sort or another in the area of favorites or printing.
I tried the 0.0.0.0 update but was stopped from saving by administrative privileges; working on overcoming that.
 
Help!!
I can find c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
opened with notepad.
Naturally, I do not have administrative privileges to update that way.

When I run notepad as administrator, using the file option, I can drill down to etc which has no entries.
What am I missing?
 
Help!!
I can find c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
opened with notepad.
Naturally, I do not have administrative privileges to update that way.

When I run notepad as administrator, using the file option, I can drill down to etc which has no entries.
What am I missing?
Did you change the mask to "All Files (.)"? By default it's "Text Documents (*.txt)" and none of those files have a .txt extender.
 

randomizer

Champion
Moderator
I've got a better workaround that doesn't require changing system files. Just add the URL to the Restricted zone in Internet Options. I've got a GIF showing how to do it here. To remove it later you just need to come back to the same dialog, select the URL from the list, and click remove.
 
Solution
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