Unable to log into certain secure websites on Windows 10 laptop

Hello,
I am unable to log into certain secure websites on my Windows 10 laptop. The ability to navigate within my bank's website is hit and miss. I cannot log into the government services site at all to access my personal tax information. I am able to log into these sites using the Safari browser on an Apple iPad, which is on the same wifi network. I am using Hitman Pro Alert and have tried disabling every function. That doesn't help.
Can anyone tell me what settings in Windows might be causing this? I first noticed this probably within the last 3 weeks or so, and at the time I thought it was a temporary issue with the website. But I suspect it's worse than that. This happens with all the browsers on the laptop: Edge, Chrome, and Firefox.

Edition Windows 10 HomeVersion 21H1Installed on ‎2020-‎11-‎18OS build 19043.1586Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.4170.0

Thank you, I'll look into that. I had issues with Microsoft Edge, Firefox, and Google Chrome.

FWIW, I am getting the message that the connection was reset when I try to log into the government income tax site. This happens with Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, and Firefox. All browsers are up to date. Errors are "connection reset". The message Firefox delivers is:

"An error occurred during a connection to (the website I am trying to log into) . PR_CONNECT_RESET_ERROR


The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because the authenticity of the received data could not be verified.
Please contact the website owners to inform them of this problem.


Learn more…"

I would suspect that because the issue occurs in 3 different browsers, it is being caused by something systemic.

- - - Updated - - -

I cleared the browsing data from Microsoft Edge, and it has actually made things worse. I can't even get to the login page at the government website.

Smiley1 said:

Hello,
I am using Hitman Pro Alert and have tried disabling every function.

May want to completely uninstall Hitman Pro to see if difference. Windows Defender should automatically become active.

What is your firewall ? If using a 3rd party may want to check settings or revert to the Windows Firewall.

I do not use Edge and Chrome. With Firefox I have difficulties with one particular bank. There I use Brave. Probably, these difficulties arise from private/non private browsing and cookies management. Firefox is my default and I do not want to change settings only for this bank. So there i use the less private Brave.

Here's what's happened so far with my troubleshooting.

I cleared the history from the Microsoft Edge browser only. I couldn't access the login page for the government site at all.

I turned all of Hitman Pro-Alert settings back on.

I was able to sign onto the government tax pages on my iPad, which is on my home wifi network.

I connected the laptop to my iPhone's hotspot. I was able to log into the government tax pages with no problem. The page itself within Chrome did misbehave, as the links wouldn't work correctly. Earlier, I was able to log out, but just now, none of the links worked. I couldn't log out and couldn't go back to the overview page, it timed me out. I was able to log out in the Edge browser I tried again later on the home internet network. Same problem with the laptop. Edge pages remained blank, unable to connect, Chrome told me the connection was reset. The bank's website also works just fine on the Safari browser on the iPad.

Seems to be something between the Windows laptop and my home internet network, the websites don't seem to be able to establish that it is a secure connection.

I AM thinking of just uninstalling Hitman Pro-Alert.

I am only using Windows Defender and Hitman Pro-Alert, no other security software.

Maybe updating Windows 10 would help, but I had wanted to wait until tax season was over before doing anything major. My laptop does not meet the specs for Windows 11. I'm at 21H1, and I see there's a "21H2".

I was hoping there was something simple within the settings that I could tweak to solve this.

I use Firefox as default, Chrome for "my stuff" , as there are 2 different gmail addresses in this household. Edge had worked better for a couple of banking and government sites, so I was using Edge for that. Opera is here, but I haven't used it for a long time and seldom do.