PC Not Allowing Access ...

... to a specific website.

NOTE - this is a pc issue, not a browser issue so do not move this topic to the browser forum. The issue is present in Palemoon, Firefox, Edge, Chrome, etc. I use Palemoon, but installed the others for testing. I am clueless. We have a single ISP to service the entire household and confirmed it is not a provider cause. All other pc's, phones, android and apple (safari) tablets are able to access the site. It is a very popular, non-adult/over-18 type of site and do not think the site name is important. However, if some think the name is vital for resolution PM me.

Things I tried : cache clearout, checked internet options security tab particulars, temporarily turned off firewall/network protection .

-thx

Maybe someone that has access to pc altered the host file to block the site.
Just a guess but I have used that method to block sites temporarily that are distracting me too often.

This will explain how to check it. Block Websites using Hosts File in Windows

kah said:

Maybe someone that has access to pc altered the host file to block the site.
Just a guess but I have used that method to block sites temporarily that are distracting me too often.

This will explain how to check it. Block Websites using Hosts File in Windows

Thank you kah & Lance1 for your replies.

kah - your reply was the solution. The hosts file contained the site I could not access. In fact it appeared to have several hundred entries, mostly the same ones repeated. Is this because each time I tried to access this site it created a unique entry? In any case, I am the only person that uses this pc and was never aware such a file existed - so, not me. Clueless as to how the entry was made in the first place. It is not impossible that I may have hit some wrong buttons in the past..

IOW, other than manually altering that file as per the tutorial you provided, are there ways entries are created automatically?

thx!

Well, that's cool. Glad you figured it out.

Is this because each time I tried to access this site it created a unique entry?

Possible but I haven't seen that happen by just visiting a site. As you saw at the link you have to open your text editor with admin permissions just to save it even if your account is an admin.

It is not impossible that I may have hit some wrong buttons in the past..

There is no button that I know of in Windows that will do that. It's rarely altered at all anymore and I only thought of it because I have a vague memory of having to edit that file going back to Win95 for some reason that I cannot remember.

IOW, other than manually altering that file as per the tutorial you provided, are there ways entries are created automatically?

I'm not an expert but I'm sure there some type of malware exists that might do that.

I would just let it be for now unless it happens again. If it does, something strange is going on, especially if you are positive that no one else has access to the PC. I could see someone doing this as prank as I also have a vague memory of doing that myself.