How to Geek (howtogeek.com)

C:\WINDOWS\system32>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols
The system cannot find the path specified.

jro11 said:

C:\WINDOWS\system32>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols
The system cannot find the path specified.

Click to expand...

That is not a folder on your C: drive that you can find in File Explorer or a Command Prompt. It's a Registry Key. You will only see it in Regedit.

x BlueRobot said:

This seems like a TLS handshake issue, have you checked your HTTPS settings in the registry? You mentioned that it works on other machines so I would compare the problematic settings to some known good settings.

Click to expand...

Bree said:

It's a Registry Key.

Click to expand...

So what does mine say, and should I change it? And if so, how?

jro11 said:

View attachment 70211

Click to expand...

I'm sorry if I gave someone the impression there were computers of mine through which I could get through to HowToGeek.com.

There aren't and I can't.

Therefore I went to the Registry key that was suggested and want to compare it to...never mind. It's obvious no one has a clue what to do.

Another option??

I sent the HowToGeek email I received to yet another computer on site. Firefox attempted to open it with, as you might expect, the same error.
Secure connection failed and Firefox did not connect | Firefox Help

Firefox seems the only browser that responds with something other than just an error message--a relevant link .

Might any of this information be helpful?

• Customize this article

Download Firefox

• Systems and Languages
• What's New
• Privacy

Secure connection failed and Firefox did not connect​

This article explains why you may see a Secure Connection Failed or a Did Not Connect: Potential Security Issue error page, and what you can do.

• If you see a Warning: Potential Security Risk Ahead error page, see the What do the security warning codes mean? article.
• To troubleshoot other error messages, see Websites don't load - troubleshoot and fix error messages.

Table of Contents​

• Secure connection cannot be established
  • Secure Connection Failed
  • Did Not Connect: Potential Security Issue
• Website issues
  • TLS version unsupported
  • HSTS required
• Security software conflict
• Incorrect system clock
• Other secure connection issues

Secure connection cannot be established​

When a website that requires a secure (HTTPS) connection tries to secure communication with your computer, Firefox cross-checks this attempt to make sure that the website certificate and the connection method are actually secure. If Firefox cannot establish a secure connection, it will display a Secure Connection Failed or Did Not Connect: Potential Security Issue error page.

Secure Connection Failed​

A Secure Connection Failed error page will include a description of the error and a Try Again button. There is no option to add a security exception to bypass this type of error.




The error page will also include the following information:

• 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.

Did Not Connect: Potential Security Issue​

Certain secure connection failures will result in a Did Not Connect: Potential Security Issue error page.



The error page will include a description of the potential security threat and an Advanced… button to view the error code and other technical details. There is no option to add a security exception to visit the website.

Website issues​

TLS version unsupported​

Some websites try using outdated (no longer secure) Transport Layer Security (TLS) mechanisms in an attempt to secure your connection. Firefox protects you by preventing navigation to such sites if there is a problem in securely establishing a connection. Contact the owners of the website and ask them to update their TLS version to a version that is still current and still secure.

Since Firefox version 78, the minimum TLS version allowed by default is TLS 1.2. Websites that don't support TLS version 1.2 or higher will display a Secure Connection Failed error page with Error code: SSL_ERROR_UNSUPPORTED_VERSION and a message that says, This website might not support the TLS 1.2 protocol, which is the minimum version supported by Firefox. For more information, see this Mozilla blog post.




Note: The option to enable TLS 1.0 and 1.1 has been removed from the error page in Firefox version 97.

HSTS required​

Other websites may require HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) and will not allow access with an insecure connection.

Security software conflict​

Many security products use a feature that intercepts secure connections by default. This can produce connection errors or warnings on secure websites. If you see secure connection errors on multiple secure websites, updating your security product or modifying its settings may resolve the issue. See this article's section on Antivirus products for help with specific security products that can produce these errors, such as Avast, AVG and ESET software.

Alternatively, you can uninstall third-party security software and use Windows Defender, the built-in antivirus.

Incorrect system clock​

Firefox uses certificates on secure websites to ensure that your information is being sent to the intended recipient and can't be read by eavesdroppers. An incorrect system date can cause Firefox to detect that the website's security certificate is expired or invalid. Make sure your computer is set to the correct date, time and time zone. For more information, see How to troubleshoot time related errors on secure websites.

Other secure connection issues​

• Certificate contains the same serial number as another certificate
  Error code: SEC_ERROR_REUSED_ISSUER_AND_SERIAL

For a list and brief description of other secure connection errors, see NSS and SSL Error Codes in Firefox documentation.


Share this article: Secure connection failed and Firefox did not connect | Firefox Help

Because I don't have any computer that successfully gets www.howtogeek.com there's no way I can query the register of a computer that can get www.howtogeek.com and know how to enable this registry correctly.

jro11 said:

So what does mine say, and should I change it? And if so, how?

Click to expand...

Please enter the following command from command prompt and then post the output in your next post:


It's difficult to see if there is any subkeys with your screenshot. Additionally, please go to HTG (How To Geek) and then post the same information as shown in the following tutorial: How to identify the cipher used by an HTTPS Connection

jro11 said:

Might any of this information be helpful?

Click to expand...

No, not particularly unfortunately, it is just a generic troubleshooting page and it would have been better to just provide the URL rather than post all of its contents.

Are you able to connect to HTG using HTTP only? You may get a warning message in Firefox but it should allow you visit the site if you confirm that you wish to visit the site without HTTPS.

How-To Geek - We Explain Technology

We explain technology. Learn more with our articles, reviews, tips, and the best answers to your most pressing tech questions.

www.howtogeek.com

is changed to How-To Geek - We Explain Technology and doesn't connect.

https://www.howtogeek.com/ doesn't connect
http://www.howtogeek.com/ changes to How-To Geek - We Explain Technology and doesn't connect



Because it was recommended that I change my DNS I FINALLY managed to connect completely to (Cisco) DNS. https://id.cisco.com/ui/v1.0/profile-ui

Now I'm faced with having to decide
None of this makes any sense!!

Is this what is meant by changing my DNS???

jro11 said:

Is this what is meant by changing my DNS???

Click to expand...

See if this tutorial helps explain DNS.....


You could try using 1.1.1.1 as your DNS....

Option 1: clicking on Ngfhssssetwork & Intvhstrhstrhrne""

jro11 said:

Option 1: clicking on Ngfhssssetwork & Intvhstrhstrhrne""

Click to expand...

I'm sorry for the last post. This computer, and myself, are suffering meltdown. I was in the middle of replying to Bree's post (on Chrome) when the computer froze. I was able to dismiss windows, but was not able to dismiss the post--eventually I had to shut down by applying the power switch.

What I was in the process of saying was that while on
Find DNS Servers Used in Windows 11 Tutorial (on Firefox)
and found that Option One "Find DNS servers in Settings" was inapplicable because the Open Network & internet settings is sufficiently different from what is on my screen to make that unworkable...
...then it froze...
I may have enough time to explore the other settings, but now I feel I have such severe computer memory problems that I don't know how long the computer will stay up.
To continue, When I click on Properties I'm taken to a screen Settings/Network 2 with no place to click on called Ethernet
I daresay you can go to the same place to confirm what I'm finding.

Here's what I mean:

Windows11 Forum and Windows10 forum seem to be the only activity I am pursuing on my computer. I'm going from one thread to another (that I've posted) trying to put out fires on my own computer. I daresay everyone will soon get sick of me; both of these forums will wither away, and I'll be left with a stand-alone computer (a REAL stand alone, one with no Internet nor email connection--I'm awaiting a call from MS Tier2 Support--MS Tier1 support has so screwed up Outlook that it life--and along with that all my email, connections, Calendar (I try and call everyone I know on their birthdays to sing...) will go.

I'm about to post another thread How do I investigate/solve memory problems?

I have another computer--a Win11 laptop, that I'm trying to move my "operation" (you have no idea how appropriate "operation" is) to but the last place I want to go to address my Win10 problems is Win11. (I wanted to stay on Win10 until Win12 (2024) arrives.)

jro11 said:

What I was in the process of saying was that while on
Find DNS Servers Used in Windows 11 Tutorial (on Firefox)
and found that Option One "Find DNS servers in Settings" was inapplicable because the Open Network & internet settings is sufficiently different from what is on my screen to make that unworkable...

Click to expand...

The Windows 10 version of that tutorial is here, see Option Five to find/change the DNS in Settings.

I am not posting random threads, they all relate to each other.
The following are the ACTIVE threads I've begun, or joined, and the reason I've done so:

How to Geek (howtogeek.com) How to open Howtogeek.com emails that I successfully subscribed to for years.
Gmail machinations Google has suddenly not allowed me to access one of my gmail accounts, not because it doesn't accept my password, but because it accepts my password, and admits that I've changed it, but wants me to go through additional "verification"
Outlook "View" collums suddenly totally misbehaving Outlook breaking down...Interface only works if extended over multiple monitors, problem being handled by MS Support, badly, they're making the problem worse...
Show us your CPU model Looking into buying a new computer--and going from Intel to AMD
OneDrive: Still the elephant in the room: One of the reasons I still hate Win11. Despite all my efforts to sort out my problems by switching to a Win11 (my wife's) laptop, OneDrive continues to interfere with my efforts.
Kernel Power Error: An attempt to understand and solve the problem of my current (Win10 Pro) computer randomly shutting down (which I've already determined is not due to temperature problems, CPU problems, or GPU problems)
I have participated in a thread having to do with

I think that's it, but I'm not sure. My computer's shutting down less randomly but now is stalling/freezing (ergo I want to investigate if memory issues are involved).

...my computer has just restarted...

Things I want to investigate:
1) How to get into and solve memory problems
2) Backup and Imaging software: Been done 3x since I joined but none of the programs are freeware anymore. I'm now being haunted by Genie Timeline to start paying for software available for no charge.

Bree and Brink are great Tutorial Writers but their tutorials are largely irrelevant. Microsoft keeps changing their interface slightly enough (Websites, and now interfaces, are the curse of new CEOs who think they know more about in the trenches issues than the grunts that have been doing this all their life)

​

​

I just went to Option 6 on

Bree said:

The Windows 10 version of that tutorial is here, see Option Five to find/change the DNS in Settings.

Click to expand...

What does this tell me?
What do I do now?
Does this have anything to do with DNS? With my ability to get www.howtoGeeks.com? With my power Kernel problem that's causing my computer to restart randomly? with the computer freezing up?

jro11 said:

is changed to How-To Geek - We Explain Technology and doesn't connect.

Click to expand...

You'll need to turn off HTTPS enforcement for that particular domain by following these instructions: HTTPS-Only Mode in Firefox | Firefox Help

Afterwards, try and access the HTG website again. It might be useful if you can enable HTTP logging as well, you can follow these instructions in order to set it up: HTTP Logging — Firefox Source Docs documentation

Please make sure that you set the logging output to log to a file, the settings are on the same about:logging page. Once it has been set, then go to HTG again and then provide the log which would have been produced. I'm not sure how verbose the log file will be but it should at least provide some sort of indication as to why it can't connect to that site.

Just installed Google DNS per Still not able to load How-To Geek - We Explain Technology .

then tried Control - D

Free DNS Resolvers | Control D,
downloaded the GUI Setup Utility GUI Setup Utility and installed the code and ran it.

and I'm still not able to resolve How-To Geek - We Explain Technology
All I know is my 'native' / 'isp provided' DNS server is not allowing me to bring up/'resolve'
https://www.howtogeek.com/

Can anyone please explain to me what to do to open a url beginning with https://www.howtogeek.com/

I haven't followed this thread through but are you sure your ISP isn't blocking sites of Valnet? Does the same thing happen with these sites?

x BlueRobot said:

Afterwards, try and access the HTG website again. It might be useful if you can enable HTTP logging as well, you can follow these instructions in order to set it up: HTTP Logging — Firefox Source Docs documentation

Please make sure that you set the logging output to log to a file, the settings are on the same about:logging page. Once it has been set, then go to HTG again and then provide the log which would have been produced. I'm not sure how verbose the log file will be but it should at least provide some sort of indication as to why it can't connect to that site.

Click to expand...

Just enable HTTP logging as suggested earlier and then visit the HTG site again. Afterwards, upload the log file which should have been written to, it's rather pointless continuously playing around with settings and DNS resolvers until you know what the problem is. You're just going to eventually cause further problems for yourself.