OS-dependent Web connections?

[Bob Duncan]

I'm asking this question again, as the situation described is getting
progressively worse.

For at least the last 3 weeks, the new Win95 machines in our library cannot
establish a connection to several specific Web sites while the Win3.1
machines have no problem at all with the same sites (my test sites are
Adobe, TVGuide, and the AltaVista search engine). I'm hoping perhaps
someone on the list has a clue as to what could be causing this situation;
the good folks in our campus computing services are stumped (our
"webmaster" graduated last May...); I've queried all three of the problem
sites and have received no responses. None of these sites are crucial to
our mission, but if the list expands, we could be in trouble.

The problem: 
	the status bar reads "Host...contacted. Waiting for reply..." when
attempting a connection to Alta Vista, and  "Transferring data from..." for
the other two. No page ever comes up; the browser does not time out; and
when "Stop" is employed, the site's address appears in the location box
with a "transfer interrupted" page. These sites are obviously being
contacted by the Win95 machines, but the request is not being fulfilled.
The Win3.1 machines connect (practically) instantaneously. (Our lone
PowerMac behaves like the Win95 machines (but hasn't always).)

What I've tried:
	I've experimented with Communicator4.01, Navigator4.03, and IE3.0, and at
various times of the day. All to no avail: the wheels spin, but nothing
happens. Except for these 3 sites, basic connectivity is not a problem. The
problem is not unique to one machine: I've tested at least 20 PCs in three
different campus locations with the same results. The only anomalies:
occasionally AltaVista will work; and the other day I changed the
cache/network comparison from "once per session" to "every time" and I was
able to get all 3 loaded, but I have been unable to make this happen again,
so I'm wondering if I was actually hallucinating (or perhaps my PC's just
messing with me?). I've emptied/enlarged/zeroed caches. I know the URLs are
correct.

Any clues on what could be the cause of this? Any message a Web server
could be sending out that confuses things on the receiving end? Some hidden
setting in Win95? Anything???

Obsessed and on the verge of going totally nutzoid,

Bob Duncan


  ~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~
  Robert E. Duncan
  Reference/Instruction Librarian
  David Bishop Skillman Library
  Lafayette College
  Easton, PA  18042
  duncanr at lafayette.edu
  http://www.lafayette.edu/faculty/duncanr/