My MacBook Air (OS X 10.9.5) has started acting weird. Lately it doesn't allow me access to many of the major websites I use like Google and Facebook but smaller e.g. local newspaper sites still work (it can work fine in the morning and then act up in the evening). I don't know what the problem is (and I'm not very good with this sort of thing). We have another Mac in the house and it works fine all the time so with it I've been trying to Google some answers (feels ironic somehow...) and have tried all the usual things like clearing cookies and cache, restarting computer, putting in new DNS (208.67.222.220; 208.67.222.222, not even sure what that is supposed to do but all hail mighty Google). I am at a loss so if anyone has any ideas that could help I would be very grateful.
Help! Can't access Google, Facebook etc.
- Thread starter CarolineM
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We need to know the following:
1. What browser are you using?
2. What exact MacBook Air model do you have?
3. Are you making any backups to an external device?
4. Have you been performing any disk cleanup/maintenance?
5. Have you tried another browser?
1. What browser are you using?
2. What exact MacBook Air model do you have?
3. Are you making any backups to an external device?
4. Have you been performing any disk cleanup/maintenance?
5. Have you tried another browser?
1. Safari
2. 11-inch, 1.4 GHz Intel Core i5, 4GB 1600MHz DDR3 (from 2014)
3. No
4. I've used the free version of CleanMyMac 3 and have run Avast anti virus.
5. Firefox
And like I wrote, a lot of other sites work (just tried craigslist and IKEA randomly), and Facebook seems to be hit or miss, but the main problem is Google and related stuff like Google docs.
2. 11-inch, 1.4 GHz Intel Core i5, 4GB 1600MHz DDR3 (from 2014)
3. No
4. I've used the free version of CleanMyMac 3 and have run Avast anti virus.
5. Firefox
And like I wrote, a lot of other sites work (just tried craigslist and IKEA randomly), and Facebook seems to be hit or miss, but the main problem is Google and related stuff like Google docs.
Cory Cooper
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Hello and welcome.
-First off, I would uninstall both CleanMyMac and Avast, as they have been known to cause more problems than they are worth.
-When using Google Drive and Google Apps, definitely download and install Google Chrome, as I have seen issues using them via Safari.
-I would remove any manually entered OpenDNS servers or network settings and use DHCP and the default DNS servers from your ISP that are auto-filled. Also, check to make sure you don;t have any proxies enabled.
See if that resolves the issue.
C
-First off, I would uninstall both CleanMyMac and Avast, as they have been known to cause more problems than they are worth.
-When using Google Drive and Google Apps, definitely download and install Google Chrome, as I have seen issues using them via Safari.
-I would remove any manually entered OpenDNS servers or network settings and use DHCP and the default DNS servers from your ISP that are auto-filled. Also, check to make sure you don;t have any proxies enabled.
See if that resolves the issue.
C
Hi!
Firstly, thank you both for taking your time to come up with a possible solution, I appreciate it.
It's so weird though, this morning everything works fine again, but it has happened before and if it follows the same pattern, Google (especially) will just stop working later today.
Now for the stupid questions (so sorry but I really don't know a lot about this stuff but am trying to study up on it, feels like I'm back in school), how do I use DHCP and the default DNS servers from my ISP? Where do I find that on my Mac? And as for Avast, before having it installed I was having a lot of problems with viruses and I could barely use my computer, but is there any other antivirus I should be using instead? Also, with making backups, do you just mean just saving my files on an external hard drive?
Firstly, thank you both for taking your time to come up with a possible solution, I appreciate it.
It's so weird though, this morning everything works fine again, but it has happened before and if it follows the same pattern, Google (especially) will just stop working later today.
Now for the stupid questions (so sorry but I really don't know a lot about this stuff but am trying to study up on it, feels like I'm back in school), how do I use DHCP and the default DNS servers from my ISP? Where do I find that on my Mac? And as for Avast, before having it installed I was having a lot of problems with viruses and I could barely use my computer, but is there any other antivirus I should be using instead? Also, with making backups, do you just mean just saving my files on an external hard drive?
Cory Cooper
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- May 19, 2004
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No problem at all, that's why we are here. 
It must have been an issue with your ISP for it to clear itself up.
DHCP and DNS
-If you have never changed anything in the > System Preferences... > Network preference pane, then you are all set and using DHCP and the default DNS servers.
Avast
-Antivirus apps aren't really needed on a Mac. Strange that you were having so many problems with viruses, as there really aren't any for Macs. Maybe it was finding embedded viruses in documents you received from people using PCs, which will not run on or affect your Mac anyway.
-What kind of issues were you having before installing Avast?
Backups
-You can make backups of your data several ways with an external hard drive - using Time Machine, using a cloning all like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper!, or manually copying your files to it.
-The easiest way is to setup Time Machine to backup your entire hard drive to an external.
Hope that helps and let us know if you have additional questions,
C
It must have been an issue with your ISP for it to clear itself up.
DHCP and DNS
-If you have never changed anything in the > System Preferences... > Network preference pane, then you are all set and using DHCP and the default DNS servers.
Avast
-Antivirus apps aren't really needed on a Mac. Strange that you were having so many problems with viruses, as there really aren't any for Macs. Maybe it was finding embedded viruses in documents you received from people using PCs, which will not run on or affect your Mac anyway.
-What kind of issues were you having before installing Avast?
Backups
-You can make backups of your data several ways with an external hard drive - using Time Machine, using a cloning all like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper!, or manually copying your files to it.
-The easiest way is to setup Time Machine to backup your entire hard drive to an external.
Hope that helps and let us know if you have additional questions,
C