Disable Yahoo?
 

My mother-in-law uses her grandson's computer all the time. Today she could not get into her Yahoo mail. He told her that he disabled her Yahoo so he could play an internet game. Is that possible? She said he typed all this "stuff" after the website address that she had saved. I told her to manually type in www.yahoo.com and see what happens. I didn't think it was possible to do what he said he did, or am I wrong? She is so upset that she cannot access her emails. She is not very computer literate, so she might not be explaining it right. Any ideas?

To say that sounds fishy is an understatement.
There are ways to block a website (or that websites IP address) via the hosts file on a machine. That is not an easy thing to do however, and would require editing some of the system documents. It's a trick used by system admins to block pages like say ESPN.com from their employee's to get more work out of them.

I sincerly doubt this little trick was used. It is not very easy to do, and requires an understanding of how network DNS requests are routed that the average 13 year old in all seriousness would never have.

It sounds like his limited understanding of computers is making the situation worse. He has propbably done something faily benign, and because he does not understand how it works, he just chose the easiest way to phrase it to your mother in law.

Kids who think they know how to mess with a computer often do the worst damage by changing settings to do what they want and not understanding why that change worked, so they can't undo it after.

I'll bet dollars to dounuts this is a nothing more than a change in the internet explorer connection settings (Right click on the IE icon on the desktop to view them) that is cuasing problems.

In order to really dig in and help, we need to know the following:
Her connection settings for IE
The modem or network connection settings from the connections folder in the control panel
If she can access other web addresses. (<--Answer this first)

God my spelling is awful for someone with two college degree's

There are a couple easier ways to do outside the host file that would still be highly effective.

If the domain yahoo.com was added IE's restricted site list or to the machines software firewall if it has one it would very quickly make most yahoo functions, especially things like the mail system that relies on cookies and/or ActiveX controls, completely nonfunctional.

However, if all he did was modify her bookmark you might just want to have her remember "mail.yahoo.com" and it will take her directly to the Yahoo! mail system without any other pages to go through, it loads right to the logon page. :) Good luck!

no offense, and maybe it's cause I know a thing or two, but adding a site to the hosts file is pretty easy IMO. I think I could have figured it out at 13, sheit when I was 13 I was bustin' some ass on my C64!! :lol:

Well weren't we just a 1337 Haxor :lol:
It still doesn't affect the fact that this does not sound like someone toying with the Hosts file :thumbsup:

Problem solved. He did not do what he said he did. He was not playing a game on the internet. He needed to unplug the cable modem to play whatever he was playing, therefore no internet connection. Either he did not explain it right, or she did not understand him. Sorry to have troubled you with such a trivial problem, and thank you for your responses.

Is it plugged in?

/Dang beat me to it.

See, that's why you should always check your layer 1 first. I have so many customers whining that their shit doesn't work and they can't get on the net and it's because they forgot to plug their damn cable in.

Kinda fucked up that the kid told your mother-in-law that he shut off her yahoo to play games. How disrespectful.

Ha, my bro had a problem with a kid doing this at the community center (my bro is the internet tech guy for a small town, or at least he was). The kid would unplug the internet for the whole place instead of just for one computer...
What is this game?? Why do you have to unplug the internet??

Perhaps it is a cracked copy of a game, and he unplugs the Internet in order to prevent it from "calling home" and disabling itself?

I would not be surprised if this were the case. and shame on him for treating his grandmother that way. I felt so bad for her. She is going to use my computer from now on, she is at my house 3 days a week anyway.

If he's under 18, then take the computer away for this behavior.
No child has a right to a computer, even if they bought it with their own money.
As my mother always said, "When your under my roof..."

Talk about disrespectful.
If the computer is in his room, and it's the families, by all means take it out of his room and place it someplace public so he can't screw around with it anymore.