First, try to log in using a different browser. It may be a browser issue. Also, if the site is having technical difficulties, IE is terrible at displaying some types of errors, and just throws up the generic "The page cannot be displayed" page. When that happens to me (mostly when I'm debugging our corporate site), I try again with Firefox or Mozilla, because they'll most likely tell me if there's an underlying database error, and also what the error is. In your case, that would at least tell you that it's not necessarily happening at your end.

Another thing to try is if you've been going to a bookmark to log in, try starting at the site's homepage instead, and following their links to log in. Occasionally sites change the page names, and the old pages aren't recognized by the authentication system anymore. This happens to me with AOL all the time.

Thanks DX. Would asking how to go through Firefox be a stupid question?

I've tried going through the home site with the Yahoo problem, and it doesn't seem to help. Plus, the fact that it's happened with other sites such as my bank suggests to me it's not site-specific.

Go here, [link] , then download and install Firefox. It'll convert any bookmarks as part of the process. Then launch Firefox, go to Yahoo, and try to log in.

BTW, Firefox has a pop up blocker, which might try to block login pop ups if they exist. If it does, it'll tell you about it so that you can tell it not to block that particular pop up.

Your security settings have gotten messed up.

You're using IE? Go to Help and About Internet Explorer. It will show the Cipher Stregth. It should be at 128 bit, but, actually, it doesn't matter, because the steps would be the same.

Go into Tool, and then Internet Options. Go to the Advanced tab, and then scroll all the way down in that white box. make sure that Use SSL 2.0 and Use SSL 3.0 are both checked. Hit OK. If they WEREN'T checked, then you can probably just restart the computer and it'll be working.

If they WERE, then your best bet is to just reinstall IE from [link] and pray. There's actually a couple of files that can be manually deleted to make it certain that this will work, instead of just likely, but I cannot remember what they are at the moment.

Thanks Gandalfe. Ok, updates: I've installed Firefox, but when I try to start it, I get a message saying "The connection was refused when attempting to contact start.mozilla.org." In IE, my cipher strength is at 128 bit, I've previously installed SP2 too for what that's worth, I did have both Use SSL 2.0 and SSL 3.0 checked, and I can't find a link to download IE 6.0 from that website.

Any thoughts on next steps?

"The connection was refused when attempting to contact start.mozilla.org."

Will Firefox connect to any other web sites for you?

Is your Firefox home page set to start.mozilla.org? Check Tools->Options->General and change it to your normal home page.

Hmmm...when I try start.mozilla.org I get www.google.com

www.mozilla.org looks normal.

Will Firefox connect to any other web sites for you?

No, I get the same message for all websites. I tried changing to my normal homepage, still getting the same problem.

What firewall are you using?

What firewall are you using?

Good question. How do I find out?

Tell more about the hardware and the software you are using. I'll get out of my depth pretty quickly, but some other part of the hivemind may pick up the slack.