safari and firefox cannot find server

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Hi,
I've been having problems with Safari: when i try to go to a website it keeps coming up with "Safari cannot find server". I downloaded firefox which performs a little bit better but also comes up with the "cannot find server" page. If i refresh the page sometimes it loads, often not, or the page loads but with problems (icons do not appear, the page appears all messed up).
The problem just started yesterday, and I am wondering whether it is because i used boingo wi-fi at heathrow airport.
- I tried deleting the boingo file from the applications menu, but I can't because it says that the application is open, but when i try "force quit" the application doesn't show.
- i deleted the contents of the boingo file using "secure empty trash" but still cannot delete boingo from my applications.
- when i tried deleting the contents of boingo the message "cannot empty trash because mac swapper is running"
- then i used "secure empty trash" which successfully emptied the trash.
- still cannot delete boingo from my applications.

What is the problem and how can I fix it? I am not very computer literate, so i would appreciate your help.

Thank you!!!!
 
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I suspect it is Boingo that's giving you the problem. Here are the removal instructions from their support pages. As you've partially removed it some of these steps may not be possible. If in doubt, re-install first then follow the removal steps:



Go to the "Activity Monitor" under Finder -> Applications -> Utilities. Select "GoBoingo" or "Boingo Wi-Finder" on the Process list. Click the "Quit Process" button. "GoBoingo" or "Boingo Wi-Finder" should not be listed now.

Open the Finder, Applications directory. Select "Boingo Wi-Fi" or "Boingo Wi-Finder" or "GoBoingo!" and delete it by moving it to the Trash.

Under Finder -> (User's) Home -> Library -> Application Support, delete the "GoBoingo", "Boingo Wi-Fi" or "Boingo Wi-Finder" directory.

Under Finder -> (User's) Home-> Library -> Preferences, find the "com.Boingo.GoBoingo.plist" or "com.Boingo.BoingoWiFi.plist" file and delete it by moving it to the Trash.

Under Finder (User's) Home -> Library -> Caches, find the "com.boingo.boingowifi" or any "com.boingo.*", "com.goboingo.*" folder and delete it by moving it to the Trash.

In Applications -> Utilities -> Keychain Access, find the two "Boingo Wi-Fi" entries under the "login" Keychain and delete them.
 
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Thank you!
I've followed your instructions and it seems to be working better. Firefox works better than Safari now.

Safari is ok coming up with google results, but when i try to load a page from google it doesn't load properly.

Is there anything else I can do?

Also, is there a program I can download to clean up my Mac a little bit?

By the way, I have the MAC OS X 10.5.8 2GHz Intel Core Duo

Thank you so much!!
 
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This will reset your network settings:
Go into /Library/Preferences/System Configuration/ and delete:
com.apple.airport.preferences.plist
com.apple.network.identification.plist
com.apple.smb.server.plist
NetworkInterfaces.plist
preferences.plist

You'll need to reconnect to you're home network afterwards.

For system maintenance I use Onyx once a month
 
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Is it really weird that there's no "system configuration" folder under preferences?
 
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make sure you're looking from the root of your Mac hd not just within your user
 
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thank you!
I've deleted them, but still having problems with loading pages from google I keep getting the "cannot find the server" post
It s strange because the problem is restricted to safari and firefox. I can skype and send emails without a problem.

If you can think of anything else I can try please let me know

Thank you so much for your help
 
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boingo

thankfully, I was able to move boingo to the trash, but am unable to remove it from my sidebar. any suggestions?
 

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