Technote Details :: Dreamweaver 8 upgrade: Connection refused by www.qksrv.net

I am unable to connect to your promotional offer. I get the error message:

The connection was refused when attempting to contact www.qksrv.net.

InterAKT has partnered with Commission Junction in order to bring you this special offer for the upgrade to Dreamweaver 8. If you are unable to view the offer or visit the Macromedia store, that is because several other programs or individuals are trying to hijack our link, in order to receive the commission for your purchase.

This causes the link to mall function and gives several errors such as

• Page cannot be displayed.
• Connection error.
• Connection was refused.

Hosts File Fix

You might have an application installed on your computer (such as Kaaza or Spybot Advanced Mode Tools) that block websites by changing a special file called Hosts. This might have blocked by mistake our own website and modified the host to go to their own URL.

You can modify the host file by using the following steps

1) In Windows click Start > Search > For Files or Folders.

2) Type in hosts and hit Enter to search the file.

The Hosts file for Windows 95 / 98 / Me should be located in c:\windows\

The hosts file for Windows NT / 2000 / XP (You may need administrator access) should be located in:
c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\ or
c:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc\

5) Open the file in Notepad. (Don't use WordPad or MSword as it may mess up the formatting).

6) You should see a really long list of URLs. Delete the following occurrences from the list.
www.linkshare.com
www.linksynergy.com
www.cj.com
www.commisssionjunction.com
www.commission-junction.com
www.qksrv.net

7) Save the hosts file.

8) Perform the same steps for any other Hosts files that were found.

9) Close your web browser and then re-open it. Try the links again.

Banner ads do not originate from these server addresses. (These companies have other server addresses, such as ad.linksynergy.com that generate the ads.) These are affiliate gateways to major online stores to enable all discounts to load, and allow you to benefit from our special offer.

Host file locations for other operating systems:

Linux: /etc/hosts
MacOS 8 and 9: System Folder: Preferences: Hosts

Hosts file Fix Does not help

If the Hosts file fix does not work, try reconfiguring/disabling any ad blocker, pop-up blocker, or Internet security software, then clear your browser's cache and try again.

Other Ad Blockers that may cause problems

• Norton Internet Security 2004 - This program causes some Links to disappear. In the Web assistant toolbar menu from your Internet Explorer choose not to block the Pop-ups.
• Norton Internet Security 2005 - This program can cause some Links to disappear IF you enabled Ad Blocking in Norton Antispam's options. Uncheck Block Pop-ups from the Web assistant toolbar menu Norton Internet Security Adds to Internet Explorer.
• Ad Aware Pro, Plus 6, SE Pro - Causes some links to not work. Unload Ad Watch to use our site or Enable Tracking Cookies and remove these lines from:
  c:\program files\lavasoft\ad-aware 6\sites.txt
  linksynergy.com, bfast.com, cc-dt.com, qksrv.net
• AdsGone - If you set it to block banner ads, Select Block (Blacklist) Tab, Block Ads by Ad server Name.
• Ad Subtract - Causes some Links to disappear. Disable it temporarily to see all our links or configure it by selecting the Filter Tab, click Add, enter www.techbargains.com, and do not check anything to block.
• Block the Pop- Prevents all web sites from opening new windows. Add techbargains.com to the Domain - Allow This Domain list
• Kazaa Lite - If you installed the optional Supertrick, make sure you edit your hosts file to allow access to servers we need.
• Pop-up Wham 1.0t - Uninstall it to allow our site to allow our links.
• SpyBot - If you enable "Permanently running bad download blocker for Internet Explorer" in their Immunize pane, you may need to disable it to use some of our links, or you can add a check mark to the following entries in Excludes window or Advanced mode - Settings - Ignore Products: BFast, LinkSynergy, Qksrv 

Installing an antispyware program

In order to remove this kind of agravation in the future, the best thing to do is to install an anti-spyware program. We would advise you to go for the Microsoft Windows Antispyware. Although still a beta, the program will surely help you remove any such programs from your computer and prevent the installation of new ones. You can find the Microsoft Antispyware here.