Solved Microsoft Page Appeared from Nowhere

[Pesala]

When I powered up my PC from sleep, this Microsoft Page appeared from nowhere. I assume that it is a redirect from the error message that one gets when there is no Internet connection.

When powering up my PC when it was closed down on Sleep, it typically takes a minute or so for the modem to connect to the Internet.

Does anyone else recognise this page, or know why it appears? This has never happened before.

[Pathduck]

@Pesala My guess is your router displays a pretty error page to internal clients if there's no network connection.

Windows (and probably the router) does checks to:
http://www.msftconnecttest.com/connecttest.txt

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-client/networking/internet-explorer-edge-open-connect-corporate-public-network

The router/modem will check for connectivity, and when it comes online trigger a request to:
http://www.msftconnecttest.com/redirect
This will land you on the MSN site.

[sgunhouse]

@Pesala Pages appearing from "nowhere" is not unusual. An ISP may redirect failed DNS lookups, pages may open from a site you were interacting with, or external apps may request a page.

Given that it says MSN.UK, one might guess one of those last two examples - and given that it is MS-related, one might consider that if it was from an external app it was most likely a Microsoft app. (Failed DNS lookups normally result in a search page.)

Not being from the UK, I have never seen that specific example, of course.

Oh, sometimes a site lets their hosting expire. Most hosts then post a message about purchasing the domain, though if the host was MSN or Yahoo they redirect to their news page, so ir could be that I suppose. Unlikely unless you clicked an outdated link or bookmark though.

If you recall what you were doing before, we might be able to come up with better ideas.

[Pesala]

@sgunhouse I wasn’t doing anything. I just sent my PC to sleep with Windows Key+X, U, S, as usual, and when Vivaldi started up, there were no error messages.

Today, on trying to go to Vivaldi, Recent Posts, I just get the usual message that the site is not available.

No problem. I just posted this in case it was a known issue, or in case someone else had a similar experience with seeing that unwanted web page, urging them to switch to Edge, the only browser optimised for Windows.

[Pesala]

I cleared a whole bunch of service workers yesterday. Now, the message is back to normal. Maybe a service worker was causing the issue?

[sgunhouse]

@Pesala I've heard of extensions that throw up ads, so I suppose it could happen.

[Pathduck]

@Pesala said in Microsoft Page Appeared from Nowhere:

Now, the message is back to normal.

That's not a "normal" no connection message
My guess it's something your router does. What make is it?

Some routers will serve you a "pretty" error message, and it might do a redirect to a "known working" site once connection is established.

[Pesala]

@Pathduck My Internet provider is Vodafone. That illustration is of the Vodafone modem.

[Pathduck]

@Pesala My guess is your router displays a pretty error page to internal clients if there's no network connection.

Windows (and probably the router) does checks to:
http://www.msftconnecttest.com/connecttest.txt

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-client/networking/internet-explorer-edge-open-connect-corporate-public-network

The router/modem will check for connectivity, and when it comes online trigger a request to:
http://www.msftconnecttest.com/redirect
This will land you on the MSN site.