Problems connecting to secure sites can results from several different causes, including:

• System clock: inaccurate date, time, or time zone
• Firefox not correctly set up to work with your security software which has a feature to filter your secure connections (e.g., Kaspersky, ESET)
• Malware on your computer intercepting your connections
• Proxy intercepting your connections to some or all secure sites

Assuming this only affects a few sites, for example, not this one, the first issue unlikely.

Could you expand the "Technical Details" section of the page and paste the details here?

Also, you can check your Firefox connection setting in the Options dialog here:

"3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Options > Advanced > Network mini-tab > "Settings" button

The default of "Use system proxy settings" should piggyback on your Windows/IE "LAN" settings, but you also could try "No proxy" to see whether that works any better.

I have double check with the system clock,it's all right.I'm using 360 internet security and there's nothing wrong with it.I just scan my computer and there's no Malware.I am using "No proxy",been months and the same thing still happening.That's the link "https://bay174.mail.live.com/default.aspx?rru=inbox " >Technical Details bay174.mail.live.com uses an invalid security certificate. The certificate is not trusted because no issuer chain was provided. (Error code: sec_error_unknown_issuer) It only happens to this site,Hotmail.After checking few mails,it will a display "We can't connect to Outlook.com right now. Please try again later."After i refresh it,I will get the untrusted connection page.Please help.

hello Conson, could you provide the following information about the failed certificate?:

1. enter chrome://pippki/content/exceptionDialog.xul into the address bar
2. on the site that opens enter https://bay174.mail.live.com as location
3. click on "get certificate"
4. click on "view"
5. what issuer information is shown there?

thanks

Microsoft's site won't let me look at the cert for your server, it keeps showing me the cert for my mail server.

I was able to check it using this site: http://www.networking4all.com/en/support/tools/site+check/report/?fqdn=bay174.mail.live.com&protocol=https

It shows this chain:

• mail.live.com signed by: VeriSign Class 3 Extended Validation SSL SGC CA
• Signing cert signed by: VeriSign Class 3 Public Primary Certification Authority - G5

And that higher level cert is signed by one of the built-in certificates, so Firefox should trust it.

Hey philipp,i have provided the following information in the image attached to this reply.Hopefully ,you can help.It says that "could not verify this certificate because the issuer is unknown " Any ideas?

can you try the following: go to the firefox menu ≡ > help ? > troubleshooting information, click on profile folder/show folder and close all firefox windows afterwards. a windows explorer window should open up - in there rename the file named cert8.db to something like oldcert8.db - it will be regenerated again the next time you launch the browser.

I have done the following,but i only saw the file "cert8" without ".db" so should i rename it to "oldcert8" or "oldcert8.db" since there's no ".db" in the first place?

Hi Conson, I suggest turning off the default Windows behavior of hiding certain file extensions. That makes it difficult to work with file names accurately. For more info, see: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/show-hide-file-name-extensions

Sorry jscher,if i want to hide the extensions as it's neater where they got mention the type of file as 'Data Base File' but not in the name itself.so..can you answer me should i just change to oldcert8 ?Or rather i should just download an add on for mozilla to add on to add exception ?

Hi Conson, the idea behind renaming cert8.db to oldcert8.db is to cause Firefox to ignore the old file and start a new one. I don't think there is an add-on that would work better for that purpose.

As for how to interpret "data base file" that is exactly the problem: we have no idea what your system means by "data base file" since that definition for the file extension depends on what is stored in your Windows registry and can be changed by applications.

That said, there's normally no other cert8 file in Firefox's profile folder, so that's probably the right one. And if chaos ensues, you can rename it back.

By the way, please make sure Firefox is fully closed before renaming any settings files.

Hey i really gonna give up ,i have been spending hours trying to solve this problem and it don't work.I change it to oldcert8 but after checking there's another cert8 auto created.so i decided to uninstall mozilla but there's still content left and i went to try deleting mozilla completely but fail as the file cnt be deleted so i went to source for information and downloaded "unlocker" to delete mozilla completely.After downloading mozilla and start afresh.I went to the website phillip suggested and check that it's no longer unknown i was really happy.But after awhile the same thing happen,i went to check again.The cert was unknown identity again zz.really..

Hi Conson, on the error page, could you expand the Technical Details section and then copy/paste the information there into a reply? In particular, there is an error code in parentheses at the end that would be useful to know.

Here it is," This Connection is Untrusted

You have asked Firefox to connect securely to bay174.mail.live.com, but we can't confirm that your connection is secure.

Normally, when you try to connect securely, sites will present trusted identification to prove that you are going to the right place. However, this site's identity can't be verified. What Should I Do?

If you usually connect to this site without problems, this error could mean that someone is trying to impersonate the site, and you shouldn't continue.

bay174.mail.live.com uses an invalid security certificate. The certificate is not trusted because no issuer chain was provided. (Error code: sec_error_unknown_issuer) " I actually already did add exception at the website "chrome://pippki/content/exceptionDialog.xul" philipp provided but it still don't work ?really gonna find a add on for it..

Hi Conson, normally a site does not change its secure certificate very often, so saving an exception usually works for quite a long period of time. It's hard to understand how Firefox could not recognize the certificate as the same one you already have made an exception for unless something is changing. Which is puzzling and suspicious.

Is there anything special about the way your Firefox connects to live.mail.com or other sites, such as proxy server, private VPN, Tor, sandbox software, etc.?

Your original plugin list includes a Citrix plugin; are you accessing Outlook using Citrix through a corporate network?

Hi jscher,for that i'm not sure too.

At first i do believe is my add on which causes the problem but when i disable it,it still have the problem.I do have best proxy switcher add on but if i didn't activate it,it's the normal firefox connected.

Citrix is a plugin which i needed last time to enter a live webinary which i don't use it now,how do i check if my outlook is connected throught this?This is the only website i have problem with,there's no any other website which has cert problem like this ..

Hi Conson, if you only use the Citrix plugin for webinars, then that probably is not the issue.

When you go into the Firefox Certificate Manager and look at the exception(s) you saved for mail.live.com sites, what issuer(s) are shown there?

"3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Options > Advanced > Certificates mini-tab > "View Certificates" button

Click into the "Servers" tab to find site exceptions. Then you can check the "Issued by" section of the certificates. This could identify something related to your proxy, or some software on your computer.

The fact that nearly 50 people have this problem should surely mean that it's not at Conson's end, but that there's a larger issue here. It's now happening to me, same as him. I've just tried to upload the word file containing a print screen copy of the error message received about unsafe certificates, but firefox won't upload it here. (invalid image received)

bukks, it would probably make more sense to open a new thread for your problem. As for posting screenshots, upload the image itself. There is no need to embed it into a Word document. Note, for whatever reason it isn't possible to attach a screenshot to the OP, so you'd need to reply to your own question.

Hi bukks, the forum allows image attachments. Instead of pasting into Word, try pasting into Paint (start menu > All Programs > Accessories) and saving as PNG.

There are many possible reasons for certificate errors. I personally do not get an error visiting your mail server (https://dub128.mail.live.com/ properly redirects to the login page) but that does not mean you or another user is doing anything wrong. It could indicate that Firefox is not set up to work with your security software or proxy service, or that there is an issue with your DNS service provider, or that your computer or router is hacked. The troubleshooting process is an effort to get to the bottom of why it affects some users such as yourself, and not others.

Regarding your situation, it's probably best to continue in your new thread here: We can't connect to Outlook - this is NOT an isolated problem!!

Hey jscher,i can't seems to find the exception i added.It seems to be gone then i went to "chrome://pippki/content/exceptionDialog.xul" to check again and it can be added as exception again.Would u recommend me to try permanently storing this exception again?At the same time,i went to "http://www.networking4all.com/en/support/tools/site+check/report/?fqdn=bay174.mail.live.com&protocol=https" the website u said to check.The attachment is below.