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Common Problems With the UW NetID Login Page

Summary

This page describes solutions to the most common problems people have getting through the UW NetID login page. Please review these problems and their solutions. If you continue to have problems getting through the UW NetID login page, please send email to help@u.washington.edu

Included on this page:

Cookies Must Be Accepted

The UW NetID login page relies on cookies, so your browser must be configured to accept them. To learn how to accept cookies, refer to Accepting Cookies.

"A Problem Has Been Detected" and Internet Explorer

If you use Internet Explorer on the Microsoft Windows platform (e.g. Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000) you might get following error message when you try to log in:

A problem has been detected!
Either you tried to use the BACK button to return to pages you visited before the UW NetID login page, or the URL address you opened contains a shortened domain name.

If so, try clearing the cache of temporary files that Internet Explorer keeps over time:

  1. start Internet Explorer
  2. click the Tools menu
  3. select Internet Options...
  4. on the General tab, under Temporary Internet files, click Delete Files...
  5. click OK
  6. completely exit Internet Explorer

Once you do this, restart Internet Explorer and try to open the Web site that you originally wanted to visit. Clearing the cache often helps with this particular error.

Shortened Domain Names

The process of being redirected through the UW NetID login page can be sensitive to shortened domain names. Check to be sure the original resource you requested is specified using a full domain name.

For example, rather than going to:

http://depts/webdemo/info.html

You must go to:

http://depts.washington.edu/webdemo/info.html

Backing Through the UW NetID Login Page

Many Web browsers have problems backing through the UW NetID login page. In such cases, you cannot use the BACK button to return to pages you visited before the UW NetID login page. To go back to a Web page you visited before:

  1. Click the Go menu or History button to list your current browsing history.

  2. Within the list, click the appropriate Web page to return to it.

Note: Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 (IE5) can successfully back through the UW NetID login page. If you already use IE, you should consider upgrading to IE5. It is included in the current UW Internet Connectivity Kit.

Opening/Bookmarking the UW NetID Login Page

You cannot go to https://weblogin.washington.edu directly. If you open this address by typing it in or opening it via a bookmark, you will get an error message rather than the desired UW NetID login page.

Instead, go to the UW NetID login page indirectly, by opening the actual Web site you want to use. For example, although MyUW requires you to log in via the UW NetID login page, you must go to MyUW first and let it take you there. You cannot go to the UW NetID login page first and then MyUW.