Web certification

[Jerry Fessenden]

My laptop goes online but will not go to web pages.

[Jerry Fessenden]

my laptop goes on line , but will not go to websites , It says there is not a valid certificate

[Wiz Feinberg]

First, check for system updates. Second, check for browser updates. Reboot as needed. The most common method to update Edge, Chrome and Firefox browsers is to click on the three lines hamburger icon to open settings, then move down to Help. One of the options under Help is About (browser name). Click on that and it will check for updates and apply them. Once the updates complete downloading, click on "relaunch" or "Restart" to complete the upgrade.

Now, with the basics out of the way, here is why you are seeing this warning. For the past few years virtually all websites have had their security upgraded to protect two way communications from being intercepted by interlopers. This is important if you use websites that require you to login with a user id and a password. While you may be safe from interlopers at home, if you have a strong password on your wireless router, you might be open to exploitation if you connect to public Wi-Fi.

Websites that are secured against this "man-in-the-middle interception start with https. They have either bought or been given an SSL certificate that the browsers recognize. Websites that are not encrypting your input start with the old http. All of the main current browsers will block you from visiting an http website unless you manually create an exception and bypass this warning.

If a website shows a warning about an invalid certificate, it may be because their certificate expired and has not yet been renewed. Wait a while and try again. Chances are the new certificate will be applied in a short time after the old one expires.