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Webhost Shutdown.. what do I do?

Eureka

Eureka

Diamond Member
Pretty upsetting situation for me.

For years my family has had a small business. We had a website hosted by a small company called HostUltra. It was pretty cheap, the site was low traffic so we didn't need much.

If you haven't heard, earlier this year the owner of HostUltra got shutdown. See here:
www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1291347

Unfortunately, the domain name of the website is registered to them. It would be very inconvenient to lose this domain... the registration expires in a couple weeks. Is there anything I can do to get it back?
 
unless you can get them to transfer the domain to you, you're probably out of luck unless you can somehow buy the domain after it expires. The problem is there's a limbo period where it doesn't really belong to the previous owner but they have like 30 days to reinstate the domain for a fee. If a domain is aged, and/or is a searched term, some scripted bot will try to register it once it goes back to being available for purchase.

If you still have access to the website, you could put up a redirect to a new domain. You'll lose page rank and organic searches but you can build it back up.
 
I can't do anything to the website. Even if I could have access to it (I might be able to if I can remember the ftp address), the domain name will expire in a few weeks.

What do you mean by the domain is aged?
 
you should be able to go to a different registrar and renew it as long as you can prove you are the owner.
 
Except technically, hostultra was the owner because it was registered under their name. The whois on the domain goes back to hostultra.
 
yeah 1and1 used to do that a while back. like i said best thing is to ask for a transfer. otherwise if you can figure out the ftp info, you can still set up page informing your readers about your new domain. if you're lucky and can access your cpanel you can set up a redirect to your new domain. the page and redirect will stay up until they close out your account.
 
How do I ask for a transfer? Who do I contact? The new webhost?

I'm sorry, I'm really a noob when it comes to networking. I only knew enough to get a domain name and set up a website.
 
you would contact hostultra and ask them to transfer ownership to you. it looks like they do have a support forum page still up according to google. might be a cache though. if someone's still working for them maybe they can do it. worst case, you can still wait for the domain to expire and try to pick it up asap.

this is an old thread but maybe you can get some info from here:
http://www.namepros.com/domain-name-discussion/211032-warning-do-not-register-names-hostultra.html

unfortunately it looks like other customers in the past have had issues getting them to transfer domains:
http://www.vistainter.com/reviews/H/hostultra.com/

They might make an exception in this case though since they've been shut down by the feds.
 
Eureka said:
How do I ask for a transfer? Who do I contact? The new webhost?

I'm sorry, I'm really a noob when it comes to networking. I only knew enough to get a domain name and set up a website.
Click to expand...

key question is, did you register the domain under your name? I know you registered it with HostUltra, but usually the domain is registered under your name.

do a whois on your domain name and see if it shows your name. If it is your name, just call up one of the many registrars and say you want to transfer to them. Then you find a new host, can be the registrar, and as long as you have a backup of your website, you can just upload to new host.
 
M0oG0oGaiPan said:
you would contact hostultra and ask them to transfer ownership to you. it looks like they do have a support forum page still up according to google. might be a cache though. if someone's still working for them maybe they can do it. worst case, you can still wait for the domain to expire and try to pick it up asap.

this is an old thread but maybe you can get some info from here:
http://www.namepros.com/domain-name-discussion/211032-warning-do-not-register-names-hostultra.html

unfortunately it looks like other customers in the past have had issues getting them to transfer domains:
http://www.vistainter.com/reviews/H/hostultra.com/

They might make an exception in this case though since they've been shut down by the feds.
Click to expand...

I was under the impression it was a one-man operation and I'm SOL in terms of HostUltra support.

sdifox said:
key question is, did you register the domain under your name? I know you registered it with HostUltra, but usually the domain is registered under your name.

do a whois on your domain name and see if it shows your name. If it is your name, just call up one of the many registrars and say you want to transfer to them. Then you find a new host, can be the registrar, and as long as you have a backup of your website, you can just upload to new host.
Click to expand...

Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2013-12-13 21:54:56Z

Registrar: ENOM, INC.Registrant Name: HOST ULTRA

Registrant Organization:

Registrant Street: 84 N. RAINBOW BLVD. #1854

Registrant City: LAS VEGAS

Registrant State/Province: NV

Registrant Postal Code: 89107

Registrant Country: US

Admin Name: HOST ULTRA

Admin Organization:

Admin Street: 84 N. RAINBOW BLVD. #1854

Admin City: LAS VEGAS

Admin State/Province: NV

Admin Postal Code: 89107

Admin Country: US

Admin Phone: +1.7024258562

Admin Phone Ext:

Admin Fax: +1.7024258562

Admin Fax Ext:

Admin Email: DOMAINCONTACT@HOSTULTRA.COM

Tech Name: HOST ULTRA

Tech Organization:

Tech Street: 84 N. RAINBOW BLVD. #1854

Tech City: LAS VEGAS

Tech State/Province: NV

Tech Postal Code: 89107

Tech Country: US

Tech Phone: +1.7024258562

Tech Phone Ext:

Tech Fax: +1.7024258562

Tech Fax Ext:

Tech Email: DOMAINCONTACT@HOSTULTRA.COM

Name Server: NS5.HOSTULTRA.COM

Name Server: NS6.HOSTULTRA.COM
 
I am entirely confused here. (Mind you, I am in the internet marketing business for years already).

Why is YOUR domain for YOUR business/site registered to them? Who purchased the domain? The "normal" way is to purchase a domain, then YOU are the owner and you can transfer domain ownerships between domain hosting companies normally without a problem.

Can you let me know the domain name (or via PM)...but something is off here...I can't picture why the domain "belongs to them", unless you made the mistake to host a business on a subdomain of this company, as opposed to purchasing your own domain.

ALSO..not sure about your knowledge there..but be aware that the DOMAIN and the actual site are two different things. The domain expiring does not mean your site is lost since you can always transfer the site itself to a new domain.

This is an option if (as you said) the site did not receive a lot of traffic and changing the domain would not be a big issue, but of course changing the domain (URL) of a site should always be the last measure.
 
I found out a little too late in the game, but hostultra has been working this way for years. Their wording makes it seem like you're registering the domain but in reality they register it for themselves.

You pick the domain name on hostultra, they register it under their own name and keep it. People have been successful in moving it, but it seems like the site is shuttered. I'll see if I can't send a message through to support but half the website is down.
 
sdifox said:
do a whois on your domain name and see if it shows your name. If it is your name, just call up one of the many registrars and say you want to transfer to them. Then you find a new host, can be the registrar, and as long as you have a backup of your website, you can just upload to new host.
Click to expand...


The owner will need to initiate or agree to the transfer. You cannot just initiate a domain transfer where you are NOT the owner. Otherwise I would go right now and transfer AT, Yahoo, Google, MS etc. all to my name 🙂

The problem here whether whoever owns that domain is still responding.

And as the other guy already pointed out, if you let a new and rather irrelevant domain expire you can USUALLY after some months buy that domain back.

Problem is..better domains and as he said "aged" domains have some value and there are bots on the net which automatically snag up those expired domains so it may become difficult to buy back the domain. (Or they will re-list those expired domains for some rip-off price).

Alternatively, consider whether buying a "real" domain which you will own would ultimately be worth it and then re-build the entire site on the new domain. Say, rather than waiting several months until the domain expires and becomes (maybe) available you could well establish a new site/domain instead. If he only gets little traffic and has relatively few customers it may not be that difficult to inform them about the new site/URL. Different story if the old domain is very established and already had good traffic..because so or so..a new domain is literally starting from scratch because it will lose all the google rankings it had before.

HOWEVER, if he does in fact have access to the site (!!) he can always redirect from the old site to the new domain. Put a note on there that you have a new URL...and then automatically redirect them to the new site via a piece of code on the (old) site.

Also..if you can, before your domain expires..and if you can still access the control panel or the site (!) itself you should make a backup before the entire hoster shuts down. Because then you lost the domain AND the site. (Migrating a site from one host the other today is no big deal if you have a backup).
 
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I have the website backed up, it was a basic html website so everything was done offline. The cPanel license for hostultra is already dead so I can't access it through there. I'm going to see if I can ftp in directly later, if I can remember the ftp URL. The problem is that the ftp wasn't going through the domain name, it was through one of hostultra's servers.

It is aged, but I don't know if it was ever popular enough to get picked up by bots. Unfortunately, the main problem is that it's for a restaurant business, so the domain name is all on menus and advertisements so they need to be changed out.

I think I'm going to start doing damage control and register with a new domain (what's a reliable, not-sleaze registrar?), so at least we're not stuck without a website. Hopefully I can still get back the old domain.
 
Eureka said:
I found out a little too late in the game, but hostultra has been working this way for years. Their wording makes it seem like you're registering the domain but in reality they register it for themselves.

You pick the domain name on hostultra, they register it under their own name and keep it. People have been successful in moving it, but it seems like the site is shuttered. I'll see if I can't send a message through to support but half the website is down.
Click to expand...

All you can do at this stage is to ask the guy to transfer it to you. This to me is a gross breach of trust unless it was spelled out clearly on the agreement.
 
transfer that domain to a domain registrar ASAP...like namecheap or godaddy...my preference is namecheap. I would also take a back up of your site as well, incase they disappear on you. If they're using cPanel, do one of the backups via a zip file, it will allow you to move to another cPanel host with ease.

amdskip said:
I've been happy with namecheap. Friends don't let friends combine hosting and domain names. Never ever.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with this, except for the people who do not understand the difference, then it just makes life easier for them to have them both at the same place.
 
sdifox said:
All you can do at this stage is to ask the guy to transfer it to you. This to me is a gross breach of trust unless it was spelled out clearly on the agreement.
Click to expand...

I wrote a support ticket to see if anyone's still left at the "company". I assumed it was a one-man operation but originally people found responses from multiple "names".

Not to sound condescending, but did you read my link the first post? The guy is sitting in jail somewhere right now. Sounds like he was a shady character all around, even when he wasn't in jail.

I'm going to see if eNom (the registrar that is linked to hostultra) can help me at all in transferring. In the meantime I should setup an account with namecheap.
 
Eureka said:
I wrote a support ticket to see if anyone's still left at the "company". I assumed it was a one-man operation but originally people found responses from multiple "names".

Not to sound condescending, but did you read my link the first post? The guy is sitting in jail somewhere right now. Sounds like he was a shady character all around, even when he wasn't in jail.

I'm going to see if eNom (the registrar that is linked to hostultra) can help me at all in transferring. In the meantime I should setup an account with namecheap.
Click to expand...

I don't know if you were aware the domain was registered under the hosting company's name on the onset. That is why I am commenting on.
 
I was not aware. This was a long time ago and I didn't realize there was a difference, and thought we had the domain name.
 
flexy said:
Why is YOUR domain for YOUR business/site registered to them? Who purchased the domain? The "normal" way is to purchase a domain, then YOU are the owner and you can transfer domain ownerships between domain hosting companies normally without a problem.

Can you let me know the domain name (or via PM)...but something is off here...I can't picture why the domain "belongs to them", unless you made the mistake to host a business on a subdomain of this company, as opposed to purchasing your own domain.
Click to expand...

i worked for Interland/Web.com for around 10 years and it isn't that uncommon for the web host to purchase the domain for the customer and be listed as the owner.
 
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