Second Life gives me an error message about being "Unable to find a valid certificate" or "Unable to establish a secure connection to the login server."

[Ayana Auer]

What does this mean?  Do I need to fix something?

[Lexie Linden]

Your local network may be blocking secure logins. It's also possible  (but comparatively rare) that your secure login is failing due to an  incorrect date/time on your computer.

To verify, double-clicking the clock in the Windows taskbar (usually in the lower-right corner of the screen). On a Mac, check your Date & Time. Make sure it's not a year off! Most modern computers can set their time automatically, including daylight savings.

Be sure a firewall or Internet security isn't blocking Second Life access.

If you're on an office or university network, your network  administrator may have secure logins disabled. In this case, you may not  be able to use Second Life on that network connection.

 

What if I keep getting the "computer's clock is set incorrectly" error?

The full error reads:

• Unable to connect to Second Life. Often this means that your computer's clock is set incorrectly. Please go to Control Panels and make sure the time and date are set correctly.

This message has been around a long time and can be misleading.  It refers to time-based sensitivities with security certificates, but  normally isn't a problem, as you can test for yourself by deliberately setting your computer to the wrong time and trying to login. It should work.

If you're absolutely certain your time is set correctly, you  haven't changed your system setup, and Second Life was working fine  moments before, it's likely a transient problem with the servers.