Re: Cannot browse local or remote sites with any browser, FTP and email works fine

<canterbury.sales@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:1134091567.537301.41470@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
This is my original post. I am hoping to get this resolved quickly and
I apologize for the cross posting.

http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support/browse_thread/thread/3f8242bbf6adc1aa/b41fb49e38afdcb1#b41fb49e38afdcb1

Problem: Web browser (IE) will not connect to any site. Internal or
external. Tried firefox and opera as well and all I get is "web site
found" but the site never loads. Tried localhost for my Apache server
no luck.

However, FTP connection and email work just fine.

Solutions tried:

Checked router, modem, etc.
Restarted
Checked connection with another computer and another install on same
machine. They work.
Started in Safe mode (I am using it now) and it works fine.

Anyone has a solution?

Thank you very, very much.

PS: Check link above for more details.



"Web site found" probably only means that the DNS server returned an IP address to IE for the IP name that you specified.

See if you can ping using an IP name, like "ping www.yahoo.com". If it reports that the host cannot be found, could be a DNS problem. Look at your LAN connectoid's TCP/IP properties in Network applet in Control Panel.

I just ran into a problem where I could ping a host (by IP name) but could not browse to the site. A new cable modem was installed (to replaced the old flaky one) and I could ping the site but I couldn't browse there. This was a bit confusing since the connectivity was obviously there and DHCP and DNS were working. Turns out the tech had not yet registered the cable modem with my ISP so HTTP traffic was not allowed to get through the cable modem. There was another time long past where the ISP had to re-register the cable modem (I think it was about the time that they upped the service for higher bandwidth).

What happens when you use an IP address in the URL to a site instead of an IP name?

Are you using a NAT router? If so, are you using a static IP address configured in the TCP/IP properties for your LAN connectoid? If so, make sure the subnet for your static IP address is within the subnet range supported by your NAT router. For example, my router is at 192.168.1.1 and its DHCP server allocates IP addresses in the range of 192.168.1.100 to 192.68.1.149 (by default, its DHCP server only provides a 50 IP address range but it can be increased). I tried using 192.168.2.100 for my static IP address but thereafter I couldn't even reconnect to the router's internal web server used to configure it. The router doesn't support multiple subnets coming into it and its list of preset subnet masks don't cover the 3rd octet for a different subnet. So I had to change to using 192.168.1.200 for a static IP address so it was in the same 192.168.1.x subnet as the LAN-side of the router and then I could connect to the router and get through to the Internet. You could just trying pushing in the Reset button on the router to get it back to factory defaults.

Maybe I missed it but you never did mention HOW you connect (to the router, what type of "modem", and what physical transport medium is used after the "modem", like DSL, cable, ISDN, dial-up, satellite, or whatever).

Have you tried using msconfig.exe to disable startup programs, reboot, and seeing what happens then? Have you tried rebooting into Safe Mode?

Have you done any tweaking of the TCP properties, especially if using a "dumbass" utility that purports to increase bandwidth or speed by making tweaks that you don't understand or it never describes? Are you using a "web accelerator" utility from your ISP (in which the only acceleration is just by downloading only a portion of the images so they look fuzzy until eventually painted fully)?

Have you totally disabled your anti-virus program? Some will insert an LSP (layered service provider) into the TCP protocol that will then interrogate even HTTP traffic looking for viruses, usually in HTTP file transfers. Even disabling the anti-virus program will NOT remove the LSP. It won't do the datastream interrogation (so the performance penalty is gone) but the data still has to pass through their now passive LSP. An LSP doesn't care which browser you use as it intercedes at the TCP/IP protocol. The only way to get rid of the LSP is to disable whatever feature in the anti-virus program uses it or to uninstall the anti-virus program altogether. You can use LSPfix, Spybot, or, I think, MS Antispyware to list what LSPs, if any, that you have installed.

If the problem were only with IE then I would've suggested using BHO Browser to check which BHOs (browser helper objects) you have installed in IE, or to use Internet Options -> Programs -> Manage add-ons to list them. However, you said the problem is exhibited regardless of which browser you use which makes it sound like you have a process loaded that is interferring or something wrong in the TCP protocol defined for your LAN connectoid. We don't even know if you are using a wired or wireless network or combo of both, and if you did the necessary security setup of wireless to prevent an outside from using, abusing, or altering your wireless network.

You never mentioned what anti-malware products you used to scan your system? Ad-Aware, Spybot, Microsoft Antispyware, Pest Patrol (online scan), or did you try something else? Besides McAfee (which incurs a performance penalty on most hosts), did you try using any of the other online AV scanners, like Symantec, TrendMicro? Since they are free, they only detect and won't clean but it would provide some reassurance that you weren't infected with something the McAfee has yet to define a signature and removal scheme to eradicate. Some products aren't free but do offer a working trialware version, like TDS-3 and a-squared for better trojan scanners (don't remember about TrojanHunter).

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