Browsers can no longer connect :0(

akirkham

New Member
Hi everyone,

Up until a few days ago, my partner's Compaq laptop was working ok but now Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 3 cannot connect to the internet.

My laptop (XP) works fine with the same connection so don't think it's an issue with our broadband.

Symptoms/facts on Vista laptop :
* There are no proxy setting in either browser
* In Internet explorer - the 'Interconnect connection setup' states "You are already connected to the Internet"
* Can ping sites (e. Google)
* Google updater can download from internet
* Windows Update can download from internet
* Windows Network Diagnostics - "Windows did not find any problems with this computer's network connection"
* HP Total Care Advisor - states that Internet connection is good
* Tried switching off firewall - browsers still cannot connect

Any ideas gratefully received!
Regards
Alan
 

My Computer

Hi, akirkham, and welcome to the forums.

Have you checked your security software state, especially any that might have a firewall installed? I have seen AVG and one other go bonkers in the last several weeks similar to this....
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro X64 Insider Preview (Skip Ahead) latest build
    Manufacturer/Model
    The Beast Model V (homebrew)
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 965 EE @ 3.6 GHz
    Motherboard
    eVGA X58 Classified 3 (141-GT-E770-A1)
    Memory
    3 * Mushkin 998981 Redline Enhanced triple channel DDR3 4 GB CL7 DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3-12800)
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0 (04G-P4-3979-KB)
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio (onboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 * Lenovo LT2323pwA Widescreeen
    Screen Resolution
    2 * 1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    SanDisk Ultra SDSSDHII-960G-G25 960 GB SATA III SSD (System)
    Crucial MX100 CT256MX100SSD1 256GB SATA III SSD (User Tree)
    2 * Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA II Mech. HD
    Seagate ST1500DL001-9VT15L Barracuda 7200.12 1.5 TB S
    PSU
    Thermaltake Black Widow TX TR2 850W 80+ Bronze Semi-Mod ATX
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT (Black)
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 (CPU, dual 140 mm fans on radiator) + Air (2 *
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 (gen 2)
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared)
    Internet Speed
    AT&T Lightspeed Gigabit duplex
  • Operating System
    Sabayon Linux (current, weekly updates, 5.1.x kernel)
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkPad E545
    CPU
    AMD A6-5350M APU
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Radeon HD (Embedded)
    Sound Card
    Conextant 20671 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Lenovo 15" Matte
    Screen Resolution
    1680 * 1050
    Hard Drives
    INTEL Cherryvill 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SSD
    PSU
    Lenovo
    Case
    Lenovo
    Cooling
    Lenovo
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared) | Synaptics TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Lenovo
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex
Yes - good thinking, I'm going to try removing the firewall and/or anti-virus software tonight to see if they're causing the issue.

Failing that, I'll ask my neighbour if I can try using their internet connection ;)
That should prove if it's an issue with our router.

I'll get this working if it's the last thing I do! :mad:
 

My Computer

Hi akirkham

When you say browsers can't connect to the internet, do you mean the browsers don't start, or that they can't display any websites?

If they start, what happens if you type an ip address, rather than a url, into the address bar? eg 207.46.197.32
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Core2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-73PVM-S2H
    Memory
    2x 2GB PC6400 DDR2
    Graphics Card(s)
    Onboard, DVI, 256MB
    Hard Drives
    System Drive: 1x Seagate Barracuda 80GB SATAII 8MB
    Work Drive: 2x Western Digital Caviar 80GB SATAI
sounds like a firewall issue to me:geek:
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Me :P
    CPU
    Core 2 Quad Q6600
    Motherboard
    Abit IN9 32X MAX
    Memory
    8 GB OCZ PC2-6400 nVIDIA SLI-Ready Edition (4X2GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMP! GeForce GTX 260² 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 (650MHz/2100MHz
    Sound Card
    Realtek 7.1 CH HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" Fujitsu siemens TFT + 32" LG HD LCD TV
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 + 1360x768
    Hard Drives
    150GB Raptor HDD
    500GB Caviar HDD
    PSU
    Thermaltake W0133RB 1200W PSU
    Case
    Antec 900
    Cooling
    Stock + Antec 900 case fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 (full layout)
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Revolution
Can you connect to ftp sites? Via ftp://etcetc in the address bar?

IP is obviously working, and it's not a DNS issue. Very mysterious!
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Core2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-73PVM-S2H
    Memory
    2x 2GB PC6400 DDR2
    Graphics Card(s)
    Onboard, DVI, 256MB
    Hard Drives
    System Drive: 1x Seagate Barracuda 80GB SATAII 8MB
    Work Drive: 2x Western Digital Caviar 80GB SATAI
I tried following over the weekend:
  • FTP URLs don't connect either
  • Switched off firewall - no luck
  • Ran virus scan - didn't find anything.
  • Tried tracert to various websites - that worked, so laptop is definitely connected to internet!
  • Borrowed next doors internet connection (to sanity check it wasn't our router) - no luck.
  • Created a dial-up connection - still no luck.
  • Installed Opera - that can't connect either.
  • Created new network connection from scratch just using TCP/IP v4
Looks like I'm going to have to reinstall Vista just to get the browsers working! :cry:
 

My Computer

Hi akirkham

A browse of other forums suggest this is quite a common problem - unfortunately, there don't seem to be any solutions (common or uncommon!).

Have a look at the first and fourth links in Celestra's second post at:

Expert help needed with big internet problem on vista. - Windows Vista Forums

Though you clearly have a general browser problem ie not just IE, some of the technical suggestions in the 'official' microsoft troubleshooter (and links therefrom) might be relevant and worth pursuing eg winsock; also santong banana's commands (via Celestra's fourth link).

I'm out of ideas! Good luck!
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Core2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-73PVM-S2H
    Memory
    2x 2GB PC6400 DDR2
    Graphics Card(s)
    Onboard, DVI, 256MB
    Hard Drives
    System Drive: 1x Seagate Barracuda 80GB SATAII 8MB
    Work Drive: 2x Western Digital Caviar 80GB SATAI
Back
Top