Hello Gary and welcome to the forums

No worries, do you have access to the computer itself? What you've tried so far were great ideas, but we've been unlucky in this scenario, here's a few more things that I would try:

The first thing that I would like you to try is running this batch file: Flush DNS and restore HOSTS file.bat

It will completely reset the internet connection and clear the HOSTS file.

The second thing I would like you to try is to run a SFC scan:

SFC Scan

1. Open your start menu and in the search box, type Command Prompt
2. When you see Command Prompt on the list, right-click on it and select Run as administrator
3. When command prompt opens, copy and paste the following commands into it, press enter after each
   
   sfc /scannow
   
   Wait for this to finish before you continue
   
   copy %windir%\Logs\CBS\CBS.log %userprofile%\Desktop\CBS.txt
   
   
4. This will create a file on your Desktop called CBS.txt, please upload this to Mediafire:
   
   Free Cloud Storage - MediaFire

This will check to see if any of the core Windows files are damaged.

The third thing I would like you to try is booting into safe mode with networking (it sounds as if you know how to do this But don't hesitate to ask if you don't know). Safe mode doesn't load any third party drivers or programs (including Norton!), so nothing external should be interfering with the networking - in essence, it will tell us whether the problem is hardware related, or somewhere further along the network chain.

Tom

Tom,

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply. It will be a few days before I am able to get back on this. The person is a customer who I do other work for but on occasions I try to help them with any computer issues. So, when I go back there I will see what they want to do. Either way the information you supplied is useful as it adds to my knowledge of how to look at these sort of problems.

I have got Windows XP on my own machine. I tried the last two options suggested just to familiarise myself with what happens.

sfc /scannow - when I ran this it kept on asking for the original Windows installation disk. On my machine it was pre-installed so I don't have this. I'm certain that the machine running Vista was bought from PC World so I suspect that the original installation disk won't be available for that either..

F8 seems to be the option to do a Safe mode startup on XP, is that the same for Vista?

Cheers for now

Gary

Hi Gary,

No worries - happy to help! That's fine, I'll be around whenever so reply at your convenience

If it's asking you for your XP CD, then that means that sfc has found corrupt Windows files that need replacing, and the backup copies are also corrupt. It's strange that this has happened, but isn't unheard of.

On your computer, run sfc /verifyonly to see what it's found. To access the log file, go to Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Information then select View > System History. Copy and paste this into your next post please Do you have a recovery partition? If you don't know, follow these instructions:

1. Open your start menu and click Run
2. In the box, type cmd and click OK
3. When command prompt opens, type the following commands, pressing enter after each:
   
   DISKPART
   
   SELECT DISK 0
   
   LIST PARTITION
   
4. Take a screenshot of this output and attach it to your next post please

Running sfc on Vista won't ask for a disk It only happens on XP.

Yeah, F8 is also the button for Vista.

Tom

Just to update this one. I managed to get back and used F8 to boot in safe mode with networking. In this mode I was able to access internet pages using IE. A step forward!

So, that to me suggests that there is some third party software causing a problem. The obvious one is Norton. However, the user tells me that they haven't re-subscribed to it so in theory it shouldn't be active.

However, when I look in Windows security centre it has two options for the firewall setting. One is Windows and the other is Norton. Norton is the one which is set as active. When I click on the button to make it unactive nothing happens. Although, in the 'Programs' section it has Norton Security available as an option the program doesn't run up and give any options to allow it to be switched off.

1st question, as Windows/IE is functioning 'correctly' in safe mode are issues with the firewall the most likely cause of the problem?

2nd question is as Norton is not being subscribed to can I remove it? Going through windows uninstall doesn't seem to do anything.

3rd question, what if I just removed the Norton directory, i.e. deleted to trash, Or are there not so good consequences for doing this?

Cheers for now

Gary

Hi Gary,

Originally Posted by oldgreygary

Just to update this one. I managed to get back and used F8 to boot in safe mode with networking. In this mode I was able to access internet pages using IE. A step forward!

That's great news, progress is always good

So, that to me suggests that there is some third party software causing a problem. The obvious one is Norton. However, the user tells me that they haven't re-subscribed to it so in theory it shouldn't be active.

However, when I look in Windows security centre it has two options for the firewall setting. One is Windows and the other is Norton. Norton is the one which is set as active. When I click on the button to make it unactive nothing happens. Although, in the 'Programs' section it has Norton Security available as an option the program doesn't run up and give any options to allow it to be switched off.

When an AV subscription runs out, the program doesn't automatically uninstall itself - they usually go into a reduced functionality mode and give annoying warnings about registration etc. I'll give removal instructions below in answer to your question

1st question, as Windows/IE is functioning 'correctly' in safe mode are issues with the firewall the most likely cause of the problem?

It shows that we've got a problem with something that your friend has installed on his/her computer. I'd agree with you on the firewall being the most likely cause as it's quite interfering.

2nd question is as Norton is not being subscribed to can I remove it? Going through windows uninstall doesn't seem to do anything.

Use the Norton Removal Tool: https://www-secure.symantec.com/nort...=1&lg=en&ct=us

3rd question, what if I just removed the Norton directory, i.e. deleted to trash, Or are there not so good consequences for doing this?

You should always uninstall programs with their uninstaller (through Control Panel) or with a removal tool (which most AVs require) Just deleting the program files directory is just going to give you a lot of trouble as there will be references to these files everywhere and whenever something tries to access one, you'll get an error. It also won't remove the drivers.

Tom

Hi Gary,

Glad to hear it! That was nice and easy I would recommend using MSE for an AV:

Microsoft Security Essentials - Free Antivirus for Windows

It's made by MS and plays very nicely with Windows - unlike Norton.

Tom