Internet explorer not display web pages.

O

oldgreygary

Member
Hello,

You will have to excuse me if the details are a bit sketchy. But, I have been somewhat ambushed and been asked to look at a problem and I am trying to help someone solve it.

They asked me to look at their PC which is running Windows Vista. Basically, they have an internet broadband connection via a router(supplied by the ISP). When they run IE it comes up with a message to say that it cannot display the web pages. It puts up a display which then asks you to click on to check the connection. When this is done it returns saying that everything is ok. So, the next thing was to check connections and reset the router and this indicated everything was working ok. IE was run again and same message was displayed. The person running the PC assures me that nothing has changed on the PC.
I did look via the security centre and found that according to that they have got Norton firewall on. I tried to switch this off but cannot do this. I have also tried to run up the Norton software to access the controls but this doesn't display either. This seems to be the only thing that I can think of which might be causing a problem. But, I cannot find a way to temporarily turn off to test.

Anyway, Perhaps I am going off in completely the wrong direction. So, it would be useful to hear from anyone who could offer a checklist or suggestions of what might be wrong. With options that I could offer to try and help fix the problem. Thanks.

Gary
 

My Computer

System One

Hello Gary and welcome to the forums :party:

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: View attachment 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
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Build #1
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3770K @4.4GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77-V PRO
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz Low Profile (White)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 (2GB GDDR5)
    Sound Card
    Integrated on motherboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" LG LCD/LED IPS
    Screen Resolution
    1920*1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung EVO 128GB SSD
    Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200rpm
    2x500GB Seagate FreeAgent 5400rpm
    PSU
    Corsair TX650W V2 (80+ Bronze)
    Case
    NZXT Phantom 410
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 Water Cooler, 1x140mm and 1x120mm stock fans
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    95 Mb/s Download 70 Mb/s Upload
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
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

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
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Build #1
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3770K @4.4GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77-V PRO
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz Low Profile (White)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 (2GB GDDR5)
    Sound Card
    Integrated on motherboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" LG LCD/LED IPS
    Screen Resolution
    1920*1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung EVO 128GB SSD
    Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200rpm
    2x500GB Seagate FreeAgent 5400rpm
    PSU
    Corsair TX650W V2 (80+ Bronze)
    Case
    NZXT Phantom 410
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 Water Cooler, 1x140mm and 1x120mm stock fans
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    95 Mb/s Download 70 Mb/s Upload
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
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

Hi Gary,

oldgreygary said:
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!
Click to expand...

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.
Click to expand...

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?
Click to expand...

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.
Click to expand...

Use the Norton Removal Tool: https://www-secure.symantec.com/nor...roduct=home&pvid=f-home&version=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?
Click to expand...

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
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Build #1
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3770K @4.4GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77-V PRO
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz Low Profile (White)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 (2GB GDDR5)
    Sound Card
    Integrated on motherboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" LG LCD/LED IPS
    Screen Resolution
    1920*1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung EVO 128GB SSD
    Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200rpm
    2x500GB Seagate FreeAgent 5400rpm
    PSU
    Corsair TX650W V2 (80+ Bronze)
    Case
    NZXT Phantom 410
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 Water Cooler, 1x140mm and 1x120mm stock fans
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    95 Mb/s Download 70 Mb/s Upload
Tom,

The Norton supplied program to delete all of there software and links has now cleared the problem. I can access the web with IE now. So, I guess that some part of the Norton package was causing a problem.

Anyway, thanks for your responses which have given me sufficient information so that I have been able to successfully clear the problem. Thanks.

Cheers for now

Gary
 

My Computer

System One

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Build #1
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3770K @4.4GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77-V PRO
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz Low Profile (White)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 (2GB GDDR5)
    Sound Card
    Integrated on motherboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" LG LCD/LED IPS
    Screen Resolution
    1920*1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung EVO 128GB SSD
    Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200rpm
    2x500GB Seagate FreeAgent 5400rpm
    PSU
    Corsair TX650W V2 (80+ Bronze)
    Case
    NZXT Phantom 410
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 Water Cooler, 1x140mm and 1x120mm stock fans
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    95 Mb/s Download 70 Mb/s Upload
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