Vista - Local Access no internet connection

I bought a Toshiba for my wife a year ago it has been working great all of a sudden she tells me she cannot access the internet and I find out from manhy forums that this local access issue is a major problem I have yet to find a solution to other then wiping the machine and installing XP which is far more stable them vista but want to avoid that at all costs. I would appreciate anyones help here if there is a resolution to this issue which is a real pain.

We have to eliminate a few things before blaming Vista.... it could be your ISP having DNS issues or your browser losing it's settings (usually through humans mucking around too much)

So...which browser are you having problems with?

Do you connect wired or wirelessly to a router at all? I have a Toshiba laptop, connecting to a wireless router and I find that sometimes the wireless connection quits and will only come back up after pulling the power on the router. Also sometimes I have to turn off/on the wireless switch on the front of the laptop as well. Or, it can very well be what the previous poster said. Colin

Thank you for your replies

I am using IE7. I also have an acer on vista and the internet is fuctioning perfectly I have tried looking at settings and replicated from acer to toshiba but the internet still does not connect on the toshiba. I tried turning on off wireless switch did nothig and also tried pulling power on my router. As my other pc is not having any issue with the router/wireless modem I assume there is nothing wrong with my internet connection coming into the house. Appreciate your thoughts.

Ok, so you have to break this down. Troubleshooting Internet connectivity issues is a methodical-logical process. Since your other computer connects, it is "fairly" safe to say that the problem isn't at the ISP end, but at your end. So what you need to do is remove anything that is more than likely the issue. Do you connect by a wireless connection to your router? If so, what you need to do is unplug the power to the modem and connect the Toshiba laptop direct to the modem with an ethernet cord, bypassing the router entirely. Plug the modem back in and when it settles down, restart the laptop. When its back up, see if you can connect. If you can, its the wireless card in the Toshiba, or the wireless part of the router. If you can't connect with a direct connection to the modem, it may be a software issue as both network cards (wireless and wired) going at the same time is unlikely. Type "run" in the "search" area (just above the start button) and then after you hit "enter" type in "cmd". In the command prompt type in "ipconfig -all" and then hit enter. See if you are getting an IP address, subnet mask, default gateway and a whole pile of other stuff. If you get an IP, as long as it's NOT a 169.258.*.* you are getting a valid IP. Then type in "ping www.yahoo.com" and see if you get any replies. If you do, then you are connected, but if you can't bring up a web page, could be the browser (unlikely), or you may be using a firewall (seems that my Toshiba came with Norton in the trial software, not sure because I got rid of all that junk after I made restore disks). My sincere apologies if you have already gone through this. If after all that it still does nothing, smash it with a hammer, just kidding. Then I would say that it is a software problem that would require more screwing with. Colin

Thanks for your reply Colin
I have the Toshiba connected via ethernet to the modem it did not connect after rebooting. Did Cmd ipconfig /all and can verifiy that for both wired and wireless I have an ip address beginning with 169 (not good news) cannot ping the modem on 192.68.1.254 transmit failed error code 1231. someone suggested loading the norton removal tool and after running the programme it worked.

When I was doing tech support, if I had a dollar for every Norton screwup......

Anyways, sounds like you are back up and running? If so, I use the native FW in Vista, all I need.
Well, actually it is my wifes computer, I personally run linux, ditched windows awhile back.

I wish I was up and running its a pain in the neckI will try the norton download but dont have much confidence. How do you find linux?

I run ubuntu 9.04, no worries. Try a "live" CD to see if you like it, but as this is a Vista forum.....

Folks I got a fix for this local access issue. We unloaded the anti virus software completely. Disabling it is no good you have to remove it completely from programs and features unintall. I then rebooted the machine and my local and internet access was re-established. So it was not vista but eset security.