Vista - Vista has internet, but IE does not.

On my Vista Ultimate x64 rig, i recently patched Command and Conquer 3 - Kane's Wrath (no idea if its even relevent, but it finished literally seconds before.. so i assume its connected) but after that, internet would not work, well, Vista still detects internet through router, gives me a IP address and all that, BUT when i try to access the internet, nothing happeneds, this has happened once or twice before, then i used system restore to recover a few days, which seemed to fix the problem, but now its back.

ive tried the network diagnostic tool in vista, but since it thinks it has internet, it wont do anything.. ive also tried restoring the system, twice, with no luck.

Internet Explorer cannot display any homepage (as if i had typed a wrong address), and Firefox wont do anything (same as it did last time this happened); it opens and all that, but all i get is a blank page with no address, and it says "done" at the bottom where it usually gives you small indication of the status. and when i close it, it hangs up 95% of the time (probably because of whatever vista is doing to prevent access)

Windows live messenger usually completely locks up upon trying to start it. on the off chance it does open, it reports a problem with my DNS and network ports. (but i doubt that that is problem, since my laptop has internet, from the same connection (split by router)
on that note i cannot get in contact with my router either. so it seems to be between me and my router, but the really odd thing is that according to Vista network center everything is fine and dandy. i *should* have internet!

and Btw.. this is being typed on my laptop.. from the same internet connection, so its nothing wrong with that. this laptop runs Vista Home Premium x86.

so as far as my networking knowledge goes, there is a problem with vista that is not letting me through to the router. only firewall i use besides the router is windows defender or whatever its called, and i use Nod32 for antivirus, but it has never caused a problem before..

i have a single outgoing connection which is split by my router, and i have not changed any settings on the router to promote any sort of blocking.

Again, Vista says i should have internet, but i cannot actually access it, but then again, my laptop is running vista aswell (not the same version) and can access the same connection through the same router.

//slightly annoyed Vista User

Try this,

Control panel>Network and Internet>Network and Sharing Centre.

Click View Status ( it's on the right ) - Local Connection Status pops up, click Properties - on the Properties screen, highlight Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IP V4 ),click Properties

Select Use the following DNS Server address

at Preferred DNS Server, enter 208.67.222.222

at Alternate DNS Server, enter 208.67.220.220

Click OK and OK, Close , then restart your pc

You are now using Open DNS ( free DNS server - the quickest there is ).


Hope this helps

SIW2

Click the middle icon at top right of this post to comment if it helped

but if it was a problem with my DNS server, wouldnt the laptop be affected aswell? (it is using the same connection through the same router..)

and it made no difference..

firefox still doesnt load a page, IE wont show a page, but Vista still shows as if it had internet..

When you setup open DNS on one pc, only that pc is using it - if you wanted all the pc.s on the network to use it, you can set them up individually, or set up your router to use DNS as it's preferred server.

There may have been a problem with the DNS settings only on your pc. Now you changed them and it still doesn't work, you reduced the likelihood of that possibility.

However, now you know how to set it up, check the settings on the laptop ( which is working ) and set up the pc exactly the same.

Are you able to get Windows updates on your P.C ?


Have you uninstalled "Command and Conquer 3 - Kane's Wrath" - ( whatever that might be ) ?

Also , have a look in device manager, click on the cross next to Network adapters, then right click what opens up and check under Properties

SIW2

since i used a system restore to before i installed it, i could not uninstall it via the control panel.. but i have removed the folder (and its a game, from EA)

both of my PC's and the router are setup to recieve IP's and DNS's automatically from my ISP. and the router dynamically distributes them, those settings have not been changed so i doubt its anything like that.

to be completely honest, i dont think DNS is the problem at all, since the laptop recieves internet through the router flawlessly, and the settings in the IPv4 and everything else in properties is identical.

and Yes, i tried using Windows update and searched for new updates, it reported no problems accessing the internet (on the problomatic rig, not the laptop) and reported no new updates. which makes it seem like vista is just not letting the internet through to me, as the user, but i am the admin of the computer..

perhaps its just a glitch with IE 7 and Firefox? virus/trojan perhaps? i dont know, im not all that smart when it comes to networking and the intimate workings of a OS..

Yes, if you get updates, you have a connection, if the settings are the same as laptop , that's not it - you are narrowing the search.

SIW2

i restarted after patching the game, and thats when the problems arose.. i also found the windows defender to be inactivated, so i activated it, perhaps it was reset by som odd bug so its just not letting anything but the Vista OS through to the internet?

checking.. maybe i can find something..

no, its not blocking any of the programs, atleast not according to its list..

Edit: Btw, Thank you Very very much for taking time to try and help me, i really do appretiate it, and excuse my spelling :P

Hi,

Yes seems there was something about that game.

Sometimes worth running I.E without add-ons, but as FF can't connect either, it's not likely to be an IE addon that's causing it

Not sure I follow your last post - did you type firewall in start search bar, open the window , click allow a program through - add I.E. to the list of programs , and firefox, while you're there, then Apply and OK .- normally not necessary to do this , but something has been disturbed , so try it.

Let me know how you get on

SIW2

both Firefox and I.E are already on the list of allowed programs, so is Msn.. but none of them are working, same as first post still... seems logical that the firewall would be blocking me, as Vista has a internet connection.. but according to the exception list in the windows firewall they should be allowed, aswell as a bunch of other programs, it looks the same as it did before all this happened..

so unless its a bug/glitch that is blocking them but not showing me that it is.. i doesnt seem like it the firewall either..

running a full scan with Nod32 atm, sofar it has found one thing, that it thinks is a trojan. and ive quaranteened it, ill let it finish then restart and see if it helps..

Edit: Antivirus scan turned up nothing of interest..
Edit 2: after losing hope of really solving this problem without losing alot of data and such i decided to try a system restore to several weeks back, and it worked, although basically none of my programs will run because of it, atleast i have access to the internet again

as to a long term solution, i Sure as hell hope Microsoft gets their thumbs out of their asses and get their act together.

P.S. im sorry for turning this into a miniflame vs Microsoft, but things like this where the OS blocks the user for no reason just really annoy me.