Can't get IE to access the internet. Help!

[Kelemvor]

Howdy,

On my other PC (obviosuly) I can't get my IE to connect to the internet all of a sudden. I can get online via Agent (newsreader), Eudora, Netscape, etc... Just IE stopped working. I ran SpyBot as I usually do and apparently it must have removed something that IE needed top get online. Anyone have any ideas how I can get it working again? I haven't tried completely uninstalling IE and putting it back on but I guess I can do that if there's no other solution.

The error I get is the standard Page Cannot Be Displayed message so the DNS basically isn't working for some reason.

Thanks!

 

[CTho9305]

do you have a proxy set? tools->internet options->connections, it's in the lan settings area.

 

[Kelemvor]

Nope, already checked that. Nothing on that screen at all.

 

[ajpa123]

Hey,
this is probably a longshot but its good knowlegde to have anywayz, hope it helps someone in the future!

Sometimes there's a problem with your hosts file due to a virus or configuration of somekind. It's located at C:\windows\Help
(If you dont have a hosts file here, do a search on ur comp to find any others)

Have you gone to the command line and tried ping www.yahoo.com.
Also ping 216.109.118.73 which is yahoo's ip address.

if only the IP ping works, then you know that either a virus has changed ur original host file. Maybe. I'm no expert, and i had a tech support person at my cable internet provider help me out.. lol

The file is named hosts and has no extension. If you have this file, get rid of it by removing it from that directory (feel free to paste it to another folder if your worried it will mess ur comp up, and paste it back here if ur not satisfied) ....its hijacking your web requests (that's why i suggested pinging a website too). Should use anti-virus software to do this. (Your registry keys have been changed to point to that help directory, so antivirus software is the only way to get things back to normal.

Do a google search for ways to help you out, depending on your operating system, if that's the problem

Please correct me if im wrong anyone.

Thanks,
AJ.

 

[CTho9305]

The hosts file should break all programs equally, including ping, not just IE. FrankyJunior - in the mean time, you could give Mozilla a try.

One more guess: start->run "cmd", then type "telnet www.google.com 80" and press enter, then whenever it connects, type

GET / HTTP/1.0

(you have to hit enter twice). You should get a bunch of HTML back, or an HTTP 400 error. If it doesn't connect, maybe there is something blocking outgoing port 80 stuff(?)

 

[Kelemvor]

I tried reinstalling IE and it didn't help. I can use Netscape just fine (that's how I'm posting this). I did the Telnet thing and it worked fine. Seems to be specifically limited to IE and nothing else.

I've looked at all the settigns I can find, cleared the cache, etc but can't see anything that would cause this. *sigh*

 

[deadseasquirrel]

Use the Undo changes in Spybot. The same thing just happened to me a week or two ago.

See threads here and here.

Need to fix your LSP. There is a fix in one of those threads as well as a good link to read to stop this kinda thing from happening again.

If you have any trouble following it all, let me know as I've done it recently.

 

[monzie]

Are you using a firewall that uses .dll authentication (a la Sygate Pro, Outpost Pro etc)? As this could be the cause of the problem (....and obviously your Port 80 isn't blocked, just IE6).

Some pop-up stoppers also use the same technique.

Modern software firewalls etc are 'clever' and take a snapshot of the .dlls loaded in browsers etc and use it as a reference (any change automatically blocks the browser connecting), but unfortunately IE is 'stupid' and loads/drops .dlls without a care in the world.

If this IS the problem reset the dll reference file in the firewall AFTER Spybot / Adaware /etc have done there stuff.

HTH

 

[Kelemvor]

Thanks DSS, checked out that second thread and fixed the problem. Now on to make it not happen anymore.

 

[Sid59]

you should always have 2 browsers installed. IE and either mozilla/ firebird or opera. NOT an addon for IE.

if IE fails to load but the others work .. then you have one less problem

 

[Kappo]

Originally posted by: Sid59
you should always have 2 browsers installed. IE and either mozilla/ firebird or opera. NOT an addon for IE. if IE fails to load but the others work .. then you have one less problem

Or one old problem and one new one Depends on how you like to view web pages

 

[Sid59]

Originally posted by: Kappo

Originally posted by: Sid59
you should always have 2 browsers installed. IE and either mozilla/ firebird or opera. NOT an addon for IE. if IE fails to load but the others work .. then you have one less problem

Or one old problem and one new one Depends on how you like to view web pages

indeed.

but 2 browsers is always a good idea.