Originally posted by: Brian48
Are you running Win2k/XP? Check your HOSTS file under your c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc directory. Open it with Notepad. Generally, it should only have the following text in it if it hasn't been touched since you've first installed Windows.
# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
127.0.0.1 localhost
Sometimes, viruses or worms will write to this file, literally listing dozens to hundreds of IPs/addresses, thus blocking you from most of the real world. You should remove this crap when found.