Browser not connecting

[zak_swan]

quite often i'm getting "cannot connect to server" with browser
i can connect to usenet email etc it's just problem with internet explorer.
i reboot and then i can connect.
I've done virus scan, ran adaware but same problem.
any ideas?

[thecoalman]

I know when I was on dial-up it would somehow manage to switch itelf to offline browsing.... file>work offline

Might want to check your internet settings that it set to use the correct connection... tools>internet options>connections

[redwudz]

Dialup or broadband?

In IE, check 'Tools>Internet Options>Security'. Reset to 'Default'.
Probably some other settings also, but try to set IE to 'Default' where you can.

Email uses a different port than IE. Check to see if 8080 or 1080 are open.

You may also find some of these in IE 'Tools>Internet Options>Connections>Settings>Advanced'.

And if you have broadband, check your LAN settings. If you have a router, check that also.

[zak_swan]

it's broadband
this is getting stranger, i can't connect to yahoo or IMDB but can connect to other favourites.
Virus? i've done a virus scan
WTF is going on

[whitejremiah]

stop using IE

honestly though, im not entirely sure what would cause that other than a hijacking virus that tries to point you to a differant webpage.....also you may wanna check into ad-aware and/or spybot search and destroy....sounds like you got some sort of malware going on in there....

[zak_swan]

Idownloaded and installed firefox just there, same problem
I dont get directed to other sites i just cant connect to my homepage.
Then i open favourites and all work except IMBD and Yahoo loads very slowly.
I done anti spyware too.
Sometimes google connects sometimes not

[TBoneit]

Try the trial version of spy sweeper it works pretty good. Also do a search for hosts and open it with a text viewer it should look like this more or less:

# 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

if you see other lines like the localhost line that have other names or for example

127.0.0.1 yahoo.com

Then you have most likely been hijacked

I use a program calles hostfilereader.exe to check the hosts file.

The fact that some sites open and others don'y is very suspicious. Can you open the antivirus sites such as www.symantec.com or www.mcafee.com

Or a firewall setting has been changed.

Good Luck

[zak_swan]

can't open the symatec link (i have norton) i can open mcafee.
what's hijacked? how serious is it?

[TBoneit]

Sounds like a problem to me, Go to the spysweeper home page and download the trial version

www.webroot.com

another one that has a trial version is Ewido at

http://www.ewido.net

These two unlike some of the bogus ones on the internet searchj engines will detect and clean as if they were the paid versions during the trial period. Some others out there will detect but won't clean until you pay them, Bah!

Serious? To me it is, I'd be afraid to put anything like credit card info into the computer or do any online banking. If you've been hijacked, Note I say if, then they could be routing anything you do through a server where they can see it or could be a keylooger logging your keystrokes or anything.

Good Luck

And of course there is a small chance that it is a ISP problem.

[Faustus]

Yeah everyone is onto something. Try other spyware scanners suggested to you so far. I've ran into plenty of problems and realized that just one spyware scanner isn't gonna catch everything.

Long as your Windows is legit (I don't wanna know either way) the Windows Defender beta is pretty good also.

[zak_swan]

ran some anti spy ware.
everything seems to be ok
but don't think i'll be using credit card online for a while

[budz]

Long as your Windows is legit (I don't wanna know either way) the Windows Defender beta is pretty good also.

I'm not impressed with Windows Defender Beta because it failed to find many spyware I had on 1 of my pc's. Ad-Aware found 16 spyware but Windows Defender found nothing!

[TBoneit]

And in my informal testing SpySweeper would have found much more than Ad Aware... Haaving said that AAW will find things that others won't find. As I said first in finding and cleaning in my testing here is Spysweeper, Than Pest parol, Then Spybot Search and Destroy and Ad Aware, Ewido. And of course Windows Defender. BEtween them and Hijack This and CWShredder and Hostfilereader and Norton AV & KazaaBegone I can usually clean most things out of computers, Some need specialized cleaners of course.

Than using the TeaTimer and Immunize and Browser Helper from Spybot S & D along with SpywareGuard and Spyware Blaster from Javacool Software will help keep new gunk from infesting the computer

[handyguy]

Sometimes my ISP changes my DNS setting & things like that happen. Do you have Static or dynamic IP?

[zak_swan]

i have static IP. (NTL cable modem)

PC is still disconnecting from browser, it seems to happen after I have been away from it for a while. (even an hour)

When it's working I can now connect to any web site.

The error is "Cannot find server or DNS Error
Internet Explorer "

I've ran Norton Anti Virus, Ad Aware, Spybot and Windows defender, and it's showing clean.

I installed page fix it's says "Not DNS related"

Why is it only browser that is affected?

Help please for the love of God help me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TBoneit]

The three you ran are all decent legitimate spyware cleaners that work, but they do not catch all. You say run Norton, What version? At least 2005 is the oldest you should be running.

Try the trial of Spyware Sweeper. If you had spyware you may be surprised how much it finds. I sometimes am blown away how much spyware is on these machines and they still ran.

[PhoneMatt]

I had the same problem. I could not connect to the internet with Firefox or IE (my last resort browser). I was getting the same errors. It was funny, though, that I could connect through AOL. I tried SpySweeper, AdAware, Spybot, Norton, the whole bunch. I also uninstalled my firewall (Zone Alarm) and installed Outpost. Nothing worked. After 2 weeks of this, I gave up, saved all of my data files and reformatted and reinstalled Windows. I wish I could be more positive and give you an answer, but I don't have one. Hopefully someone on here will come up with one and we can all learn from it.

Matt

[Legendsk]

This has all the symptoms I ran into when trying to use a wireless router. The signal just had too much local interference. Could not find a channel clear enough to be useful. Finally had to give up and wire the house for CAT5. Wireless gave me disconnects and reconnects so frequently that it wasn't useful for anything other than checking e-mail.