Internet Issue

I'm having an issue connecting to the internet on a computer. When I type in a URL both IE and Firefox only display a blank white page.

I am able to ping out to websites.

This is an XP machine

Things that I have done to troubleshoot.

Winsock fix
Changed my IP settings and then reset back to Auto Obtain address and DNS
Reinstalled both IE and Firefox
Ran netsh winsock reset
Ran MalwareBytes
Uninstalled and reinstalled my ethernet adapter
Tried other network connections

Any ideas what to try now?

Next on my list is a USB ethernet adapter

I can't install Chrome because it needs a working internet connection to install

Also,

There are no firewalls in place that should be blocking internet traffic.
I also ran ComboFix on the computer.

Did you remove the virus?

Thus far every scan I have ran has come up empty.

Also the USB ethernet adapter didn't help at all.

Do you have a router? Is there a setting on it that might be blocking all devices except for trusted devices you have manually entered in? Or some other setting on the router that may be preventing or redirecting access?

I do have a router, but I have tried it with and without the router.

I also have just done a sfc /scannow and a repair install of windows to no avail.

Well every scan I've ran has came back clean.

I think I'm just going to wipe the machine instead of banging my head against it for another 3 hours.

Have you looked at the system and application logs to see if there are errors?

You say you lose connectivity with the router bypassed?

Have your ISP check and reset your cable modem.

Manually enter in the proper settings for network/internet access. Have your router provide you a fixed IP for your computer and see if the problems goes away.

It sounds like configuration to me... Possibly an incorrect DNS setting or obtaining DNS from more than one location. Try using only the primary DNS address and make sure to do a manual configuration.

I suppose you could also have a firmware issue with your network adapter but I doubt this is the case, however you could have a firewall service attached to your network settings from a third party security software like Norton.

Any other computers getting online from the router?

It is not a DNS issue. I work for the ISP actually. I have tried multiple modems and router configurations.

I don't ever lose connectivity when the router is bypassed. I am able to ping via IP address or website URL.

Norton was never installed on this computer, but I ran the Norton removal tool just in case.

Every other computer gets online from the router and modem. I am able to see mapped network drives and other shared drives on the network. I even transferred files to the computer via a mapped network drive.

Also the Event Logs do not have any information in them that point to a specific problem or issue.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by woodshed

It is not a DNS issue. I work for the ISP actually. I have tried multiple modems and router configurations.

I don't ever lose connectivity when the router is bypassed. I am able to ping via IP address or website URL.

Norton was never installed on this computer, but I ran the Norton removal tool just in case.

Every other computer gets online from the router and modem. I am able to see mapped network drives and other shared drives on the network. I even transferred files to the computer via a mapped network drive.

Also the Event Logs do not have any information in them that point to a specific problem or issue.

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Ok. If other computers connect without problems the issue is isolated to the one machine. Since the router has no problems with the other computers it can be eliminated as a problem. Since the cable modem works properly it can be eliminated as a problem.

Only other physical question would be the ethernet cable or port on the switch or router. Have you changed cables or ports as a test? I also suppose it could be a firmware issue with the network adapter in your computer or a protocol or service that is being loaded that is not inherent in the other computers. Check to see what is bound to the network adapter just to be certain.

otherwise you are looking at a software issue, corrupted registry key, or something that may prove difficult to isolate. You may need to make a choice to either wipe and reload or continue searching for software fixes depending on how much you enjoy trouble shooting vs simply wanting to resolve the problem.

You could remove the network device (nic card) from your computer in device manager, remove all the drivers, and do a fresh re-detect/re-install. This sometimes fixes a bad registry key.

I'm just going to wipe the machine.

The computer has been in two completely different buildings with completely different networking equipment, and the issue still continued.

At least if you wipe it or boot an OS from a cd you can see if it's software related, otherwise it's probably going to end up as hardware issue.

will this load on the other computer:

http://74.125.47.103

Did ya try a system restore on it?

Its working now that I've wiped it and reinstalled Windows.

Must have been some hidden firewall or something.