Can anyone explain this? (computer problem)

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I can only post on here when I am at work because of a problem I have with my (laptop) PC at home. This is not very convenient!

The problem is that I can connect to the internet (i.e. the modem works & I get the connection symbol at the bottom right) but cannot bring up any web pages at all, not even my home page. I just get the usual error screen.

I rang the helpline & they said it might be my antivirus software interfering & that I should remove it (it has expired but for obvious reasons I can't update it!)

a) Is this likely to be true?

b) How do I remove it?

and c) If I do remove it, and this works, how do I connect to the internet long enough to download a new one without getting a virus?

Sorry but I am not good with computers (I missed the boat on that one by a couple of years) - but there must be plenty of people on this board who would relish the challenge of fixing this!

If you have an internet connection at work that you use and the laptop has been configured by someone there it may have a proxy server configured in which case click (in internet explorer) tools, internet options, connections, LAN settings then unclick the box saying use a proxy server for this LAN.

Also it always pays to reset your modem/router.

Hope this helps. Any more specific information that you are able to post will help us solve the problem much more quickly.

Thanks for replying.

Unfortunately this is my private PC & it has got nothing to do with my work. It is just a stand-alone laptop that has never been intimate with any other PC.

Already tried checking/unchecking some boxes after I rang the helpline & it wasn't that. Unfortunately I don't remember which ones.

How do you reset your modem/router?

What kind of specific info do you need? (so I can go home & look it up!)

the easiest way to reset your modem/router is to literally turn the power on and off.

As for specific questions? Is this a new problem? as in did the internet work before this point in time? have you signed up to a new provider? Any kind of background information or error messages that you get could help me to work it out...

Also try clearing your cache.. tools, internet options, delete browsing history and temporary internet files.

Please try a little experiment for me then post the results.

Open up a DOS or Command Prompt window on your PC and type:

PING 213.197.64.221 then press enter. Tell me if this works.

In the same DOS window type

PING WWW.FREESTART.HU then press enter. Tell me if this works



Once I have the results from this it will give me some idea of the cause of your problems.

Ed Almos

As everyone else has said, some more detail would help, so we can give exact answers. E.g. what are you running on your laptop? I assume MS Windows, but which flavour? E.g. W98 W98SE ME XP.
And, what might "the usual error screen" be?
No.
Usually, you should be able to uninstall it from "Add/Remove Software". If it is Norton, the Symantec site supplies a little program that will remove all traces of Norton products in one go. It's fiddly to get to the program though.
The trick might be to use a memory stick. Download AVG or Avira at work, and take it home. Or... can you burn to a CD at work?
As your antivirus is not updating, it's no longer protecting you anyway, so there's already a risk involved in accessing the internet.
Yep. Tell us more, and we'll sort you out.

Partial "check list":

1. What operating system. E.g. MS XP+SP2.
2. What browser. E.g. IE7
3. What type of Internet connection/modem. Dialup/broadband.
4. Maybe what provider.
5. What old antivirus.
6. What antivirus you would like. (AVG or Avira are both free... I use the former)
7. What hat size.

I'd say the first priority is to get an up-to-date antivirus scan done. You may also find it useful to grab both Spybot and Adaware, for anti-malware scans. I find they complement each other.

http://free.grisoft.com will get you AVG, plus grab the update files as well.
http://www.free-av.com/ may get you Avira, instead, but I haven't personally used this.
http://www.safer-networking.org/ gets you Spybot.
http://www.lavasoft.com/ gets you Ad-Aware.

Download all the nice free stuff and burn a CD or copy to a memory stick. Take home, disconnect from internet, wipe old expensive AV stuff, install new free stuff, doing AV scan + two anti-malware scans. (Do the "immunize" bit in Spybot.)

Then see if your problems have magically gone away?

Thanks for the replies!

Edal - how do you get a DOS-prompt in XP?

Lau:
Program - Windows XP.

Browser - Internet Explorer.

Connection - dialup (no point in getting broadband until this problem is fixed!)

Provider - Virgin.

I will find out the other info over the weekend. I won't be able to get back to you until Tuesday though.

I also can't download email. I get error messages if I try.

I didn't have any problem until my antivirus software expired.

I can't download anything at work (it is barred) or burn to a CD-ROM. My laptop won't take floppies. I don't have a memory stick (& if I did I wouldn't know where to plug it in, sorry - it is my Executive Dysfunction!)

I may be able to ask a friend to burn it to a CD-ROM for me though.

I'll get back to you.

Strange... what antivirus product? (Norton, McAfee, etc?)
That sounds a good way to go.

Once you have everything cleaned up, it may be that re-installing the Virgin stuff will solve all your problems. Just make sure you remember what your password is!

Windows Command Prompt / DOS Prompt

1. Click Start
2. Click Run or click in the "Start Search" field if you're running Vista
3. Type "cmd" or "command" and press enter.

Ed Almos

If I can be of any help, I think your problem is one of connection to your ISP (Internet Services Provider). Also there are two other things to consider.

1. ISP connection

2. Firewall

3. Anti Virus



1. ISP Connection
---------------------
In short, follow the installation instruction given by your ISP. They usually suppy an installation CD with the package. Note that installing dial-up (56Kb/s) and broadband installation are different.

Both:
Make your your telephone line works and that you are not exceeding the signal strength allocated to your home. One common mistake is to have more than 3 phone eqiupment in the house, off 1 line, thereby making your telecom signal too weak for use on your computer.

If Dialup:
Make sure that your modem is working and that other phones in the house are not being used. If someone uses a phone in the same house the usage will disconnect your line between the internet and your computer.

If Broadband:
Ensure that you have an DSL (digital subscriber line) set up by your ISP. If not set up, no data will pass at all. You ISP will tell you when the line will be ready. It can take 7-14 days for an engineer to install the line at your local telephone exchange.
Make sure that you have a router (like modem) that is recommended by your ISP.
Make sure that each phone socket in your house has a microfilter plugged between socket and equipment. This applies for voice phones and router.
The instructions and installation CD should tell you this also. Also you be instructed to place the CD at the start of the installation before you attach any leads - there may be a brightly coloured label warning you when to insert the CD.
All this will ensure that you will the correct telephony hardware set up prior to installation.
Follow the instructions on the installation CD. This will ensure that you set the hardware for broadband connection so that it will work by the time you need to make the first connection to your ISP.

Also, you need to pay attention to the correct internet setting, that you select the correct choice between modem or LAN (Local Area Network). If you are using a router, you are effectively setting up a LAN in your home. A LAN can be as small as one computer connected to the router. Your installation CD will advise you of the correct internet seeting to use. Also enter other data that require you to connect to your ISP as instructed, such as username and password.

This will enable you to connect to your ISP, which is your gateway to the internet.


2. Firewall
------------
Also use a firewall, such as ZoneAlarm. If Windows have a firewall, or Norton Security has a firewall, and you want to use a different firewall, then TURN OFF the Windows and Norton firewall, as two (or more) firewalls running at the same time may conflict with each other and possibly prevent connections.


3. Anti-Virus
--------------
Once you have established a connection to the internet, you can sort out your antivirus software.
If you an antivirus that have expired, then the antivirus may not be working properly, or it will not update for the latest virus, thereby leaving your computer exposed to infection to new viruses and worms. I suggest that you renew your account with your expired antivirus software. If you prefer a different vendor, do purchase and download. Once you down load the set up software, UNINSTALL your old antivirus software, then install the new antivirus that you bought.



And finally... Ways of getting help
---------------------------------------
1. If you know a friend, colleague or relative who is a home computer expert, you could ask him or her for help

2. You could hire a professional PC engineer, s/he will charge you money to fix your problem for you (get a quote first).

Hope that helps!

Sounds almost like a firewall to me. Some antivirus programs come with them. I would get rid of the antivirus and use the windows fire wall. Should be a set up from with in windows to set up a connection, if there was more then one. Might just be able to get out after one is gone. Been a while. I see two in mine, one says phone and modem and the other is in Internet options, connection tab. One might update the other. Not sure. Of course if you get out, get a good free antivirus, I use avast. Then do your window updates, etc.

Would seem like your ISP would be more helpful. Personaly I'd just dump the modem now and go cable. No sense messing with two connections, go for the one that is best. When they first set this up, they came to the house and made sure all was doing what it needed to do. Haven't had any trouble since that amounted to much and even then tech support over the phone got through it. Turns out it was on their end most times, very rural ISP.

Just to clarify a few points.

The OP says she has a dialup connection showing down on the bottom right of her screen (I assume she has tried listening on the line at this point, and had heard the continuous high pitch, noisy noise going on continuously), so there's nothing wrong with the hardware or her IP sign-in.

Shopaholic hasn't answered my question about what error message it is that she's getting. In my experience, there isn't any "usual error screen". I'll assume it's not a BSOD (blue screen of death), but it would be informative to know which of the many other possible things might be happening.

I find it odd that she should have had the problem start just when her anti-virus subscription ran out. In fact, I find this VERY SUSPICIOUS. With all the reputable commercial AV providers, when your subscription runs out, they just stop updating. This leaves you becoming progressively more susceptible to viruses, but it doesn't suddenly break anything. You will still be fully protected against 99.99% of threats, for a week. By the end of six months, you'll be less secure.

In the back of my mind, I wonder if Shopaholic has actually paid for one of the viral "anti-virus" products. These pretend to protect you, whilst actually doing nothing useful, are very hard to remove, and I can well believe that they would purposefully break your internet connection, etc, when it is time to "renew" your subscription.

There is utterly no reason for a normal household user to pay for virus protection. The free products are perfectly adequate.

i see hes got dialup and virgin as his isp, 2 questions, maybe does virgin have a cap limit as in limiting internet usage per month???? or maybe did you get suspended from using the isp???

have you made sure that all the wires are hooked up and nothing is disconnected? also have you tried in the ie properties resetting back to default settings (im thinking maybe something with a format of server or web page may be not recognized or selected) also when did this start??? i also have a feeling that maybe in services.msc something was turned off by mistake


blocking all internet, maybe someone is messing with ya and thought it was cute to set parental controls on ya?? as a joke??

the firewall, this sounds like something that norton symantec would do, maybe one day did you go exploring and click something that blocked all ports???

good luck, feel free to pm, please respond back

Okay, I'm back! (Sorry for delay, I tried to post on Tuesday, as promised, but I couldn't because of problems with the site. Today is my first opportunity to post.)

I have:

Windows XP Home Edition.

Internet Explorer v6.0.2800.1106.xpsp1.020828-1920IS. Update versions SPI; Q330994; Q822925; Q824145; Q832894.

Norton Internet Security 2004.

Outlook Express 6.

When I try & connect, it does actually connect & I get a bubble at the bottom right saying "virgin.net is now connected: speed 46.6 kbps". My ISP confirms that as far as they are concerned I have been connecting with them and that they have not blocked my account.

The error page I get, no matter what site I try to go to, is:

"The page cannot be displayed.

The page you are looking for is currently unavailable. The website might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your browser settings."

The tab at the bottom says "cannot find server".

There is also an instruction "To check your connection settings...." but this is not much help since I do not know what these are supposed to be. I did alter them as I was told to by the helpline and was able to briefly get my home page up, but nothing else, & I could not repeat this.

When I try to download email, the error message I get is:

"The host "pop.freeserve.com" could not be found. Please verify that you have entered the server name correctly. Account: 'pop.freeserve.com'. Server: 'pop.freeserve.com'. Protocol: POP3, port 110 secure (SSL) No, socket error 11004 error no Ox800CCC0D.

The host "pop.virgin.net" could not be found. Please verify that you have entered the server name correctly. Account: 'pop.virgin.net'. Server: 'pop.virgin.net'. Protocol: POP3, port 110 secure (SSL) No, socket error 11004 error no Ox800CCC0D."

(Could've sworn it never used to say all that freeserve stuff before....! It didn't work when it was just the virgin error either, though.)

Edal, I did your "ping" experiment with the following results:

PING 213.197.64.221:

"PINGING with 32 bytes of data

reply: 363ms 360ms 379ms 377ms

sent = 4 received = 4

min 360 max 379 av 369"

PING www.freestart.hu:

"Could not find host."

I don't understand what any of that was about but I'm sure you do!

The comments about the firewall seem possible - the other thing I was wondering is if I actually have a virus because of my software going out of date!

And as for why I didn't renew it - I would have done if I had been able to get to the website to renew my subscription!

BIG PS. (This is a Pre-Scripted postscript.)
Your POP3 email account should read "mail.virgin.net", not "pop.virgin.net". This according to Virgin's website. Maybe it will accept either. I somewhat doubt it.

I rather hope this is at least close to up-to-date with updates. I.e. Service Pack 2 (SP2), plus all the multifarious patches that Microsoft have to send out every month, or so, when they feel a bit threatened.
I can't live without tabbed browsing. IE7 is a poor attempt to emulate Firefox.

Ok. So this is destined for the bin. As remarked before, ideally, find someone who will help by downloading the odd few bits'n'bobs of the internet for you, and burn them to a CD, say. It's simplest to get the removal tool direct from the Norton (Symantec) site.

Failing that (it seems they've made it rather fiddly to find, these days), you can just go into "Control Panel", "Add/Remove Software" and remove everything that says "Norton" or "Symantec". There's probably half a dozen to zap, and some refuse to go until others have gone, and you need a reboot or two.

Then install your new, shiney, free antivirus (AVG from http://free.grisoft.com (my favourite) or Avast from Avira at http://www.free-av.com/ (postpaleo's favourite ).

That's what I thought you were saying. I.e. you're getting a perfectly good connection to your IP, but something inside your box is then preventing accesses. This may all be solved once Norton has gone and you are back with just the standard XP firewall.
Hm. Freeserve became Wannado became Orange. Have you tried to use an install disk for any of those three? Has someone else done that. Has that been the problem all along? (Not, according to what you say - and in any case, it's not liking Virgin either).

The error means that it is not finding the pop (Post Office Protocol) server(s). It shouldn't be looking for freserve at all. You can delete that entry from Outlook.

It sounds very much as if Norton firewall has decided to block access to "pop.virgin.net". Somewhat of a problem, as that's where you mail is.

In fact, it sounds as if Norton is blocking(wrecking?) all named accesses. I quite like a "ping www.demon.co.uk" to determine this, as I know that Demon still exist and that they accept "ping" requests (which is just asking them to reply to a tiny message you send them - a service that Demon will perform, but a lot of other sites will refuse (totally ignoring the request)).

This brings us to DNS (Domain Name Servers). In order to convert human readable names (e.g. pop.virgin.net) to the dotted quads (127.0.0.1) that is all the intenet really understands, you need domain name servers. It sounds as if you've lost yours. The Virgin ones should be "194.168.4.100" and "194.168.8.100".

I'd guess you've already looked at http://www.virgin.net/helpme/dialup/connection/index.html, but it might be worth printing some of that out, to be sure you get it right.

I have seen some comments suggesting that Virgin's DNS servers can be slow. This sound as if it's worth a try too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDNS.

As I mentioned above, "ping" asks a computer to send back a reply.

Using just the numeric address of "www.freestart.hu", which is genuinely "213.197.64.221", you got your reply (actually, it tries four times, and they all were good.).

When you try to use the text type name, you should see something like:


However, in your case, the initial DNS step fails, so it can't convert "www.freestart.hu" to "213.197.64.221".

Hopefully not. I wonder if the whole business is coincidence, or just a bit of accidental tinkering.

Ah well... a blessing in disguise. You'll be saving money.