Internet vs Vista / Windows

RopeDrink

Hey folks, not entirely sure if this is the right place to post this issue but if not, feel free to inform me (or for a mod to move it to the appropriate forum).

Basically I bought a new PC last year and, yes, it had Vista.

However after tweaking it I managed to get the whole thing to run pretty much smoothly with no issues. For the purpose of the problem, I also use 20mb Broadband.

Anyhow, I noticed that yesterday there was a few issues cropping up regarding my internet (After a whole year of solid browsing with no problems).

Initially I thought it may have been Firefox acting up, or something in the background taking the mick, but basically after booting my PC up after using a Windows Update I'd have full net access and everything working perfect for anything up to 5minutes...

After that, while browsing, the browser would suddenly act as if the internet had been shut off completely, with the page loading up a "Cannot connect to X, Y, Z // Maybe Firewall etc etc"

Despite this, I had full access via internet to net based games and MSN, yet AVG and other spyware/adaware programmes also could not access their respective 'update' sources (As the first reaction for me was to immediately update and scan my PC for malware/spyware/viruses).

Again, rebooted, can browse freely on IE and/or Firefox and low and behold, 5-10mins later, same deal, can't access nothing on either browser despite access rights given on ZoneAlarm and nothing having been set to dissalow either from net access. Games work perfect online, MSN works perfect, even MSN file transfer, but not browers.

It only hit me just now that this issue seemed to happen either right before, during, or after the Windows Update (It installed 30 'security' updates, a Media update and a .NET Framework update).

I fugured it must be something to do with that, so instead of a system restore I used Vista to individually uninstall each of those updates from that day and am trying it now, using the (if it's not fixed) 5-10mins I have to post this up here incase someone has any remote idea what could be preventing my browsers from accessing the internet.

I tried messing with FireFox settings after the net got cut off, even double checked ZoneAlarm and it's settings to make sure there was nothing set to prevent access and everything seems fine - I had not changed any of these settings before the issues, and the net had been working crystal clear perfect up until now so it can't be the firewalls or programmes I installed.

I assume that since the Windows Update, something somewhere was triggered to deny access to the net or some proxy or IP settings have been changed, I'm not sure.

There may be a very simple explanation that I'm just unaware of but until I sort this problem out one way or the other, I'll be one very angry panda if it persists.

Does anyone have any remote idea what could be causing this issue? I'm not sure if uninstalling the mods that got installed via Windows Update is wise as I'll need to keep up to date with those eventually, but if they are the cause then there's surely something I can do to stop these updates denying me internet access via net browsers.

/shrug

Blowfish

I've seen something similar a few years ago with Zonealarm. Basically it was saying it wasn't blocking anything, but it actually was. Try disconnecting from the net, closing Zonealarm temporarily, switching on Windows firewall and reconnecting to see if it works.

Diver79

Rather than uninstalling the updates just do the system restore, that way you can either include tham as part of theproblem or rule them out altogether. Also read up on the types of updates you installed. Did any of them update your network card or install new programs that might conflict with your firewall.

TBH it sounds like malware. Ive seen infected PCs being denied access to the net via web browsers even though the NIC could ping external sites. You might want to try the major geeks malware removal technique. Also, try runing IE in No Addins mode and seeif that helps.