# [SOLVED] Browers don't connect to the internet



## michaeldimeglio (Sep 7, 2007)

I thought I was pretty good at computers and security but this problem has me by the short hairs. Here is the problem:

Both Firfox and IE7 using XP / home editon do not connect to any site.

I can ping the gateway and the DNS servers.

I removed the router and went directly to the modem. Still the same.

I checked the tcp/ip etc and uninstalled and installed the network card.

I removed all anti-virus and firewalls. 

The following ports were closed: port 80, 443 and 21. 

I used netstat and it does not show the ports above.

I changed the ip address from dynamic to fixed. No luck

I had no recovery points set so I can't go back to an earlier time.

My question is: How do I open the ports above? I'm sure there must be a place in the register that has this information. I don't know how to get to it. Anyone had this problem? Thanks, Mike


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## GeneralGuderian (Sep 7, 2007)

*Re: Browers don't connect to the internet*

Well, there is certain kinds of virus that hijack your browser so it cannot be used. Maybe that is the problem?


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

*Re: Browers don't connect to the internet*

If you're not running a software firewall, check your router config to see if it's blocking the ports. You'll need to at least open port 80.


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## michaeldimeglio (Sep 7, 2007)

*Re: Browers don't connect to the internet*

Thank you for getting back to me. This all happened after I upgraded to IE7. I used Knoppix and was able to go on line using Linux browser (Firefox). I know that the hardware is fine. I don't want to use the recovery method as I will not learn the truth. I have bypassed the router and went to the Modem (Cable). I used the Netsh to open ports etc. 
with no luck. I can use as I wrote earlier IM. I have tried loggin in as a different user etc. 
I had anti-virus anit-spam etc loaded before upgrading. I have been reading the threads on this board and still no luck. I hate to just give in. It has been three days of (part time) working on this. Thanks for the feeback


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## feckless_mess (Sep 9, 2007)

*Re: Browers don't connect to the internet*

In a similar post elsewhere I was reminded of the blasted rootkit. Maybe get hold of a free rootkit scanner - I think AVG does one. Or maybe it was only free when I dloaded the beta..

Anyhoos you could do worse than to check in you hosts file to see if a virus has inserted anything erroneous in there other than the standard 
127.0.0.1 localhost

Are you getting DNS ok? you can ping the servers ok but can you ping websites by name or just by IP?


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## michaeldimeglio (Sep 7, 2007)

*Re: Browers don't connect to the internet*

Solved....Solved....

The answer was there all along. I was just blind to the fact. I wrote in the problem that it happened after I upgraded to IE7. The first thing I should have done was remove IE7. I did not do that because I also could not get there with Firefox and could not understand how a bad IE7 could take down Firefox. After trying all sorts of things, I was going to redo the OS. I decided that before I would do that I would remove IE7. It worked!

I then tested the Firefox and it did not work. No problem there since I went online and refreshed Firefox. 

All is right with the world. I just violated my own simple rule in that you undo the last thing you did to bring something down. 

I'm not so smart afterall. Thanks to the people that helped. Mike


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