IE & Firefox do not work in Vista but IM does & there is a connection

if all of the other suggestions wont work try this.



Download Spybot - Search & Destroy and install it. Update it. Copy the entire install folder to a USB Stick


http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html



Boot the problem PC into Safe Mode by continually pressing F8 on startup.


Navigate to the USB drive and run Spybot. It should clear they way for you to be able to restart normally and Update and run MalwareBytes. Download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.


http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/malwarebytes/mbam-setup.exe


http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/f79.html




* Double-click mbam-setup.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.

* At the end, be sure a checkmark is placed next to Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, then click Finish.

* If an update is found, it will download and install the latest version.

* Once the program has loaded, select Perform Quick Scan, then click Scan.

* When the scan is complete, click OK, then Show Results to view the results.

* Be sure that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected.



I would keep scanning with it until it is clean by closing out and rebooting and running it again.



Just to be on the safe side when you finish do an online scan with Bitdefender or Google for an online scanner.


http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html



Keep us informed as to your progress if you require further assistance.

I use Bitdefender, but also try
http://www.f-secure.com
Both remove the viruses if found any. You can still look for others, but they just scan and tell you that they found something. No luck on removal.

what Antivirus are you running. If it is AVG 8 look here.



Inactive components and/or blocked internet connection after update to 8.0.196


http://www.avg.com/support



If your Internet connection is blocked and you cannot download the file fixfiles.zip, you can unblock it by temporarily disabling AVG Web Shield and AVG LinkScanner:


open AVG by double-clicking its icon on your Desktop or in taskbar


double-click on Web Shield component

untick the option Enable Web Shield, then click Save changes

double-click on LinkScanner component



disable all its options and click Save changes

If the Internet connection is still blocked, also please try to deactivate the AVG Firewall component:



open AVG by double-clicking its icon on your Desktop or in taskbar

double-click on Firewall component

tick the option Firewall disabled, then click Save changes

Please enable all three components again once the issue is resolved.



http://free.avg.com/faq.num-1238#faq_1238

the netsh reset did not help. I had to reimage the machine but it works a million times better now. Luckily she saves most of her stuff on a flash drive.

especially if you can get the Data off.

Glad to hear that you have it sorted out.

I haven't used 64 so I was unaware of that. Thanks.

It's utter ********, IE 64-bit comes installed with the operating system. This includes both the 32 and 64-bit versions. Furthermore, it doesn't matter where something is installed, as the applications declare which api they want to use, not the install location.

you are absolutely correct.

Thanks for that.

The same occurs on my home laptop (32-bit WinXP Pro, wireless connection, Checkpoint/Zonealarm Firewall, Netgear wireless-G router). My home internet connection works fine most of the time, but every once in awhile, I would be unable to access the internet through my browsers (IE and Firefox). At the same time, AIM & Bittorrent worked perfectly fine.

I also have Cisco VPN client installed. It runs a background service at startup that might be the culprit.

The next time this happens to my connection, I'll take a look.

Try ipconfig /all and then try pinging the name servers

Anyone think of Event Viewer?

Check to see if that splurges anything, I think the Vista Event Viewer surpasses the XP one in terms of detail.

Think that might help you, could point out WinSock seeing as that is a service to some degree.

Hope this helps, and have you tried a CCleaner run, can get rid of lots of registry carp:)

You noted that you are able to administrate her system, what are you using to adminstrate her system (remote control software).

Also you mentioned lock down, what steps did you take to lock her down? Would this be something we should do for most users, did you set her up as a user and not an administrator and the like.

So first I have to tell you I am a amateur computer guy. I am basic IT support for my friends and family (I do hardware, software, build computers for them and do networking). I just put that disclaimer up because I know as soon as I put my suggestions up I will have a 100 people tell me this is unsecured that is unsecured....this is unstable. When I reimage any machine I do the following:

1. I like AVG antivirus. Small and does not use massive system resources.

2. I install Spybot & Immunize, I install spyware blaster & lastly Ad-aware.

3. I let them have administrator access (or I make them a power user depending...for example some teenage kids).

4. I make myself a user as an administrator. So this way if their account is messed up I can still access some stuff from my account (some people freak out about this but again I am doing this for family and friends so it is usually not a big deal).

5. I prefer crossloop for remote access. This is easy for most laypeople to understand and I avoid all the router port issues.

6. I ask them to use firefox. I am switching most people over. It is quicker and more secure.

7. I usually install open office. Excellent program and FREE.

I use the Windows scheduler to run and update the adaware, Spybot & Spyware blaster.

Again since most of the stuff I do is for friends and family who do not want to spend money or very little money I use what I have had the best experience with. Hope that helps.

From a friends and family perspective looks like you have all your bases covered. I use crossloop as well, except at work they must be blocking the port or something. My work uses logme in for remote access as well as vpn software.

OpenOffice is great too. How often do you find yourself supporting your friends and family, do they find OO working well for them? What other support problems have they had with your setup?

Thanks for the reply

I find that most of the time I have 1-2 projects I am doing a month for friends & family.

Once I started doing my own images and setting them up (I do this with every machine new or not if I can). Once I get them running with my image I get usually very simple requests on issues (mouse doesn't work, my sound is gone etc etc). During Christmas it is mostly router/wireless issues and helping people get a good deal on a computer (or building one for them). Other than that I would say 50% is network related (printer sharing, my DSL won't work etc) and the rest a combo of my hardware failed and "my computer is acting weird"....maybe you should not have gone to that sketchy sight(DUH!!!!!)

I love open office. The new one is very quick and has improved performance. I use it on my Linux machine.

Hope that hemps.