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Internet Connection with Vista

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by todd_isaacson

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I have a laptop with 32 bit Win Vista. I can connect wirelessly to the internet, but cannot see any web pages. I know that I am connected, because I can download Windows updates, and other updates, but IE7 doesn't seem to let me view web pages. What do I have to do to fix this?

12 replies

by seanferd

Start > Control Panel > Internet Options > Connection Tab
Ensure the settings make sense for your type of connection. Like "Never dial". You could also try unchecking everything under LAN Settings.

Do you get any error messages?

by todd_isaacson

No there are o error messages. I am connected, certain programs access the internet to update their programs, my main problem is seeing web pages. IE7 shows the "cannot find web page" I have tried other web pages and get the same results.

by sue t

you could try downloading and installing Firefox or Opera and seeing if you have a problem. Possibly your anti virus or firewall settings are causing the problem. If the problem just started maybe it was caused by an update or an install of another program. If it just started you could try doing a system restore to before it started and seeing if that works or if you installed a new program you could try uninstalling it or changing firewall and anti virus settings. you could also do a scan for malware and virus if it just started. Good luck.

by todd_isaacson

Yes, it has worked in the past. Throughout the course of the day yesterday (after a few system restore points) I got online briefly, but as I installed a new antivirus program, I lost internet, but had local network access. I am going to assume that means I have a virus. Not having any other Vista machines on the network, I am finding it rather difficult to run a virus scan from an XP machine with a fully updated virus database. I won't even bother explaining the difficulties of trying to network a Vista machine, let alone a machine with a virus. I've had it!! I am going to reformat it with WinXP Pro! Thank you for the help.

by sue t

anti virus? maybe that is changing settings. Also, maybe an update is causing the problem. try turning off automatic updates, uninstall updates that were installed right before you lost internet connectivity or just do a system restore to right before that time. I've been using Vista since it came out and haven't had any problems with any of them on the network. I actually have more problems with the XP machines. I'm sorry you don't like it as I have found it to be more stable and reliable. I work in a school and the kids haven't been able to make changes to them the way they can with XP. Good Luck.

by todd_isaacson

I install the Antivirus. With AVG Free, it completely blocks out viewing web pages, cannot update itself, but with other Antivirus programs, I can access the internet, view different web pages, but cannot update the antivirus. Same goes for anti spyware, cannot update it. I believe there is a serious virus involved. I am going to leave it the way it is until I cannont access the internet again, and try once more.

by seanferd

The problem is probably just AVG itself. There is a fix, or you can just move to another AV like Avira free.

With any security software, always make sure you cruise the configuration settings as well. If certain aggressive settings are turned on, a lot of things won't work right until you specifically allow them.

by seanferd

ZoneAlarm has a habit of causing problems like this.

The other thing I wonder about is if the previous AVs did not uninstall cleanly, and left something behind that is causing a conflict.

You may also wish to check through this troubleshooting article
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/956196

by todd_isaacson

I have gone so far as to turn off windows vista firewall and have setup mac address filtering on the hardware firewall. I have acheived web page viewing finally, by running a plethora of antivirus programs 1 at a time(installing and uninstalling) but I still cannot update to current definitions even by downloading them and trying to manually install/update. When AVG is installed I cannot access the internet at all. With Avira, Asquared, Virus Keeper, and few other free antivirus', I have no problem accessing the web pages, but no updating works, and that goes for any anti spyware. Since the original posting, I have removed 3 trojans, and 50-some spyware/trackers, used Hi Jack This, uninstalled internet games(which were hosting virus' even one from HP Games!) deleted some registry keys of unknown origins. All in all it is running better, but I would like to be able to update the anti vius and anti spyware programs. If anyone has any ideas, PLEASE let me know. thanks

by peconet tietokoneet

You will have to Wipe your drive Fully with Killdisk from here:
http://www.killdisk.com/
It will take at least four hours to wipe your drive, then you can re-install your operating system. But please make sure you have a Anti-virus in place before you do ANY updates to your system. I:E, after the operating system is loaded then load on AVG, after it is loaded then do all of your updates. Also you might need Spybot, download here:
http://www.safer-networking.org/index2.html

Hope all goes well.

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