web broswers can't connect to the web but any other program can?

[Lior .B.]

Ok I have strange problem: I can not connect to the intenert via firefox or IE but I do have good connection - I can download updates for any program on my computer via its live updates.

What could cause this and how can I reslove it?

 

[The Fatman]

The first thought would be a firewall blocking HTTP traffic. Shutdown any firewalls you have running, including Win Firewall and try again

 

[Lior .B.]

already did it. No luck solving the problem...
also I can't ping any website..

 

[The Fatman]

hrmm... OK... Can you ping an IP address? try to ping 69.147.76.15 and let me know the results.

 

[Falcor5]

Ok I have strange problem: I can not connect to the intenert via firefox or IE but I do have good connection - I can download updates for any program on my computer via its live updates.

What could cause this and how can I reslove it?

Do you have an email program like Outlook? If so does it let you get new emails?

 

[Lior .B.]

indeed I can. What does it mean? (in reply to Foley0402)
That computer don't have an email account to check (outlook is presents)

 

[The Fatman]

That's a DNS error, your machine can't convert IP's into web addresses.

XP or Vista? If XP, What service pack are you on?

 

[Lior .B.]

XP with sp2.

edit: when I enter the ip 69.147.76.15 in this computer in firefox it able to open the site but in firefox on the other computer it fails (but pinging it still succeed).

 

[Marc]

check that your browser hasn''t decided it wants to use a proxy server when there isn't one. (though it's a long shot if it's affecting both IE and FF because they don't share proxy settings).

The are no other problems with the system? I've seen instances where it wasn't possible to connect with IE as there was a major issue with the Windows Network support. It was quite sometime back but iirc I was able to a ping and get name resolution but no web access).

 

[Lior .B.]

no proxy at all.

edit: Everything was done was while the problematic computer was connected to this computer and sharing this computer connection to the internet. the problematic computer does not connect directly to the internet

 

[The Fatman]

OK, Just to get the simple stuff out of the way, click Start>Run (an Open box should appear)
Type cmd and click OK (a Command Prompt window should appear)
in the command prompt, type in the following commands in this order, pressing enter after each line

ipconfig /flushdns (you should get a "successfully flushed" message
netsh (you should drop down to a new command line netsh>)
i i r r (you should drop down to another netsh line)
w r (you should get a message saying successfully reset the winsock catalog, asking you to reboot, go ahead and do so)

after the reboot, see if you can browse normally

 

[Lior .B.]

It worked! Thanks a lot Foley0402! I would appreciate if you could explain to me what was the problem (or forward me to a page which explain this).

 

[The Fatman]

More than likely, your problem was your DNS cache was corrupt or full.

Windows doesn't really "see" web addresses, it only knows how to find IP addresses. Your web browser converts the web address you type in to an IP windows can understand, and then for expediency, it caches the translation. (basically a text file saying 69.147.76.15 = www.yahoo.com). if this cache gets corrupt or full, your machine can't translate the IP into something usable, and even though you have a good connection, you can't browse.

flushdns just clears the cache, so if it's full, that fixes it. Normally, that should be part of your annual maintenance.

The netsh commands are the equivalent of reinstalling TCP/IP on older systems. it resets all the software in the network shell. If the issue was a corruption in the DNS table or in TCP/IPv4 those commands fix it.

 

[Marc]

QUOTE=Foley0402;2952463]
The netsh commands are the equivalent of reinstalling TCP/IP on older systems. it resets all the software in the network shell. If the issue was a corruption in the DNS table or in TCP/IPv4 those commands fix it.[/QUOTE]

Damn I wish I known that command in the past - would of come in handy on a couple of occasions.

 

[The Fatman]

Damn I wish I known that command in the past - would of come in handy on a couple of occasions.

Oh, it is damn handy. They actually just added the command in in XPSP2. In win2k and xp/sp1 you have to delete registry keys. Not hard if you're competant, or doing work in a shop... but talking end-users through THAT in a help desk setting... ::shudder::

Just in case anyone does come back to this later, or is making notes to use the NETSH commands in the future: it's slightly different in Vista. Presumably Win7, as well (I have the RC installed, but haven't tested this yet...next time I'm playing with 7 I'll check it out)

in Vista, you have to open the command prompt as administrator. Three ways to go about this:

1)the easy way, go to Start>Run and type cmd. Unfortunately, as I'm sure many of you with Vista know...MS hid the run comand by default, so the VAST majority of people don't have Run in their start menu.
2)Turn off UAC, then open command prompt from Start>Accessories.
3)Go to Start>Accessories, right-click on Command Prompt and choose Run as Administrator. You'll get the infamous "Needs Your Permission" window.

From there, it's:
netsh (just like in XP, will go to new netsh> command line)
i i r r (unlike in XP, you should see a whole bunch of "resetting...OK" lines. It will tell you a reboot is required, ignore this)
winsock reset (w r won't work, you have to type it out. After that, you'll get the same "successfully reset" message)

now reboot, and you're good to go.