Browser / Internet problem

Axen

I know, its a horribly generic title. I apologize. Unfortunately I do not know what this problem is exactly, I can only assume it is malware related.

So here is the problem:

It started several days ago and what happens is I cannot access certain websites. Google and Yahoo for example or anything that uses google in any way. Pretty much all search engines that I know of. Hell, I even tried Ask Jeeves! Certain forums do not work as well. When I try to access one of these websites it doesn't load. Sometimes Google and Yahoo will load, but if I try to do anything else on the it won't work. If this was an enemy army it has basically crippled my communications.


Things I have done so far:

Ping'd some of these sites and I get a response.
Run AdAware, AVG, Spybot Search & Destroy, and CCleaner.
Tried using Firefox, Firefox 3.0, Opera 9.5, and IE.
Checked the other computers on my network and my Wii. They all work fine.


So I turn to you guys. Without any way of trying to find the solution myself I can only hope you guys and your infinite knowledge can help.

.kbf?

Have you run a virus scan?

first step, if you have run a virus scan, is to reinstall your browser. If it doesn't work move on to a different browser and do the same.

If neither work you've most likely been hit by a virus that has disabled, removed, or otherwise incapacitated some DLL windows side that has something to do with search engines.

That_Guy

Take a look at your host file. The location is different depending on your version of Windows, but unless you are running some special blocks or have edited it yourself it should look like this

# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

127.0.0.1 localhost

I know Spybot adds a bunch of stuff to your host file, so you might just want to make a new one and see if that clears up your issue.

Axen

I have done both of those things. Did not help. In fact I did them before I posted here, I forgot to mention them. However I have come across something peculiar.

If I have two users log'd into XP at the same time, only one of those users suffers this problem. The other user is fine. So for the moment I have a sort of "dummy" account log'd in while I use my main one to do stuff.

.kbf?

go to C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data

Delete the Mozilla/Opera/IE folders, reinstall and see if that helps

FYI the Application Data folder is hidden so you will need to change your folder settings to view it.

edit: I just noticed while looking around for other possible attack points vs browsers and you should apply the above steps to "C:\Documents and Settings\HP_Administrator\Local Settings\Application Data" before reinstalling.

edit2: From the firefox troubleshooting forum: "Clearing or bypassing (Shift+Ctrl+R or Ctrl+F5) the cache and maybe clearing cookies for those sites as well is one of the basic troubleshooting steps from Error_loading some web sites and we should have checked if you already tried that."

edit3: (heh, I keep finding stuff.) Go into firefox and load google. When it messes up go to tool, error console.
Look for things like- Error in parsing value... or something having to do with missing files.