Windows Explorer Won't Display Windows Update Page.

Dublo7

So I'm trying to update my Windows XP SP3 on my EeePC laptop, and when Windows Explorer opens to load http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com , I get an error message saying "IE Cannot Display the Webpage."
It loads up other webpages as per usual, but it appears to have problems loading all Microsoft websites (including Download Center, etc).

Just a few notes;
This is a genuine installation of XP. It's not pirated.
The pages don't load in Firefox or Chrome either.
The pages load fine on my Vista desktop machine (so I don't think it's a network/wifi problem)
I've disabled all firewalls/AV programs, but the problem still occurs.
I've scanned for viruses and spyware using Spybot and NOD32. After removal of spyware, problem still persists.

If someone could help me out, I'd really appreciate it.

Dírhael

It might be blocked in your hosts file, so start by looking there (also, run a "tracert microsoft.com" and see what happens to your request).

To edit your hosts file:
start > run > notepad C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts

Tofystedeth

I know conficker blocked access to MS websites. Did you find that in your scan?
run nslookup windowsupdate.microsoft.com
you should get something looking approximately like this.

Server:  <name>
Address:  <IP address>

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    windowsupdate.microsoft.nsatc.net
Address:  207.46.18.94
Aliases:  windowsupdate.microsoft.com

Dublo7

ok, I looked in my hosts.msn file. I can't see any Microsoft websites being blocked. When I do write tracert microsoft.com in run, a blank cmd window pops up for about 10 seconds and then closes.

Tofystedeth, I used the nslookup and I get the exact same result that you do. Strange.

Dírhael

Dublo7 wrote: »

ok, I looked in my hosts.msn file. I can't see any Microsoft websites being blocked. When I do write tracert microsoft.com in run, a blank cmd window pops up for about 10 seconds and then closes.

Tofystedeth, I used the nslookup and I get the exact same result that you do. Strange.

The file is not supposed to be called hosts.msn. That file does not have any effect on anything. The only relevant hosts file is this one: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts (no extension).

Also, if the window closes that fast, run the command like this instead (it'll leave the window open when finished): cmd /K tracert update.microsoft.com
(windowsupdate.microsoft.com will just redirect you to the correct address which is update.microsoft.com)

Dublo7

Ok, it says, "Unable to resolve target system name microsoft.com"

I've scanned for conficker using multiple tools and they're all saying I'm not infected. Maybe I was previously infected with conficker but when it was removed it didn't fix the ability to go into microsoft websites?

Dírhael

Dublo7 wrote: »

Ok, it says, "Unable to resolve target system name microsoft.com"

I've scanned for conficker using multiple tools and they're all saying I'm not infected. Maybe I was previously infected with conficker but when it was removed it didn't fix the ability to go into microsoft websites?

Ok, here's something to try:

1. Make absolutely sure that your C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file is either empty or only contains something like this (if any lines are referring to something.microsoft.com, remove them):

127.0.0.1       localhost

2. Unless you're using static IP's, make sure that your network adapted is set to receive IP and DNS addresses automatically. You could set your DNS manually to the same as one of your working PC's (cmd /K ipconfig /all to get the settings). Alternatively, use OpenDNS servers:

208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220

3. In case some software have messed up your winsock settings, run the following command and reboot immediately afterwards: cmd /K netsh winsock reset

Tofystedeth

Dublo7 wrote: »

ok, I looked in my hosts.msn file. I can't see any Microsoft websites being blocked. When I do write tracert microsoft.com in run, a blank cmd window pops up for about 10 seconds and then closes.

Tofystedeth, I used the nslookup and I get the exact same result that you do. Strange.

Oh yeah, sorry, I should have specified to do that from the command prompt instead of run. But dirhael's picking up my slack.

Dublo7

Success!

I've just downloaded Microsoft's Malware Removal tool on my Vista PC and copied it over to my laptop. I cleaned up some infections, restarted my laptop, and now it's working!

Thanks for the help, guys