Member Avatar for CoolGamer48

On a laptop running Windows XP, I can't seem to view webpages or actually connect to any server. Going to pages in IE or firefox give me unable to connect/cannot display errors. Trying to ftp to a server through windows explorer or filezilla gives me simmilar errors. Everything I do seems to indicate that I'm not connected to the internet... except the fact that I can ping other sites (google.com, yahoo.com, etc...) and the pings come back fine. When I disconnect the ethernet cable from the computer and try pining, it doesn't work. Does anyone know why none of these programs can connect to the internet, but my pings are going through?

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Dani AI

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— short diagnosis and a tight checklist that fills gaps in the replies from , , and .

A successful ping only proves IP-level reachability (ICMP). Web browsers and FTP use TCP sockets (HTTP/HTTPS/FTP) and different ports, so ICMP can succeed while TCP connections are blocked, redirected or broken by a proxy/LSP/firewall or a corrupted Winsock/TCP stack. (learn.microsoft.com)

Quick, ordered checks (run in a Command Prompt):

ipconfig /all
nslookup example.com
tracert example.com
netstat -an
(not installed by default) telnet 93.184.216.34 80
notepad C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts

Use nslookup to confirm which DNS server answered and whether name resolution is failing versus TCP being blocked. (learn.microsoft.com)

Targeted fixes to try (one at a time, reboot after those that request it):

ipconfig /flushdns
netsh winsock reset
netsh int ip reset c:\resetlog.txt

On Windows XP, check WinHTTP (system-level) proxy with proxycfg (and on newer Windows use netsh winhttp show proxy) — a leftover system proxy/PAC can break apps while ping still works. If you reset Winsock, be prepared to reinstall any third‑party firewall/AV that adds LSPs. (learn.microsoft.com)

Isolation tips: boot into Safe Mode with Networking to see if third-party security software is the culprit; temporarily disable AV/firewall while testing (don’t stay disabled). If other devices on the same network have the same problem, investigate the router/ISP. If none of the steps help, capture a packet trace (Wireshark) or report results from the above commands for next-level analysis. (lifewire.com)

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for Rik_

Have you scanned for malware? if so, with what?

Member Avatar for beeerlover

This might be a longshot...

Try disabling Norton? (Or any other Anti-Virus/Firewall/Security Software -- Try disabling all of it)


If that doesn't work, then my next guess would be that perhaps your HOSTS file is compromised.

Member Avatar for low-fer

Sounds like a possible DNS issue - look things over closely...

Member Avatar for RJCO

Check the proxy setting on internet explorer properties

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