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In a strange turn of events my browsers (neither IE nor Firefox) cannot connect to the Internet on my laptop. It is a hard wire connection to the router and is able to connect to other computers on my home network and access external servers thru Remote Desktop Connection. Also other computers on the network are able to connect to the Internet.

The laptop is running Vista.

Any ideas how to figure this one out.

David

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This thread documents a classic mismatch: a Vista laptop could reach LAN hosts and use Remote Desktop, but both IE and Firefox would not load web pages. was right to check IP/gateway basics, and ’s final fix — removing Webroot from Safe Mode and clearing the DNS cache — is exactly the kind of software-level intervention that often restores browser access.

Why that happens: many security suites install low-level network hooks (filter drivers, local proxies or Winsock/LSPs). If those hooks fail or become corrupted they can block DNS resolution or HTTP/HTTPS streams while other protocols (RDP, ICMP) continue to work because they take different paths through the stack.

Practical checklist to reproduce and troubleshoot the problem (in order):

  • Verify basic IP reachability: ping 8.8.8.8. If that fails, the issue is routing/gateway.

  • Verify name resolution separately: nslookup example.com or nslookup example.com 8.8.8.8. As a quick DNS check, try entering a numeric IP in the browser address bar to see if a page loads without DNS.

  • Check browser/proxy settings (Internet Options -> Connections -> LAN settings for IE; Firefox -> Network Settings) for an unexpected proxy or local intercept.

  • Inspect the hosts file at C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts for blocking entries.

  • Repair the network stack if DNS or LSP corruption is suspected:

    netsh winsock reset
netsh int ip reset

    then reboot.

  • If an AV or firewall is implicated, boot to Safe Mode to uninstall or run the vendor’s removal/cleanup tool, test, then reinstall or replace the security software.

Cautions: temporarily removing AV leaves the machine exposed, so disconnect or limit access while testing and reinstall an up-to-date security solution afterward. On legacy systems like Vista, consider upgrading to a supported OS to avoid recurring compatibility and security issues.

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Member Avatar for JavaDad

The first thing that pops into my mind is the default gateway. If it is set wrong, then that would explain why you can connect to the computers on your network but not get out to the internet. Check the default gateway on the computers that can get to the internet, and make sure the laptop has the same IP address as the default gateway as those.

It's definitely a good place to start. Good Luck

Edited by JavaDad because: n/a
Member Avatar for Davife

Unfortunately, both machines have the same default gateway.

Member Avatar for Davife

The problem was eventually solved in the following manner:
I rebooted and openned up the OS in Safe Mode. This allowed me to uninstall the antivirus software.
I then rebooted again and openned the OS in Normal Mode. It turned out that removing the AV software (webroot) enabled me to access all of the normal OS functions.
Now I cleared the DNS through run/cmd/ipconfig /flushdns
Presto chango the Browser was working again.

So the problem was a corrupted DNS complicated by the fact that the AV software blocked me from accessing OS functions like flushing the DNS. It also blocked me from uninstalling any software, that's why the step of openning the OS in safe mode.

I hope this helps somebody else. It was frustrating.

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