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While connected to a public wireless network at a hotel, my laptop lost its ability to browse websites via HTTP. The problem persisted when I returned home using my private wireless network. However, I noticed I can browse sites via HTTPS and FTP. I can even ping external websites in Command Prompt. (For example, using the command “ping google.com”, I receive IP address replies.) Windows appears to be downloading regular updates as well. This could be a setting I have unknowingly disabled.

Unsuccessful attempts to resolve the issue include:
--Sweeping my system for malware with Trend Micro and Malwarebytes’;
--Connecting to the network through an Ethernet port;
--Temporarily disabling my firewall;
--Temporarily disabling my antivirus software;
--And running Network Diagnostics for Windows XP.

All were no help.

I’m stumped. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Edited by b.wickham because: Grammar issue
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Thanks to for posting the resolution — this thread shows a classic case where a security product’s network filter interferes with plain HTTP while other protocols keep working. That explains why HTTPS and FTP stayed usable: they use different ports and handling. Other readers hitting a sudden “HTTP-only” breakage can use the checklist below to find and fix a similar issue without reformatting the machine.

Quick isolation checklist (do these first):

  • Verify another device on the same network can load HTTP pages. If it can, the problem is local to the laptop.
  • Check browser proxy settings (Internet Options → Connections → LAN settings) and disable any proxy.
  • Boot into Safe Mode with Networking or perform a clean boot (msconfig) and retest — this isolates third‑party services/driver interference.
  • Test a raw TCP connect to port 80 from the laptop (e.g., telnet or curl) to confirm whether TCP port 80 is reachable.

Useful commands to inspect and reset local networking hooks:

netstat -ano | find ":80"
tasklist /FI "PID eq <pid>"
netsh winsock reset
netsh int ip reset
ipconfig /flushdns

Run the netstat line to see if a local process is binding or blocking 80, and use the tasklist line to map PID → process. Resetting Winsock and the IP stack clears Layered Service Providers and many AV-installed hooks; reboot after running the resets.

Remediation notes: fully uninstall the suspect AV/firewall (use the vendor’s clean‑uninstall tool if available), reboot, then reinstall or replace it. Simply disabling the UI often does not unload kernel/network drivers, so a full removal is usually required to restore HTTP. Make a backup or create a restore point before major changes, and if the problem persists capture a packet trace (Wireshark) or contact the AV vendor for a known-bug workaround. Thanks also to for confirming others run the same AV without issue — that suggests this is usually rare or update-specific rather than universal.

Member Avatar for b.wickham

Solved this. Thought I'd share in case anyone experiences this problem.

I could not access the Internet using HTTP because Trend Micro Antivirus was blocking port 80, which is most often used by HTTP. This is why I could not browse sites using HTTP while HTTPS and FTP, which use other ports, worked without issue.

To correct the problem, I uninstalled Trend Micro Antivirus and reinstalled AVG Antivirus. This lifted the block on port 80, allowing me to browse sites using HTTP. Interesting that uninstalling the software corrected the problem while temporally disabling Trend Micro, which I tried earlier, did nothing. I chose not to reinstall Trend Micro because AVG Antivirus is free and I did not have my Trend Micro product key at the time.

I have used Trend Micro Antivirus for little more than one year. Never had an issue like this. It came on suddenly. I wonder if Trend Micro could have issued a buggy update in October 2010 that caused port 80 to be blocked.

Member Avatar for caresedan

We have used Trend Micro Antivirus for little more than Two year.We never had an issue like this.graet job man keep it up.!!!1

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