Internet connectivity problem

[The Mad Hatter]

Over the past couple of days I've run into a strange problem with my DSL connection. I can no longer reach a whole series of sites - CNN.com, hotmail (and thus MSN), Google, etc. I called my provider and they said it's nothing on their end, but I can't figure out what it could be on my system that would do that. I have a router but didn't change any configuration settings on it, and when I checked it everything seemed okay. Any help on this would be appreciated - it's a DSL connection running through Windows XP that's updated with the latest Microsoft fixes. It happens in both IE and Firefox.

[JSHAW]

There are forms of spyware that can install trojans and other items that can hijack your internet browser which in turn can cause misdirections in how IE connects to certain websites.

There's a download called CWShredder that can detect if your browser has been hijacked, and restore your connectivity to websites.

If you don't have Spybot & Adaware on your pc, I'd also suggest you download, update and run them immediately.

[Kasey Chang]

A couple suggestions

first, do a TRACEROUTE to the website in question.

Open a command prompt and type in

TRACERT www.google.com

It should give you all the hops your packet went through as it reached google and bounce back to you.

If it won't get out at all, your problem is with DNS or HOST file, or your router.

You can always turn off then back on the router and see if that helps.

[The Mad Hatter]

A couple suggestions

first, do a TRACEROUTE to the website in question.

Open a command prompt and type in

TRACERT www.google.com

It should give you all the hops your packet went through as it reached google and bounce back to you.

If it won't get out at all, your problem is with DNS or HOST file, or your router.

You can always turn off then back on the router and see if that helps.

Thanks for the tip, it turned out to be the router. I realized I hadn't upgraded the firmware since I bought it, and once I took care of that everything worked fine (probably not because of the firmware but because installing it reset all the router settings). I still don't know why it stopped working in the first place though.