Page cannot be displayed but ping works

[NorCalVikesFan]

Hi all,

My wife's computer is running XP SP2 with IE6. The computer has been
infected with tons of spyware/adware stuff. We've been able to get rid of
most of it using Spy Subtract. We're still having two problems though. The
first is that when the computer is rebooted, some spyware/adware tries to
launch a webpage that first is directed to dirkenabe. something. It is then
redirected to some portland.co.uk site and displays a custom 404 error
message. I can't figure out what is causing this. The Spy Subtract tool
doesn't seem to catch/fix it.

The second problem we are having I've seen reported in newsgroups quite
frequently, but I'm not sure our problem is exactly the same. The internet
connection seems to work at first. For the first few minutes you can
connect to sites like www.yahoo.com, www.google.com, www.cnn.com, ... But
after a few minutes accessing any site, by IP address or domain name, fails
with the "page cannot be displayed" error.

I am still able to ping these sites, both by IP address and by domain name.
But accessing them in any way in the browser fails.

I've read about the winsock fixit tools out there and am going to give them
a try. I'm still just wondering if our problem is the same as others have
reported. The reason I wonder is that connectivity seems to work OK (albeit
terribly slow) for the first few minutes. Then it stops working.

FYI we have a cable modem connected to a Linksys wireless router. Her PC is
directly connected to the router. My laptop has a wireless connection to
the router. There are no problems with my laptop.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[oops!!]

See this:

Repair/Reset Winsock settings (Links)
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/winsock.htm

Zee

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP IE/OE]

Hi all,

My wife's computer is running XP SP2 with IE6. The computer has been
infected with tons of spyware/adware stuff. We've been able to get
rid of most of it using Spy Subtract. We're still having two
problems though. The first is that when the computer is rebooted,
some spyware/adware tries to launch a webpage that first is directed
to dirkenabe. something. It is then redirected to some
portland.co.uk site and displays a custom 404 error message. I can't
figure out what is causing this. The Spy Subtract tool doesn't seem
to catch/fix it.
The second problem we are having I've seen reported in newsgroups
quite frequently, but I'm not sure our problem is exactly the same. The
internet connection seems to work at first. For the first few
minutes you can connect to sites like www.yahoo.com, www.google.com,
www.cnn.com, ... But after a few minutes accessing any site, by IP
address or domain name, fails with the "page cannot be displayed"
error.
I am still able to ping these sites, both by IP address and by domain
name. But accessing them in any way in the browser fails.

I've read about the winsock fixit tools out there and am going to
give them a try. I'm still just wondering if our problem is the same
as others have reported. The reason I wonder is that connectivity
seems to work OK (albeit terribly slow) for the first few minutes. Then it
stops working.
FYI we have a cable modem connected to a Linksys wireless router. Her PC
is directly connected to the router. My laptop has a wireless
connection to the router. There are no problems with my laptop.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Spy Subtract cqan't catch everything.
What You Should Know About Spyware
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/devioussoftware.mspx

CAUTION!!!!! Removing some spyware can damage the Winsock stact. Before
you try to remove spyware using any of these programs , download a copy of
LSP-Fix - a free program to repair damaged Winsock 2 stacks (all Windows
versions)
http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm
Winsockfix for W95, W98, ME, NT, 2000, XP
http://www.tacktech.com/pub/winsockfix/WinsockFix.zip
Directions here: http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=257
WinXP:
Get WinSockxpFix
http://www.spychecker.com/program/winsockxpfix.html
How to Reset Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/299357
In WinXP SP2: You can fix Winsock by going to Start | Run and typing
CMD
In the command window type
netsh winsock reset

See
Dealing with Unwanted Malware, Parasites, Toolbars and Search Engines
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm

Note that AdAware and SpyBot S & D will each catch some things the other
won't. Also, each needs to be updated with the program's update function
before every use, even when just downloaded. There's also a lot more to do
than just those two programs. CWShredder is also available here:
http://www.intermute.com/products/cwshredder
**Post your HijackThis log to
http://www.spywareinfo.com/forums/
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/ or the Spyware forum at
http://forum.aumha.org/viewforum.php?f=30 for expert analysis, not here.**
Alternative download pages for Ad-Aware, Spybot, HijackThis and CWShredder
may be found on this page:
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm.

See this link for information about malware:
http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/malware.ars

If nothing there helps, please post back to this thread.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup only. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com./athome/security/protect/default.aspx
http://defendingyourmachine.blogspot.com/