IE & Firefox won't connect but network is available

[Ray]

I have a Dell laptop running Windows XP2 fully patched.

Sometimes my browsers stop connecting but I still have network access
as evidenced by my Outlook still working and Yahoo IM working.

I run Symantec Antivirus and nothing shows on a scan. Same with Spybot
S&D, Ad-aware, MS Defender. I've run Hijackthis and don't see anything
that looks like I've been hijacked.

If I re-boot, everything works again. Doesn't matter if I'm in my
office, at home or on the road.

My tech support wants to re-image the machine. I have to start all over
and I'd rather not if avoidable.

Any ideas out there?

Thanks in advance.

Ray

 

[Chuck]

I have a Dell laptop running Windows XP2 fully patched.

Sometimes my browsers stop connecting but I still have network access
as evidenced by my Outlook still working and Yahoo IM working.

I run Symantec Antivirus and nothing shows on a scan. Same with Spybot
S&D, Ad-aware, MS Defender. I've run Hijackthis and don't see anything
that looks like I've been hijacked.

If I re-boot, everything works again. Doesn't matter if I'm in my
office, at home or on the road.

My tech support wants to re-image the machine. I have to start all over
and I'd rather not if avoidable.

Any ideas out there?

Thanks in advance.

Ray

Ray,

If a reboot clears this problem, it sounds like a DNS issue. If the primary DNS
server goes down (becomes unavailable), the computers switch to the backup. If
the backup becomes unavailable, you have to reboot (or flush DNS).

What DNS servers are you using?
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/reading-ipconfig-and-diagnosing.html#BasicSettings>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/reading-ipconfig-and-diagnosing.html#BasicSettings

Let's look at "ipconfig /all".
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-internet-service.html#AskingForHelp>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-internet-service.html#AskingForHelp