Unable to browse internet. "Cannot find server or DNS error" for all URLs

[Tad Bochan]

Hello anybody.
I cannot browse the internet from my laptop, and am
exhausted trying all sorts of things to resolve the
problem. I don't really know what I am doing, and I
am not really getting any help from my laptop supplier.
(Lots of sympathy and emotional support but little else!)
The following is the note that I sent to the vendor trying
to describe 'my' problem.
Please, any clue on how to resolve this would be much
appreciated.
Regards.

Problem recap :
Inspiron 8000
Windows 2000
Internet Explorer fails to locate any page on the Web.
Gives message "cannot find server or DNS error"

Some of actions I have taken :
1. Connection to my ISP works.
Once the connection is established , I am able to ping
the server supplied addresses Ok.
This works both with a Psion PCMIA modem and the
internal modem.
When I try to locate any url, I get the standard
error (as above), and the the byte transfer statistics
on the modem remain unchanged (about 345 sent, 289 rcvd)

2. I have re-installed Windows 2000 several times
I have re-installed IE 5.0 several times.
I even tried to delete the IE directory but it
just wouldn't disappear.
I have not done a 'clean' W2K install because I dont
want
to spend the next 4 weeks/months trying to
reinstall/recover my other data/software.

3. I have reviewed every setting related to the Dialup
connection that I could find (change/reboot etc...).

4. I have deleted my Dialup connection, rebooted and then
set it up again. (Several times).
I also tried to add the connection while in 'safe mode',
but the program icwconn1.exe failed with a gpf.

5. Went to the ******* microsoft ******* website searching
for similar problems/solutions.
Found nothing but unintelligible gibberish, headaches
and bowel problems.
Tried a few suggestions, but absolutely nothing seems to
make a difference.

6. I think there must be some problem in the registry. Is
it possible for you to send
me the registry of a working system so that I can compare

with mine?

Or could I send you my registry and perhaps you could
isolate the problem ?
7. The only other problem that I can see is that the
Inspiron8000 (800Mhz)appears to run slower
than my Inspiron3200(266 Mhz) running W98.
Startup/Shutdown, application loading
all appear to be much slower/sluggish on the
Inspiron8000.
8. The Laptop is almost useless without an internet
connection.
Its difficult to download any patches!!!
Please help.
Regards.

 

[Jonathan de Boyne Pollard]

TB> 1. Connection to my ISP works.

Ask your ISP how your dialup connection should be configured, in particular
what should be configured for the proxy DNS servers that you are to use. Also
ask your ISP about proxy HTTP servers.

This problem is largely between you and your ISP. Yet from your account you
appear to have done everything (going to Microsoft, talking to the people who
sold your laptop to you, deinstalling and reinstalling things willy-nilly)
_except_ talk to your ISP.

 

[Fizbin]

Ditto

Get help from your isp,,, it will be along the lines of a
dns setting. 1 call to a competent tech and you should be
all set.

 

[Ace Fekay [MVP]]

In

Hi. Thank you for your reply. I do appreciate it. I humbly
admit to my 'willy-nilly' troubleshooting technique. In
fact, I would suggest that 'willy-nilly' would be
something of an understatement !
The reason I did not consult my ISP is that I have the
same problem regardless of ISP, I have one ISP in France
and one in the UK. Neither requires proxy settings etc...
The proxy/DNS settings on my W2K system are broadly the
same as on my W98 system which works fine.

A bit more background.
The config used to work fine when I first got the machine.
My son then took the machine to University, and was
accessing the internet via the university network.
The IE problem arose during the final month of term, that
is, while using the university Lan for access.
My son said that one day, it stopped working and could not
recall any specific event which could have caused the
problem.
After the end of term, the machine came home and I tried
to connect up via dialup, and encountered the same error
my son got at uni.
Thats why I did not try to talk to my ISP.
Also, I am spending most of my time in France, but I dont
speak french well enough to talk to my ISP, and it is
usually weekend when I am back in the UK, when support is
more rarified than usual.
I would be very grateful for any other suggestions,
and once again thank you for your effort.
Best regards.

It may have come down to a browser hijacking, or some other thing installed
or infiltrated while the box was at the university. Common because of all
the traffic at such a place. Suggestions?

1. Install Adaware.
2. Check your Run key for anything initializing at startup that doesn't
belong there:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Search at google.com for the entries. You can also post them here so we can
ascertain their validity.
3. Antivirus
4. Try a different DNS server in your config, such as 4.2.2.2

--
Regards,
Ace

Please direct all replies to the newsgroup so all can benefit.

Ace Fekay, MCSE 2000, MCSE+I, MCSA, MCT, MVP
Microsoft Windows MVP - Active Directory

 

[Jonathan de Boyne Pollard]

TB> The reason I did not consult my ISP is that I have the
TB> same problem regardless of ISP, I have one ISP in France
TB> and one in the UK. Neither requires proxy settings etc...

_They_ don't require them, but _you_ do (since you aren't running
your own proxy DNS server on your own machine and so need someone
else's proxy DNS server to use). They supply them.

Here's the page where One.Tel gives the proxy DNS server IP
addresses that its customers should use, for example:

<URL:http://www.onetel.co.uk./index.php/support/pg,supportcom/id,361>

If you are using One.Tel, and do not run your own proxy DNS server
(as, by default, "home" Windows systems do not), your DNS client
should be configured to send its queries to the proxy DNS servers at
212.67.96.130 and 212.67.96.129, which One.Tel provides for the
benefit of its customers with such "home" systems.

TB> The IE problem arose during the final month of term, that
TB> is, while using the university Lan for access. My son
TB> said that one day, it stopped working and could not recall
TB> any specific event which could have caused the problem.

That was probably when the proxy DNS server settings were altered.

TB> Thats why I did not try to talk to my ISP.

You weren't thinking about it clearly. You had a problem obtaining a
service that (because you aren't running a server on your own machine
to provide it yourself) you are relying upon your ISP to provide to
you. You should have talked to your ISP, the provider of that
service.

If you'd talked to your ISP, it would have double-checked your
proxy DNS server configuration with you (even for script-parroters,
checking the settings is usually near the top of the script), and
the error would probably have been fixed long since.

Remember:

* When one switches ISPs, the proxy DNS server settings change just
like both the proxy HTTP server settings and the SMTP Submission
server settings do, because these are all services that (for minimal
"home" Windows systems, at any rate) one relies upon one's ISP to
provide. When one is a roaming user, with a minimal "home" Windows
system, these _all_ change as one roams.

* Switching from a university LAN to a dial-up connection is
effectively switching ISPs.

* If you don't enjoy relying upon your ISP for proxy DNS service,
proxy HTTP service, or SMTP Submission service, and don't want to be
a minimal "home" Windows system any more, you can always run your
own such services on your own machine. Installing and running
NTCanuck's "BIND Personal Edition", or the Win32 port of ISC's BIND,
or the Win32 port of Sam Trenholme's MaraDNS, are several ways of
running one's own proxy DNS server, for example. (One can also run
Microsoft's DNS server, but I don't suggest it as an option because
as far as I know it isn't available standalone, but is only available
bundled with Windows NT Server. So using it requires more expense
and more effort than using any of the others does.)

 

[Tad Bochan]

My problem was completely resolved by running SPYBOT.
Internet connection worked first time after the
reboot after running SPYBOT. Kudos to Ace Fekay
for pointing me in this direction, and to SPYBOT for doing
the good deed.
The problem had wasted about 200 hours of my time overall
and the only consolation I have is that these
spyware 'ar*eh*les" had their intentions thwarted by
their own junk. Spyware is nogood without a connection.
The best I can do for now is wish them the worst life
imaginable, may misfortune visit them always.

regards to all.