Website Loading Issues

[Guest]

Writing this from my other computer running XP Pro, since trying to start a
new topic in Vista was impossible - the webpage wouldnt open the window,
even with popup blocker off.

Fresh install of Vista Home Premium a month ago. Everything running fine
until about 2 days ago. The problem? Some websites load and others dont. They
worked before, but something changed about 2-3 days ago, and I cannot figure
out what. My Vista machine is set to download and install updates every night
automatically.
The websites that dont work in IE7 also do not work in Firefox. The status
bar in the websites just states "Waiting for http://......" and the loading
bar just creeps along.
I tried doing a Windows Update, and get error #80072EE2. I tried to follow
the instructions to get it working properly, but for the life of me cannot
find a section in Windows Firewall settings to add websites to the
"exceptions" list.
I tried adding the websites into my Trusted Sites section in IE...didnt work.
I tried doing a reset of IE to its default settings. No luck.
I turned off all security features in an attempt to get a page to load. Nadda.
I wanted to do a System Restore but the only date available was today (odd
in itself...XP kept restore dates for months). Obviously, a SR wouldnt work.

I've searched through this forum to find answers, but no help. Links posted
to the support.microsoft.com/kb/.... wouldnt open. Even www.microsoft.com
wouldnt open. I'd tear my hair out but i'm bald.

Anybody else experiencing this problem? Found a solution? Please help!

 

[Jane C]

Hello Adam,

Can you check your installed updates and see if there were any relating to
your NIC driver? (Windows Update, click on 'View update history').

What updates were installed automatically prior to the browsing problem?

 

[Ian Betts]

Try this link.

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/dca75593-6b39-4563-ba62-35de98ea98ea1033.mspx

It looks like a firewall error. So its probably the update.

 

[Guest]

Jane - I remember doing 3 optional updates, and one of them was for Nvidia
Nforce Networking Controller.

Ian - I've looked at that link you posted, but as you can see in my original
post, I've gone through the Windows Firewall settings and cannot find any
section available to add websites to some "exceptions" list.

 

[Jane C]

Hi Adam,

You should be able to rollback the nVidia NIC driver via Device Manager. If
not, go direct to the nVidia website for the latest driver.

One point about Windows Update - it is never a good idea to install any
device drivers via Windows Update. They are often older than the ones that
you may find on the hardware manufacturers website, and sometimes they cause
a *lot* of problems. Always make the hardware manufacturers website your
first point of call for driver updates.

 

[Guest]

Got it working thanks. I uninstalled the Networking Controller, rebooted, and
let Vista reinstall it. The websites i could not access are working fine now.
Thanks Jane!

 

[Jane C]

You're welcome