WinXP, IE issues

[Bob James]

The machine is an IBM laptop, running XP, using IE 6. Yesterday, when
attempting to replace the HOSTS file, IE suddenly became unable to connect
to any webpage. Ping tests confirm that the Internet connection was live,
and the user could logon to AOL through the pipe. Only IE was affected.

We recovered the original HOSTS file from a backup, and IE worked again.
We attempted to add a single IP address to HOSTS, instead of a wholesale
replacement, but this also resulted in IE being unable to connect. Even
the msnsearch could not be displayed.

Suggestions? Anyone else seeing this behavior?

 

[Plato]

The machine is an IBM laptop, running XP, using IE 6. Yesterday, when
attempting to replace the HOSTS file, IE suddenly became unable to connect
to any webpage. Ping tests confirm that the Internet connection was live,

Suggestions? Anyone else seeing this behavior?

Sure, always have at least one or more other browsers installed to use
while you tweak your IE problems.