I hope I'm using the correct terminology here in the subject line -
I have an XP Pro machine that has been getting the Windows Updates regularly
and is thus, fairly up to date. It has been protected by Norton Systemworks
and Personal Firewall.
Out of the blue, it stopped being able to translate web addresses into IP
addresses. I can go to a web address if I know the actual IP address, but
not if I type in the standard web address. This problem also prevents use of
Outlook Express to send and receive.
Any ideas as to what I might do to solve this problem?
Sam,
If no DNS service at all, use an online website to translate the URLs used below
to ip addresses:
<
http://www.all-nettools.com/toolbox>
<
http://216.92.207.177/toolbox>
<
http://www.dnsstuff.com/>
<
http://69.2.200.183/>
Provide ipconfig information for the computer - may be a clue there.
Start - Run - "cmd". Type "ipconfig /all >c:\ipconfig.txt" into the command
window - Open c:\ipconfig.txt in Notepad, copy and paste into your next post.
Start with a Winsock check.
<
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811259>
Get LSP-Fix and WinsockLSPFix <
http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm>.
Search your entire system drive, including hidden and system folders, for file
"hosts". There is one legit copy, in C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\. The
others are possibly bogus, and part (but just part) of the problem. Examine the
contents of each copy found, using Notepad. (HINT: Scroll to the end of each
Hosts file, by hitting Ctrl-End, then back up to the top, page by page, before
deciding that the file is empty. Look out for blank lines at the beginning and
end of the file, after localhost, placed there by an exploit!)
Try HijackThis and expert advice:
HijackThis <
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=3155>
Create a separate folder for HijackThis, such as C:\HijackThis - copy the
downloaded file there.
Then, run HijackThis ("Scan"). Do NOT make any changes immediately. Save the
HJT Log.
<
http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?showtopic=227>
Finally, have your HJT log interpreted by experts at one or more of the
following security forums (and post it, or a link to your forum posts, here):
Aumha: <
http://forum.aumha.org/index.php>
Net-Integration: <
http://forums.net-integration.net/>
Spyware Info: <
http://forums.spywareinfo.com/>
Spyware Warrior: <
http://spywarewarrior.com/index.php>
Tom Coyote: <
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/>
Wilders Security<
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/>
If removal of any spyware affects your ability to access the internet (some
spyware builds itself into the network software, and its removal may damage your
network), run LSP-Fix and / or WinsockXPFIx.
Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.
