XP Pro SP2 connectivity problem

[Pidgeonpost]

Hi...wonder if anyone can suggest a solution to the following please.
Friend has desktop machine running XP Pro SP2. It was running OK until her
granddaughter fired up MSN a few weeks ago, but then she hit a virus
(startpage.3.ay) cos her AVG s/w was out of date. Since then she hasn't been
able to use IE or OE.
I loaded and ran latest AVG free from USB key, and *think* the virus has
been nuked. I can establish a link to her ISP (i.e. her username and
password gets authenticated, she has a valid DHCP-allocated IP address), and
I can ping the ISP's DNS servers from her desktop. Likewise the guy on the
ISP helpdesk can see us connected OK, and we have jointly verified the IE
and OE settings. We can see no errors. However, when we fire up IE, it says
something like 'cannot find search page', while OE fails on Send/Receive -
can't see pop/smtp servers. The support guy suspected ports 80, 25, and 110
are blocked, but temporarily disabling the firewall didn't help, nor
anything else we can throw at it. Using 'netsh' to try and establish cnx to
mail etc fails too. Is there a way of verifying the status of these ports
please, and (even more useful) coaxing them back to life?
There are various suggestions on the Web that suggest that SP2 may introduce
this problem. I could back it out, but I have to be pretty careful what I do
with the system as she has *no* backups, and *no* media with which to
reinstal, as the machine was passed on to her by her son (damn him!).
Any suggestions welcome....TIA

p.s. could try Firefox I guess

 

[Yves Leclerc]

Hi...wonder if anyone can suggest a solution to the following please.
Friend has desktop machine running XP Pro SP2. It was running OK until her
granddaughter fired up MSN a few weeks ago, but then she hit a virus
(startpage.3.ay) cos her AVG s/w was out of date. Since then she hasn't been
able to use IE or OE.
I loaded and ran latest AVG free from USB key, and *think* the virus has
been nuked. I can establish a link to her ISP (i.e. her username and
password gets authenticated, she has a valid DHCP-allocated IP address), and
I can ping the ISP's DNS servers from her desktop. Likewise the guy on the
ISP helpdesk can see us connected OK, and we have jointly verified the IE
and OE settings. We can see no errors. However, when we fire up IE, it says
something like 'cannot find search page', while OE fails on Send/Receive -
can't see pop/smtp servers. The support guy suspected ports 80, 25, and 110
are blocked, but temporarily disabling the firewall didn't help, nor
anything else we can throw at it. Using 'netsh' to try and establish cnx to
mail etc fails too. Is there a way of verifying the status of these ports
please, and (even more useful) coaxing them back to life?
There are various suggestions on the Web that suggest that SP2 may introduce
this problem. I could back it out, but I have to be pretty careful what I do
with the system as she has *no* backups, and *no* media with which to
reinstal, as the machine was passed on to her by her son (damn him!).
Any suggestions welcome....TIA

p.s. could try Firefox I guess

Locate, download and run 'Winsockxpfix.exe". Sometime the TCP/IP protocol
stack files can be damaged and this "free" third party utility will reset it
to MS defaults.

 

[Guest]

Start\run and type in cmd and click ok. Now type in ipconfig flushdns and hit
enter on your keyboard. Then give it a try. TTFN.

 

[Michael Stevens]

In

Start\run and type in cmd and click ok. Now type in ipconfig flushdns
and hit enter on your keyboard. Then give it a try. TTFN.

Even if your support information is correct and helpful; when you snip all
the post you reply to it makes it very difficult for anyone not familiar
with the thread to know what you are talking about. Please include enough of
the post you reply to to make your reply relevant.
--
Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm