Shows I'm Connected, but browser won't work

[logrolls 0]

This has happened a couple of times now, and I use Vista. I'll be connected, using the internet, and then suddenly, my Internet Explorer will just stop working. My Instant messaging programs will still work, like Yahoo Messenger, and Myspace Messenger, but I won't be able to connect to any websites via Internet Explorer. My Vonage phone works just fine, also, so I know I am still connected. A few times it's just fixed itself when I tried using my computer a few days later, but this keeps happening and it's not fun. I guess I need to know what's happening so I can fix it/prevent it. I'm not a techie by any means, so any explanations in layman's terms would be appreciated!

[Myke 0]

Have you tried using a different browser to see if you can replicate the problem? I suggest installing FireFox and see if you can get this to happen through it.

 

What version of IE are you using and is that version up-to-date?

 

When you say that it stops working all of a sudden, what exactly do you mean? Does it happen in the middle of browsing? Or does it just not work most of the time and then starts working out of the blue?

[Sampson 0]

Vista is a puzzle even when it seems to be working correctly on networks. But, it may not be Vista. Since you are using Vonage, I presume you are using a DSL/Cable Modem. If your computer is going through a router and is not hooked directly to the modem, it may be that you will need to set the router to the same MAC address as your computer's MAC address.

[jr105 0]

I'd also like to know if anyone has figured this out. My daughter is at college and the Vista laptop that we sent with her just did the same thing. She is connected with a strong signal, but her browsers (IE and Firefox) don't work. She can use IM and other apps that don't go through her browser. It is like this on both the school's wireless network and when she's hardwired. She brought it home and it was the same on my Linksys wireless at home. I checked all the settings and everything seems right. This has Brown's IT group stumped. They said they have seen this before and some of them just start working.

[Myke 0]

Okay, this may sound stupid, but we have to at least try and weed out all the possibilities. I just read on the MS support site that if you save a favorite in IE 7 on Vista that is longer than 221 characters, IE will stop responding. I am assuming that you are using IE 7, correct?

 

The reason I ask is because I know that there are a lot of pages out there that when adding to your favorites, the title is ungodly long.

 

Here's the link to the page if you want to read it: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911860/en-us

 

Again, this may sound silly, but it's worth asking.

 

 

Also, are there any events in the Event Viewer which further discribe what is happening? Those would be quite beneficial in helping to resolve this issue.

 

Can you ping the router? If so, then try pinging a site like google.com. If you can ping the router, try connecting to the router via your browser. I'd also check your browser, firewall and security software settings to see if something is blocking it. Vista's secuirty features can be quite a pain in the begining. Supposedly, the more you use it, the less of an annoyance it becomes.

[jr105 0]

The problem with my daughters laptop not being able to connect to the internet through a browser was solved. It was caused by the Norton anitvirus program supplied by the school (I think she said it was 360). She said that even though it was disabled that wasn't enough. They had to uninstall it and undo some other things they had done mucking around trying to fix this issue. They recommended she use Norton 2008 for Vista OS compatibility.

[DosFreak 2]

God no. Just put Antivir Antivirus (free) on therealong with Spybot (also free) and she'll be fine.

 

The firewall included in XP is good enough although it doesn't block outbound. If you want a better firewall then install Comodo Firewall. (Also free...imagine that!)

 

If you must install bloatware then put ZoneAlarm on instead of Comodo Firewall.

 

Stay the **** away from Norton. Sorry for the language but it's necessary.

 

School's shouldn't be suggesting the usage of retail Norton anyway. They should be buying the Corporate ver of Symantec Antivirus and allowing their users to use that.

 

 

[Myke 0]

I am in complete agreeance with DosFreak. The huge Norton bundles are a complete pain in the butt to deal with. They kind of take the Microsoft approach of "we know better than you" attitude, which causes a lot of problems.

 

We use Symantec AntiVirus Corp. Ed., and it works just fine for virus protection. Universities tend to take the easy road of handing out these huge bundles without taking the time to understand the problems associated with them. Then add on that the students working in their campus IT departments don't really understand these applications very well.

 

I've also encountered countless issues where Norton was the prime culprit, which took me some time in finding out. Hardware issues, software issues, the wonderous BSOD caused by Norton products. Be very wary of using them; they can sometimes work well, but you kind of have to know what you're doing.

 

The only problem I've seen with most (and I stress most) freeware antivirus/spyware apps is that you have to manually update them, which really isn't that big of a deal. You just need to remember to do it.