Windows 7: Browser not working but internet is connected

Ok so I have a fairly new computer that had Vista on it. I got the free upgrade and upgraded to Windows 7 Home Premium. I've been using 7 for about 3 weeks now with no problems at all. Then out of nowhere approx 3-4 days ago, the internet doesn't seem to want to cooperate. Once in a while web pages wouldnt load and now most of the time my browser will fail to load any pages. I called my ISP tech support and everything is fine on their end, and I can confirm that I am indeed connected because I can play multiplayer games, use utorrent and occasionally msn messenger.

I've tried both Firefox 3.5.5 (default) and IE 8. It appears that there is some conflict somewhere that is denying me internet access. I need this resolved ASAP since most of my school notes are online and it's midterm/finals time.

While talking to tech support I was advised that restoring windows to a backup may solve the problem. So I did that with a backup that was 3 days old and it worked for maybe an hour then I had the same problem.



I should also note that I am NOT using wireless. I have a wired cable connection.

When the browser does decide to work, I find that it is very slow. Even my download speeds on utorrent have decreased drastically. I find it interesting that much of the time my upload speed is significantly higher than my download. I'm starting to get really frustrated so any and all help will be greatly appreciated and I hope I get this resolved soon.

Hi.

If you have mdnsresponder.exe in the task manager, it means you have the Bonjour service. Google for how to completely uninstall.

In I.E., go to tools | internet options | connections tab | lan settings
and make sure no boxes are checked. If there are any, remove then save. Reopen I.E. and test.

If you still have trouble, set a static ip address for the lan adapter using 208.67.222.222 for preferred dns server.

If you want uTorrent to work better, look at its settings (ctrl+P) to find the incoming connections port. Then go to your router config page and set it to port forward that port to your computer.

Hey thanks for the quick reply and for covering far more than I had expected. So I followed your advice on the bonjour service and it is now gone. Oddly enough though, IE seems to work more than firefox. I'm using IE right now to write this, but when I open Firefox it says "page not found". I've been using Firefox exclusively and have not interfered with the browser settings or anything.

I ran a troubleshooter on my internet connection and it said "the DNS server isn't responding" and that it could not be automatically fixed. How do I go about fixing this? I can't download windows updates, or updates for my adware/spyware/antivirus programs, but Internet Explorer works (kind of slowly), and Firefox will not connect.

Try this




Troubleshooting DNS servers: Domain Name System(DNS)

You're welcome. Check in Firefox too that no proxies are set.

Tools | options | advanced | network tab | settings box | click the dot for no proxy | click ok twice

To an elevated command prompt, copy and paste the following then hit enter:

netsh int ip reset

Reboot.

I had a very similar problem where only my 64 bit IE worked. My Firefox and IE 32 would not connect. I tried many different things I read here and was about to give up until I tried this and it worked for me.

got to Cmd line

Type netsh winsock reset

Now all my browsers work including Firefox and IE

Not sure if anyone is still watching this post, but I ran into a similar issue after upgrading to Windows 7 from Vista Ultimate. Turned out there is a MAJOR compatibility issue with Norton/Symantec products. After trying various solutions from around the web, I was still unable to connect to the internet or really even get an IP address. I even tried removing Bonjour to no avail.
I found the solution was to uninstall any and all Norton/Symantec products, at which point, the internet came back almost immediately. This includes Norton Ghost or Norton Backup. Hope this helps someone!

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This worked for me. I was experiencing the same difficulty... I'd open the browser and it would stall on loading or would stall while surfing... if I hit "enter" again, then the page would sometimes come up quickly. Not sure what was causing the stalling but it was really annoying. Lol. Anyway, THANK YOU! The reset worked for me.