Weird internet connectivity problem!- Only browser works

Well I was my laptop normally, and then when I tried to load a page it said no internet. I checked and it had the little yellow exclamation mark and said "no internet access". I disconnected and connected again, but to no avail. I reset the router, but still no help. Finally I restarted my computer as I have had this problem before and it was solved by restarting my computer. When I restarted it connected and showed "internet access" but when I opened Chrome and went to a webpage, it stopped while saying "resolving host" and then said no internet. Some other programs as well couldn't connect, such as Avast! I had the trial for internet security and it said a secure DNS connection wasn't available or something. I connected to the Ethernet cable and my browser worked fine. I disconnected and reconnected to wi-fi and the browser worked fine. However I still have the problem with Avast and other applications. Avast can't sign in and it says can't connect to internet. I actually just checked and it seems to be having the same problem even when connected by Ethernet cable. I need this problem rectified soon! It is important that I get these programs to work!

Did you reset your modem and router?

GokAy said:

Did you reset your modem and router?

I'm not sure if you read it properly, but if you did read it you would see that I did.

Ohmster said:

Jake, I just had a similar problem to yours, fixed it yesterday. Might be the same issue as you had. Go view this post:

Windows 7 x64; NO internet except when in safe mode!

Make this story short. Completely uninstall Avast and see if your internet comes back. If it does, reinstall Avast from a fresh source, known good one. Apparently there is a new, unknown virus that attacks Avast and infects it, causing the exact same problem you have now. I used several of the best virus scanners and NONE of them can find it! Details on how to check for it are in the post. Good luck, I think this may be your issue. Fingers crossed for you!

Hey actually, you want to know what's REALLY WEIRD?! I turned on my computer today, and it's back to normal! No problems whatsoever! I will still view the topic however, as it will be good to know!

Ooh, that makes me nervous. Yes it could be a quirk, "stuff happens", but you swear you had a real problem and it was there. What I found with this new "unknown Avast infection virus" is that is is not always consistent. I never heard of it before, sometimes internet was fine. I restored a system backup image to get rid of "whatever this is" from not too long ago, and the problem remained. So, it might come back?

Good insurance is to find the thread again and print out the first post so that you will have it handy, should you lose your internet again. I would love to see you mark this thread as "Solved" but I don't think you should until you are sure of it. Good luck, Jake.

Ohmster said:

Ooh, that makes me nervous. Yes it could be a quirk, "stuff happens", but you swear you had a real problem and it was there. What I found with this new "unknown Avast infection virus" is that is is not always consistent. I never heard of it before, sometimes internet was fine. I restored a system backup image to get rid of "whatever this is" from not too long ago, and the problem remained. So, it might come back?

Good insurance is to find the thread again and print out the first post so that you will have it handy, should you lose your internet again. I would love to see you mark this thread as "Solved" but I don't think you should until you are sure of it. Good luck, Jake.

Thank you! I am working on trying to find the Virus. If I find enough information I may be able to get a simple program specifically for that!

Jake1702 said:

Thank you! I am working on trying to find the Virus. If I find enough information I may be able to get a simple program specifically for that!

That's fine buddy, as long as this really IS your issue. I had it, it was real, nothing could detect it, and it kicked my butt for 20 hours to find it. Mainly because I ignored some subtle clues and not really suspecting Avast at all because NONE of the scanners found it.

Like I said in the other post, download, unzip to empty folder, and run as administrator, Autoruns. Become familiar with it. Allow the Everything tab to fill up, then look for yellow lines, these are all missing files. Delete them with right click but READ THEM. If they are weird things like \something\somthing\temp\something.exe, then it was probably a virus that has been deleted. Now delete the registry key in Autoruns. But if the missing file is something legitimate, like "C:\Program Files\AVAST Software\Avast\avastui.exe", that is a REAL PROGRAM that you need! The program has been compromised and can no longer be trusted. It must be uninstalled and reinstalled, fresh. Best thing you can do now is download and learn to use Autoruns. You can delete permanently any registry startup keys in the Login tab, or just disable them by unchecking the box. This is handy for things like Acrotray.exe, that comes with Acrobat but it not really a needed file. You can always go recheck the box to make it start again at boot time. You can clean up your computer and speed up boot time by disabling unnecessary startup files from running. Things like DVD programs, etc. If you are not sure, LEAVE IT ALONE and ask for help.

BTW, Autoruns and HijackThis are NOT virus scanners nor will they remove bad stuff for you. They are simply tools that allow you to not only see everything that runs on your PC, but gives you control over them by turning them on or of, or removing the startup registry key only, permanently. Autoruns is better for this than HijackThis which is better for getting virus debris out of your system. You are a smart guy and not likely to damage anything anything willy-nilly, so you can learn to use Autoruns. It is free from Microsoft but not included in Windows because you can really damage your PC with it if you "play with it just to see what happens" and do not know what you are doing. It is safe to run just to "look and learn" with.

Good luck!

Thank you! I will make sure to check it out! (Sorry for the late reply) And also, this actually hasn't happened since then. Wierd.