Solved Browsers not working but computer is connected to the internet

[Gman1]

Hello everyone. New to the forum. The title says it all regarding the issue I'm having. It started two days ago. I tried both IE & Firefox with no success. Our other laptop computer and all smartphones surf the net fine with no problem, it's just confined to one laptop. For security I use Eset NOD32 for AV, Comodo Firewall and Malwarebytes, all of which I've been using for 2-3 years without any issues.

Here's what I tried so far with no success:
1. Ran Malwarebytes scan normally and in safe mode with no infections
2. Ran AV scan with no infections
3. Turned off both firewall and AV, still would not connect to internet
4. Verified all browsers were not trying to connect via a proxy server
5. Performed a system restore
6. Cleared cache, cookies, history & temp files from IE & Firefox
7. Unplugged and reconnected cable modem and wireless router numerous times
8. Contacted ISP to confirm everything on their end was working. All is fine as evidenced by our other computer and smartphones being able to connect normally.
9. Ran the following through the command prompt: ipconfig /flushdns, ipconfig /release, ipconfig /renew, netsh winsock reset, netsh int ip reset.
10. Connected the laptop directly to the modem via ethernet cable

We do use Open DNS, so I did try changing to automatically select DNS server rather than their servers...still no success.

I did confirm the computer is connected to the internet as I'm able to ping various websites (google, yahoo, etc), update Malwarebytes and Windows...however NOD32 will not update.

Any recommendations would be greatly, greatly appreciated as I'm completely stumped at this point.

 

[Gman1]

Is anyone familiar with this issue and what else I can try?

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi and welcome to SevenForums,
Use Clean boot,
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/179159-troubleshoot-application-conflicts-performing-clean-startup.html
Click Start and type in the search box,
msconfig
Click on the suggestion on top or hit the Enter key,
Go to the Startup section and take some screen shots for a complete list,
Go to the Services section and on the bottom left Check the box to Hide All Microsoft services,
Repeat the screen shots,
See the links above my signature on how to take and upload screen shots here,
Cheers.

 

[Gman1]

Thanks Thrashzone. I followed the tutorial, but unfortunately still wasn't able to get the browsers to connect after performing the clean boot. What would be the next thing to check?

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
I don't see any screen shots submitted by you ?

See what safe mode with networking produces,
Shut down your machine,
Power up and Tap the F8 key continuously until you see a black page with white text,
Use the down arrow key to toggle to safe mode with networking/ hit the enter key.
Login as usual
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/69585-safe-mode.html

 

[Gman1]

Sorry, here's those screen shots:

 

[Gman1]

Great! When in safe mode, I can connect to the internet with both browsers. But still cannot connect in normal start up.

 

[Gman1]

The screen shots above were taken while in safe mode. Here they are in normal mode so you can see what's running and what's not:

 

[ThrashZone]

Thanks you have some weird entries TomTomHomeServices
Review Jacee’s instructions to run Adwcleaner here post #7,
Ignore the title of the thread,
http://www.sevenforums.com/system-security/316404-instant-savings-app.html
Screen shot of the download button to use for Adwcleaner
You can use these free tools to see if they find anything,
Manually Update them before running full scans,
Try not to use your computer while the scans are running, (one at a time of course).
Uncheck the box to Activate the Free trial from the final install options,
Also use the Custom scan option not the Threat scan,
Select the drive to scan usually C,
If your really infected check the box to scan for Rootkits = this scan option will take several hours to complete,
Never use your machine while scans are running for best results,
http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free
http://www.superantispyware.com/?tag=SUPERANTISPYWARE
This one is the longest up to 4 hours, the others are only about 45 minutes,
http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx

Post all scan reports for review.

 

[Gman1]

Well, I ran all of the scans and still not working. Some did find some things, however, but didn't solve the problem. Here are the screenshots of those that did find something:







View attachment SUPERAntiSpyware Scan Log - 07-23-2014 - 19-04-16.log



Super Antispyware only found 24 tracking cookies. Malwarebytes did not find anything.

 

[Gman1]

One other thing too, when I run the ipconfig /release & ipconfig /renew commands through the command prompt, I get the following which I assumed was jus symptomatic of the issue, but want to make sure it has nothing to do with the cause. It states the media as being disconnected:

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi Java exploit doesn't look good,
I asked for someone to take a peek,

In the mean time use this,
Temp files delete,
Run this as administrator and Start the scanner,
Shut your machine down after it finishes,
http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/files/file/187-tfc-temp-file-cleaner-by-oldtimer/
And if you haven't yet uninstall Java,
http://www.java.com/en/download/faq/remove_olderversions.xml
http://www.java.com/en/download/help/uninstall_java.xml
Interesting reads,
http://securitygarden.blogspot.com/2013/01/java-zero-day-again-time-to.html

I'm sure you'll need to reset all of your browsers,
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/reset-firefox-easily-fix-most-problems
See a tutorial here to Reset Internet explorer,
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1222-internet-explorer-reset.html
After Resetting ie9 or 10,
I would add this to the tutorials process
Reset process first opening Internet explorer

 

[andrew129260]

Please do the above suggested by thrashzone.

Turn off comodo and see if you can connect then.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Then move on to this:

1.) Download herdprotect: (choose the portable version)

Download herdProtect - Free Anti-Malware Platform

2.) Run the scan.

3.) When the scan finishes, save the results per the screenshot below. Then upload the log here.

DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING YET. I will advise if anything needs removed when I receive the log.

Attached Images

 

[Layback Bear]

I do believe I see two anti virus installed.
Comondo and Eset.

 

[Gman1]

Sorry for the delay in getting back here, had a very busy week. Thrashzone, I ran the temp file cleaner and uninstalled Java. I also reset both browsers per your instructions. Still not working. Andrew, I turned off Comodo and still not able to connect. I ran herd protect. Here's the file:

View attachment Scan_2014-8-1-19-22.txt

 

[andrew129260]

Hmm herdprotect looks clean. I know you turned off comodo, but as a test Uninstall it. Sometimes turning it off is not enough. After you uninstall, restart and see if windows firewall is on. Then see if you can connect.

Also, try the following:

Use the Microsoft fix it to reset your hosts file back to the default:

How can I reset the Hosts file back to the default?

Have you also tried resetting internet explorer to default settings like thrash zone suggested?

(Start at step 3)

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1222-internet-explorer-reset.html

Make sure to check to delete personal settings as well and then test.

 

[Gman1]

Andrew, uninstalling Comodo did it. That's strange because I've been using it for a couple of years now without any issues. What would cause that program to all of sudden start blocking the browsers?

Also, is Windows firewall adequate enough? Or do you recommend another firewall? I'm hesitant to use Comodo after this.

Thanks to everyone for their help on this. I really appreciate it.

 

[andrew129260]

Andrew, uninstalling Comodo did it. That's strange because I've been using it for a couple of years now without any issues. What would cause that program to all of sudden start blocking the browsers?

I am not sure. You could always reinstall it and then leave it at default settings. Possible a setting was changed or something in the way comodo hips treated the browsers.

Also, is Windows firewall adequate enough? Or do you recommend another firewall? I'm hesitant to use Comodo after this.

The average user who has a router (which in it has a hardware based firewall which should be on) combined with windows firewall is more then enough protection. A software firewall will only cause issues and drain system resources. In my opinion, they are completely unnecessary. A common argument is that with comodo or zonealarm and other similar firewalls you can block programs from connecting to the internet. I say if you do not trust the program to connect to the internet, you should not have it in the first place installed on your pc which essentially defeats that argument.

However, it is up to you