Something blocking Web page loading? Icon: "Connected"

[Slick_tu]

I hope this is the right place to ask this. I've searched around and tried some suggestions, but I'm baffled. At some times I can't load a Web page, "Waiting" appears until it times out and leaves it blank. Outlook Express won't send or receive either. The taskbar icon says I'm connected, 54Mbps, and strength is excellent.

A Lenovo (IBM) support tech said there may be software that is blocking the page from loading and, after running the ping test twice, found the connection was OK. He said something like a firewall or other security software could be the culprit. I've had Windows firewall turned off and uninstalled the Sygate firewall I use but no difference. Sometimes it loads and works just fine while other times it won't. How do you go about tracking something like this down? Could there be a conflict where Access Connections and Windows are both trying to mange things? How can I check for that? I would greatly appreciate any help or suggestions. TIA.

[killer]

From what you have said ... and the things you have tried to do to fix it ... I smell the blood of a Trojan. In other words, I suspect you have an intruder on your system.

You'll know what to do now if you are a regular reader. If not then ask for help.

[GomJabbar]

You could be infected with malware, or your problem can stem from trying to remove malware.

You can try the solutions on following two webpages to restore your connection. You should also scan for malware from Windows SAFE MODE (press F8 at the beginning of the boot sequence to get to the SAFE MODE boot menu). Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware is a good scan and fix tool (free version available).

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811259

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314095

http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-A ... 04572.html

[Slick_tu]

Thanks to both for your replies. I wasn't able to reply until now. I ran Spybot but didn't find anything. I also ran a full scan with the free AVG virus and spyware program I have. Nothing there either. I called Lenovo after upgrading my warranty to "On-site" for $39. The tech walked me through updating some drivers (even though I just got this Friday, the drivers were outdated when he checked in Device Mgr.) and, so far, it looks good. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. He said if this doesn't do it, the OS (XP) may e corrupted and we would have to wipe the disk and reinstall. I hope I don't have to do that. Thanks again. I'll look into those sites also.

[GomJabbar]

I think that "wipe the disk and reinstall" is the stock tech support answer to fix problems. To drastic at this point I believe. Try the winsock repair first.

[Marin85]

I think that "wipe the disk and reinstall" is the stock tech support answer to fix problems. To drastic at this point I believe. Try the winsock repair first.

In some cases the latter one might take just as long as a normal reinstall and might even not solve the problem But I think it´s generally worth a try -> repair/reset winsock. Do you run any p2p programs like uTorrent or eMule? Do you use registry cleaners? Did you try out some different browser (now apart from the outlook problem)? Any other internet/network-related programs (like Peer Guardian, HideIP etc.)?

Cheers,

Marin

[Slick_tu]

Do you run any p2p programs like uTorrent or eMule? Do you use registry cleaners? Did you try out some different browser (now apart from the outlook problem)? Any other internet/network-related programs (like Peer Guardian, HideIP etc.)?

I run Limewire;although, I had the problem before installing it. I use RegistryFirstAid. I used the new version but went back to an older version that I like better. I use Firefox but have the same trouble with IE. The tech thought I may have some corrupted files, hence the re-install idea. I could not load pages last night, but at the same time, an Adobe Reader update file downloaded just fine in the background. Seems like a problem that only affects the browsers and Outlook Express.

[Marin85]

Despite their "intelligent" searching and cleaning of "bad" registry entries, registry cleaners could cause various issues if one doesn´t check the search results entry for entry (and know what these entries refer to). That´s my experience with various registry cleaners. To be honest, I wouldn´t be surprised if your problems are caused by RFA having deleted important entries...

[Slick_tu]

Despite their "intelligent" searching and cleaning of "bad" registry entries, registry cleaners could cause various issues if one doesn´t check the search results entry for entry (and know what these entries refer to). That´s my experience with various registry cleaners. To be honest, I wouldn´t be surprised if your problems are caused by RFA having deleted important entries...

As much as hate to admit it, I have a feeling you're right, and this is my fault. Today the tech had me try to do recover and the F11 key gave "NTLDR is missing" so it looks like missing or corrupt files. They are sending recovery CDs so I'll try that. Thanks everyone for your help, I'll post what happens.

[Slick_tu]

Here's an update. The problem seems to be solved. I re-imaged to factory specs, but that had no effect on the problem. I made some of the adjustments folks suggested but still had the problem. I started searching around and came across a Dell forum where someone had the identical problem with the WiFi 5300 AGN and the Linksys WRT54G router. A LOT of posters had the same problem. The end result was someone said change the security mode from WEP (which I was using) to WPA. That seems to have fixed things; I haven't had a problem since (three days now). Thanks to all for your suggestions and help.