Good Morning,
I'm working on a Sony Vaio laptop with a 32bit Windows Vista. About a month ago, my Google Chrome browser stopped working so I installed Firebox, which seemed to work.
However, when I try to stream videos from a website I'm a paying member to it doesn't work and the techs there say it might be best to switch browsers.
I have tried downloading IE, Safari, Opera, and others and none of these seem to work.
Also, my Itunes Store does not work.
The common problem is that it says it cannot connect to the server, however my internet works fine through Firefox, MSN messenger and other computers on my network.
I would like to be able to use other browsers, and my Itunes Store again.
Please describe your internet access (ethernet? wireless? through a router? etc.).
Do you have a firewall or other security application that allows you to block specific sites? If so, check to see if any are blocked by accident.
Anything additional we should know--such as you have reason to suspect you may be banned from some sites or that you are a "kid" whose parent's don't completely approve of your internet use?
Are you connecting by wireless (with the problem machine)? If so, have you tried an ethernet connection to see if that makes a difference? Or a direct connection to the modem?
Take a look at your HOSTS file (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts). Open it with Notepad. The default HOSTS contains a bunch of comments (lines beginning with #) and two lines:
127.0.0.1 localhost
::1 localhost
If there are any other lines they were added by malware or an anti-malware application. See if your sites are there.
The other computer works fine for the sites.
I've tried connecting to the modem directly and using an ethernet connection. No change.
# Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
The only thing I can think of is a corrupted non-Windows firewall or security suite. Could even be one that was un-installed but did not go away completely and cleanly. But I haven't previously seen a problem quite like this one.
UAC is User Access Control, the thing that keeps asking if you really initiated an install or other system change.
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