aggghhh
August 3, 2010 12:52 PM Subscribe
Internet Problem where I can't access most websites. Please help because I am pulling my hair out. (Do I have a virus?)
I bought a new laptop, the HP Envy, and unfortunately, after having spent less than 24 hours with it, I am really starting to hate it.
Aside from a lot of problems with it, the most recent one happens to be the fact that I can no longer access websites like www.metacafe.com or ebay or msn or youtube etc. It continues to let me do google searches. It lets me access metafilter's front page but won't let me log-in.
I am not working offline. The wireless is on.
Is the inability to access sites signs of a virus? I was trying to download a keygen earlier so I don't know if I could have caught something from that. If so, I have no idea what I should do.
I bought a new laptop, the HP Envy, and unfortunately, after having spent less than 24 hours with it, I am really starting to hate it.
Aside from a lot of problems with it, the most recent one happens to be the fact that I can no longer access websites like www.metacafe.com or ebay or msn or youtube etc. It continues to let me do google searches. It lets me access metafilter's front page but won't let me log-in.
I am not working offline. The wireless is on.
Is the inability to access sites signs of a virus? I was trying to download a keygen earlier so I don't know if I could have caught something from that. If so, I have no idea what I should do.
Is the inability to access sites signs of a virus? I was trying to download a keygen earlier so I don't know if I could have caught something from that.
I'd say yes and yes.
If so, I have no idea what I should do.
take a look here.
posted by StrikeTheViol at 1:02 PM on August 3, 2010
I'd say yes and yes.
If so, I have no idea what I should do.
take a look here.
posted by StrikeTheViol at 1:02 PM on August 3, 2010
Some questions:
Which browser(s) are you using?
Are the results the same regardless of browser? Are you able to download and install Firefox or Chrome and test this?
If IE, does the IE shortcut point to IE without add-ons?
If IE, are your security settings set to allow cookies?
Are your Google searches being redirected? That is, if you do a Google search and click on one of the results and repeat the experiment, say, ten times - does it always take you to the page it says it's going to?
Which OS is this (Vista or 7?)
Were you able to access these sites before, on this computer?
Are the results the same if you use wired networking as opposed to wireless?
Knowing the answer to these might help me point you in the right direction.
Thank you for your time.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 1:02 PM on August 3, 2010
Which browser(s) are you using?
Are the results the same regardless of browser? Are you able to download and install Firefox or Chrome and test this?
If IE, does the IE shortcut point to IE without add-ons?
If IE, are your security settings set to allow cookies?
Are your Google searches being redirected? That is, if you do a Google search and click on one of the results and repeat the experiment, say, ten times - does it always take you to the page it says it's going to?
Which OS is this (Vista or 7?)
Were you able to access these sites before, on this computer?
Are the results the same if you use wired networking as opposed to wireless?
Knowing the answer to these might help me point you in the right direction.
Thank you for your time.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 1:02 PM on August 3, 2010
To add on quin's suggestions:
I'd recommend checking your hosts file to see if any entries were added without your knowledge. Go to C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\ and open the file named "hosts" using Notepad. See if there are entries for the sites you can't visit with IP addresses pointing to 127.0.0.1 or 0.0.0.0. If so, delete them, and save your changes. Make sure to save "hosts" as a flat file with no txt file extension.
posted by Dr-Baa at 1:02 PM on August 3, 2010
I'd recommend checking your hosts file to see if any entries were added without your knowledge. Go to C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\ and open the file named "hosts" using Notepad. See if there are entries for the sites you can't visit with IP addresses pointing to 127.0.0.1 or 0.0.0.0. If so, delete them, and save your changes. Make sure to save "hosts" as a flat file with no txt file extension.
posted by Dr-Baa at 1:02 PM on August 3, 2010
For whatever reason I didn't notice the part about the keygen until just now.
There's a good chance something did an install, yes. Check your hosts file as listed above. That'd be a good indicator.
If you have in fact gotten malware, your best bet - especially since you've only had this computer for 24 hours - would be to run recovery. In addition to recovery disks there's every chance that there's a recovery partition on the computer. HP support can walk you through that - just tell them you have a very nasty malware infection, you've only had the computer a day and there isn't much on it, and you want to run recovery. The documentation it came with may also have some info.
If you do call HP support - bear in mind that they don't need to know how you got the malware, and in fact they generally don't care.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 1:08 PM on August 3, 2010
There's a good chance something did an install, yes. Check your hosts file as listed above. That'd be a good indicator.
If you have in fact gotten malware, your best bet - especially since you've only had this computer for 24 hours - would be to run recovery. In addition to recovery disks there's every chance that there's a recovery partition on the computer. HP support can walk you through that - just tell them you have a very nasty malware infection, you've only had the computer a day and there isn't much on it, and you want to run recovery. The documentation it came with may also have some info.
If you do call HP support - bear in mind that they don't need to know how you got the malware, and in fact they generally don't care.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 1:08 PM on August 3, 2010
I recently saw issues with a friend's computer where IPV6 was causing issues. Can you go into your network properties and see if this is enabled? If so, try disabling and see if that resolves the issue.
posted by jangie at 1:09 PM on August 3, 2010
posted by jangie at 1:09 PM on August 3, 2010
If it is not a virus or malware (good scanner here) then it just might be your mtu/mru setting. Did you have this problem the whole time and did you use the same internet connection during that time? Can you ping all sites but get only part of some sites surfing, while others seem to work OK? Then and only then -after checking all the things mentioned previously- it just might be your mtu/mru network setting.
This problem is most common with DSL connections and often occurs when using VPN software. The "normal" mtu setting is 1500, that is the maxiumum packet size that can go over a normal ethernet wire. When you have a DSL connection or an VPN on top of your connection that maximum tranfer unit will become smaller due to transmission overhead. This is generally not a problem, becaue if the packet size exceeds the maximum packet size, the packet will be fragmented into two packets and sent this way. But nowerdays many sites want to discover your maximum packet size to minimze fragmentation and thus maximize througput and minimize overhead. If there is a mismatch between your real mtu and what your computer thinks your mtu is, you get problems: partial transmissions, some sites working, some not.
You can check this by pinging some site with the options -f (don't fragment) and -l (length). Start by pinging with a length of 1500 and work your way down. Either the packet comes through or you will recieve an error that the packet size exceeds the maximum non fragmented packet size. If you find a "black hole" where the pings won't go through but no fragmentation error is reported then you have found your problem.
The mtu can be set in the configuration options of your network driver.
So much for my wild guess.
posted by mmkhd at 3:00 PM on August 3, 2010
This problem is most common with DSL connections and often occurs when using VPN software. The "normal" mtu setting is 1500, that is the maxiumum packet size that can go over a normal ethernet wire. When you have a DSL connection or an VPN on top of your connection that maximum tranfer unit will become smaller due to transmission overhead. This is generally not a problem, becaue if the packet size exceeds the maximum packet size, the packet will be fragmented into two packets and sent this way. But nowerdays many sites want to discover your maximum packet size to minimze fragmentation and thus maximize througput and minimize overhead. If there is a mismatch between your real mtu and what your computer thinks your mtu is, you get problems: partial transmissions, some sites working, some not.
You can check this by pinging some site with the options -f (don't fragment) and -l (length). Start by pinging with a length of 1500 and work your way down. Either the packet comes through or you will recieve an error that the packet size exceeds the maximum non fragmented packet size. If you find a "black hole" where the pings won't go through but no fragmentation error is reported then you have found your problem.
The mtu can be set in the configuration options of your network driver.
So much for my wild guess.
posted by mmkhd at 3:00 PM on August 3, 2010
Check if your Internet Options have been changed to use a proxy server (usually a loopback to your own computer) as part of a Trojan install. Also verify that you are using your own network and not catching someone else's unsecured wireless with a funky DNS setting. Maybe you can try plugging into your router with an ethernet cable to see if it behaves that way. You can always set your DNS server to a free public server. Google's is easy to remember (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4)
Also, MalwareBytes Anti-Malware is always a good idea.
posted by Yorrick at 8:50 PM on August 3, 2010
Also, MalwareBytes Anti-Malware is always a good idea.
posted by Yorrick at 8:50 PM on August 3, 2010
Response by poster: Crisis over. I believe it was a virus and I tried a few of the tips listed here to no avail so I just ended up reformatting the machine. Thanks for the help though!
posted by bluelight at 2:39 PM on August 4, 2010
posted by bluelight at 2:39 PM on August 4, 2010
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1.) Do you have a different web browser you can try? If so, does the problem happen in both? If it does, that would indicate that the problem is system wide.
2.) Are you running any kind of firewall software? Try disabling it.
3.) If you are using Internet Explorer, what do you have the security level set at? That can cause all sorts of weirdness if it's set to full-paranoia mode.
4.) From a command line, try typing in "ping youtube.com" or any one of the other sites that you are having problems getting to. Do you get a response? If so, try going to a web browser and plugging in the IP address of the site (it'll be the numbers that ping returns after the words "Reply From"). If that works, it might just be a DNS issue.
5.) If all else fails, try plugging the laptop directly into the router to make sure it's not a wireless issue.
posted by quin at 1:00 PM on August 3, 2010 [2 favorites]