my browsers are going haywire~

hey guys, haven't been here in awhile. I don't know what i have been doing this whole time, i had exams in may, then summer, and here i am again haha. Hello!

i'm having internet problems. basically, i'm using windows XP prof, and my internet WORKS(msn messenger works, i can play games online 100% fine). However, i can't seem to go on internet explorer OR firefox. For IE, it says it cannot "display the webpage". For firefox, it says the "server is not found". Now, i know for a fact that ALL these sites do work because i recently installed OPERA, and my internet works fine on it and i can surf it. So why do 2/3s of my browsers screw up so badly? lol. I did a virus scan, ad-aware, crap cleaner, spybot. still no luck

if anyone has had similar problem or can shed some light that'd be great thanks~

I assume that you have already tried simply going into the options setting in Firefox, then Advanced, and making sure it is configured to connect to the internet directly?

Well, first guess would be some malware that has attacked the two most common browsers. You said you did scans were they all updated, and did you run them from Safe Mode? You might try a-squared Free, as it generally owns both ad-aware and spybot in spyware detection.

Have you tried reinstalling IE or Firefox? Since Opera works I guess it's not due to DNS or a hosts file hijack, but you might take a look at D\Windows\System32\Drivers\Etc\hosts to make sure there aren't a bunch of bogus entries in it. By default you should just have a localhost entry, if there's anything else you didn't add yourself, post the file contents here.

If a simple reinstall of FF doesn't work, try creating a new Firefox profile and seeing if that works (backup up your old one first so you can restore bookmarks if necessary).

I've also heard reports of routers doing something wonky with HTTP headers that cause some browsers to break -- perhaps Opera is just more resilient to such things. If you use a separate router, you might eliminate it from the mix just to be sure.

If it were due to a broken LSP chain, something that can happen when ripping out malware, nothing TCP/IP related would work at all. Not even your local network, much less the internet, so that doesn't seem to be the problem.

If none of that helps, I still come back to there being some malware involved. You might run a HiJack This log and post it here. Or better yet, post it over at the HiJack This forums -- they have people there who look at these logs all day long and might see something.

On a sidenote You might consider adding Foxmarks to FF once you get it up and running. It keeps a remote copy of your bookmarks and syncs them every time you close FF.

Do you have a proxy on by any chance?

No, i believe i don't have a proxy. I did however connect to my neighbors connection and it still didn't work (the two browsers, but the itnernet worked) if thats any consolation. um....i have tried to reinstall both IE and firefox but no luck. Yes i have fully updated adaware, spybot and my kaspersky anti virus. I still have to try the one you recommended me. I'll also send in the hijack this log tomorrrow after my uni midterm. in the ETc folder in windows folder or whatever, i do see more than a file called "hosts"...and i dont' know hwere to start a new firefox profile but i'll try to figure it out..

hope that clarifies things and i'll definitely try some stuff tomorrow, thanks for the inptu guys!~~~

try downloading a new browser. i'm sure there's others.

Does opera have a Desktop browser?
I'm a big fan of their PPC Opera Mobile Browser on my 8525.
It's MUCH better than Pocket IE.

-Samad

[quote3826ad0de8="samz465"]Does opera have a Desktop browser?
I'm a big fan of their PPC Opera Mobile Browser on my 8525.
It's MUCH better than Pocket IE.

-Samad[/quote3826ad0de8]

shock

www.opera.com

[quote7276219306="gnznroses"]try downloading a new browser. i'm sure there's others.[/quote7276219306]

There's not another browser that comes close to Firefox right now

i looked for the hijackthis forums but they had so many steps prior to actually posting it so i'll jus tpost it here for now

Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.2
Scan saved at 42656 AM, on 12/26/2007
Platform Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE Internet Explorer v7.00 (7.00.6000.16574)
Boot mode Normal

Running processes
C\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C\Program Files\Lavasoft\Ad-Aware 2007\aawservice.exe
C\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C\Program Files\Common Files\LogiShrd\LVMVFM\LVPrcSrv.exe
C\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_03\bin\jusched.exe
C\Program Files\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe
C\Program Files\Common Files\LogiShrd\LComMgr\Communications_Helper.exe
C\WINDOWS\system32\RUNDLL32.EXE
C\Program Files\MSN Messenger\MsnMsgr.Exe
C\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
C\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support\bin\AppleMobileDeviceService.exe
C\Program Files\Common Files\LogiShrd\LVCOMSER\LVComSer.exe
C\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe
C\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C\Program Files\Common Files\LogiShrd\LVCOMSER\LVComSer.exe
C\Program Files\Common Files\Logishrd\LQCVFX\COCIManager.exe
C\WINDOWS\system32\wscntfy.exe
C\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
C\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C\Program Files\MSN Messenger\usnsvc.exe
C\Program Files\a-squared Free\a2service.exe
C\Documents and Settings\Justin\Desktop\HiJackThis.exe

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http//go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http//www.windowsxlive.net
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http//go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http//go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http//go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http//go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,SearchAssistant =
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,CustomizeSearch =
O2 - BHO Adobe PDF Reader Link Helper - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO Spybot-S&D IE Protection - {53707962-6F74-2D53-2644-206D7942484F} - C\PROGRA~1\SPYBOT~1\SDHelper.dll
O2 - BHO SSVHelper Class - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - C\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_03\bin\ssv.dll
O2 - BHO (no name) - {7E853D72-626A-48EC-A868-BA8D5E23E045} - (no file)
O4 - HKLM\..\Run [NvCplDaemon] RUNDLL32.EXE C\WINDOWS\system32\NvCpl.dll,NvStartup
O4 - HKLM\..\Run [nwiz] nwiz.exe /install
O4 - HKLM\..\Run [SunJavaUpdateSched] "C\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_03\bin\jusched.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run [DXDllRegExe] dxdllreg.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run [QuickTime Task] "C\Program Files\QuickTime\QTTask.exe" -atboottime
O4 - HKLM\..\Run [iTunesHelper] "C\Program Files\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run [RivaTunerStartupDaemon] "C\Program Files\RivaTuner v2.04\RivaTuner.exe" /S
O4 - HKLM\..\Run [Adobe Reader Speed Launcher] "C\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\Reader_sl.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run [UserFaultCheck] %systemroot%\system32\dumprep 0 -u
O4 - HKLM\..\Run [KernelFaultCheck] %systemroot%\system32\dumprep 0 -k
O4 - HKLM\..\Run [LogitechCommunicationsManager] "C\Program Files\Common Files\LogiShrd\LComMgr\Communications_Helper.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run [LogitechQuickCamRibbon] "C\Program Files\Logitech\QuickCam\Quickcam.exe" /hide
O4 - HKLM\..\Run [NvMediaCenter] RUNDLL32.EXE C\WINDOWS\system32\NvMcTray.dll,NvTaskbarInit
O4 - HKCU\..\Run [MsnMsgr] "C\Program Files\MSN Messenger\MsnMsgr.Exe" /background
O4 - HKCU\..\Run [DAEMON Tools] "C\Program Files\DAEMON Tools\daemon.exe" -lang 1033
O4 - HKCU\..\Run [ctfmon.exe] C\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-18\..\RunOnce [WUAppSetup] C\Program Files\Common Files\logishrd\WUApp32.exe -v 0x046d -p 0x08d7 -f video -m logitech -d 10.5.1.2023 (User 'SYSTEM')
O4 - HKUS\.DEFAULT\..\RunOnce [WUAppSetup] C\Program Files\Common Files\logishrd\WUApp32.exe -v 0x046d -p 0x08d7 -f video -m logitech -d 10.5.1.2023 (User 'Default user')
O9 - Extra button (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_03\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_03\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra button (no name) - {DFB852A3-47F8-48C4-A200-58CAB36FD2A2} - C\PROGRA~1\SPYBOT~1\SDHelper.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem Spybot - Search & Destroy Configuration - {DFB852A3-47F8-48C4-A200-58CAB36FD2A2} - C\PROGRA~1\SPYBOT~1\SDHelper.dll
O9 - Extra button (no name) - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - C\WINDOWS\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem @xpsp3res.dll,-20001 - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - C\WINDOWS\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe
O23 - Service a-squared Free Service (a2free) - Emsi Software GmbH - C\Program Files\a-squared Free\a2service.exe
O23 - Service Ad-Aware 2007 Service (aawservice) - Lavasoft AB - C\Program Files\Lavasoft\Ad-Aware 2007\aawservice.exe
O23 - Service Atheros Configuration Service (ACS) - Unknown owner - C\WINDOWS\system32\acs.exe
O23 - Service Apple Mobile Device - Apple, Inc. - C\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support\bin\AppleMobileDeviceService.exe
O23 - Service iPod Service - Apple Inc. - C\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
O23 - Service LVCOMSer - Logitech Inc. - C\Program Files\Common Files\LogiShrd\LVCOMSER\LVComSer.exe
O23 - Service Process Monitor (LVPrcSrv) - Logitech Inc. - C\Program Files\Common Files\LogiShrd\LVMVFM\LVPrcSrv.exe
O23 - Service LVSrvLauncher - Logitech Inc. - C\Program Files\Common Files\LogiShrd\SrvLnch\SrvLnch.exe
O23 - Service NVIDIA Display Driver Service (NVSvc) - NVIDIA Corporation - C\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe
O23 - Service Pml Driver HPZ12 - HP - C\WINDOWS\system32\HPZipm12.exe

--
End of file - 6287 bytes

EDIT I FIXED IT..THANK YOU A SQUARED!