For a couple of weeks now (I’m not sure precisely how long), I have not been able to access the internet with Internet Explorer. All other programs, however, including Firefox, are able to access the internet without a problem. I usually use Firefox, so it’s not been a major problem, but there are a few sites which require IE.
Background: I’m using IE7 on Windows XP Home Edition. I’ve recently installed service pack 3 to see if it would fix the problem (it didn’t) but I had the same issue when using service pack 2.
When I try to open any web page in IE, I get an error message that says, “Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage.” Screenshot here.
If I click on “Diagnose Connection Problems,” it tells me that my internet connection is fine. (Screenshot 1 and Screenshot 2 , of the diagnostic log)
I tried setting up my connection again under IE’s “Internet Options,” but that didn’t help. I tried doing a system restore back to the oldest restore point available, but that didn’t work either (and I’m not sure if that restore point pre-dates the problem). As mentioned above, I also tried installing SP3, also to no avail.
I found this story at Wired, but it hasn’t led me to a solution.
Any idea about what might be causing this, or how I might fix it? Any help would be appreciated.
I have beat my head against more than a few of these, there is no carved in stone answer.
A Few I fixed with a utility called LSPfix that corrects certain types of TCP stack problems.
A few turned out to be spyware
The old ewido security suite (since aquired by AVG/Grisoft) used to have a “fix broken interent connection” feature that was slick, not sure if avg anti spyware still has that tool.
The only decisive fix I have found is a windows reload
Except that according to this page, Windows XP Service Pack 3 is pre-release software “provided for testing purposes only. Microsoft does not recommend installing this software on primary or mission critical systems. Microsoft recommends that you have a backup of your data prior to installing any pre-release software.”
You don’t say what kind of internet connection your machine has - I’m assuming broadband through a router, connected vie ethernet cable…
In IE, when you go into Tools>Internet Options>Connections, is there anything listed in the dialup network settings box? When you click the ‘LAN settings’ button - is the next dialog box empty everywhere?
If it’s not any of that, try clicking the ‘setup’ button at the top of the Tools>Internet Options>Connections dialog - then plod through the internet connection wizard - I’ve seen cases where this fixed some odd glitch specific to IE’s connection before.
If Firefox works, then it’s not your network settings, it’s your browser settings. Checking your “Internet Connection” is probably the wrong point of attack.
I’ve seen this happen to my Dad, who had some very old settings in IE linked to using a pre-AdBlock technology to block pop-ups and page ads called WebWasher, which reset IE to use its local proxy server as a filtering layer. After WebWasher got disabled or uninstalled, the proxy server would not be running and IE would fail to connect to the Web, though Firefox would.
Therefore, I’d suggest you do most of your poking around in the IE config tabs. I don’t have IE7, but on IE6 it’s Tools -> Internet Options -> Connections -> LAN Settings to get to the box that looks like this:
Automatic configuration
Automatically detect settings
Use automatic configuration script
Proxy server
Use a proxy server for your LAN …
Address: < > Port: < > [Advanced]
Bypass proxy server for local addresses
Make sure all the boxes are UNCHECKED.
If they already are, then cross-check these settings with what you have in Firefox, by going to Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Network -> Settings. Maybe you DO need to be using a proxy server for some reason… (Hopefully benign, since you don’t seem to think you should be).
Why do you need IE at all? Have you tried using the IETab plug-in for Firefox?
I’d be interested to see if that works. I’m not sure exactly how much of IE is used by IETab (i.e. whether it uses the IE connection settings, or just the rendering engine).
Thank you for the responses, everyone. None of the specific suggestions worked, but the article Askance linked to was helpful, and led to a solution.
robardin: Thanks for tipping me off to the IETab plug-in – it was a partly effective workaround (I use IE for sites that require ActiveX or some specific IE plug-in; IETab worked for most of those, though not all.)
