Can't connect to the internet after wrestling with malware

Factual Questions
21

Wait, I wondered if I got this correctly: You have a wireless card that is a Linksys and you are using Netgear software in the same computer?

22

okay, powered down the router, no change.

I’m fed up with it, tomorrow it goes to my computer guru for him to figure it out. It’s a sunny day out there, and I need to enjoy it.

Thanks all for your input and help.

23

The wifi system is a linksys, the wireless in my desktop is a netgear. They’ve gotten along together well for a few years now. Until this malware situation

24

Ok, that then leads me to wonder why that Linksys showed up in the “Connect using” under the wireless properties. It should actually show the Netgear card model. In any case, if you are going out, you only need to mention all the steps taken so far to your Guru.

25

None at all.

Hosts file empty.

26

Check if it is sending you through a proxy server. I had a nasty malware changed that setting in IE.

27

Common problem. You need a winsock XP repair utility.

Download (from another PC) and run this freeware applet to fix winsock settings.

http://www.spychecker.com/program/winsockxpfix.html

Should take care of your issue.

28

Sadly, it did not resolve the issue.

But thanks for suggesting it.

29

Assuming the settings have got corrupted by the malware, have you tried deleting the wireless link and setting it up de novo?

Actually, before you do that, let’s go back to basics:

Open a command prompt and run ipconfig /all

Look at the entries for your wireless connection. Do you have a valid IP address? (Probably 192.168.x.x) An address of 169.x is not good news. Do the other network settings - default gateway etc - look correct? If you have a valid IP address, can you ping (the command is ping <IP address>) the router and get a response? If you can ping the router, can you ping your ISP?

30

I’m with the Proxy Settings being wrong - lots of these malware add a proxy to 127.0.0.1:<some port> to peek at traffic.

In IE it is something like Tools|Internet Options…|Connections|LAN, I have no idea about Chrome. Take a peek.

Si

31

Another vote for a proxy server setting. I’ve seen it many times recently.

32

Thanks all, but it’s in the shop now. It sucked up enough of my life trying to get it to work yesterday. The wife’s laptop will give me adequate access until I get it back.

33

I saw something similar once. Whatever malware/poker site or whatever the person had been on, it created a dialer connection.

This goes back to the good old days (you young whippersnapper!) when a trick was to reprogram the modem to dial a 1-900 number in a cooperative foreign country that would pay a commission on the connect time money… Of course, we don’t use modems nowadays so it tries to go off hook and gets no dial tone.

In IE, go Tools - Internet Options, Connections tab. Do you have a connection in the “Dial-Up and VPN” box? If you don’t use VPN to work, you should not. Delete any connection you find there unless you are sure there’s a reason for it. Now your internet should use the LAN/Wifi connections

Hope that is useful.