Most unusual Internet Connection Issue.

Technology and Gaming Help and Support
#1

Hi guys,

I started using my laptop again for small bits of work and such, but whenever I try to use the internet, I get this error:

OK, wtf?

I haven’t used my laptop in 2 months and it goes all suicidal on me? My laptop can’t connect to other things that require the internet, such as MSN, Dropbox, etc.

I have tried other browsers, tried reinstalling Windows 7, reinstalling the wireless driver, nothing has worked.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, I’m not so good at all these issues, but I don’t get why I would need to add a site to my Site Registry, I just want no problems and for it to be normal.

So yeah, if anyone can point out the problems and any known solutions, that would be great.

Thanks.

#2

So you get this error…

That’s a little strange, since this is usually an error that occurs server-side, not for the end user. Is your internet being routed through anything, or is it connected directly to the modem? If its connected to a router, are other computers connected to the router having issues too? Try resetting the router, if so, or try establishing a direct connection to the internet if possible (or go to a Starbucks or somewhere with free wifi to connect, see if its a problem with your home setup not the laptop)

#3

Yeah, that’s the exact error I get, and all the computers in the house connect using a router, and I’m on my main computer at the moment, it doesn’t have this problem, and neither do any of the other computers in the house. I have tried connecting my laptop (The one with the problem) to another router and the problem still persists.

#4

So when you say you reinstalled windows 7, I assume you formatted the harddrive, right?

Barring some hardware problem, which is obviously a more complicated fix, it could be a virus in the boot sector of your hard drive that is trying to redirect every website you visit to some malicious site, which is having this CMS error. Try doing a zero-fill operation on your hard drive, which (as the name suggests) writes zeros onto the entire hard drive, erasing everything securely. Depending on your harddrive model, there is different software you could download from here. Just burn it onto a CD/DVD or a floppy, if necessary, and remember to do a complete fill not a quick fill. It should take maybe an hour, depending on the HD size.

#5

If it does attempt to redirect every website, I’d assume that something like ‘ping google.com’ would show a different IP address than it should?

#6

Well, according to your description and the things you have tried you can rule out everything besides the laptop and the router. As mentioned above, if you reinstall Windows because you want to set it back to zero, make sure you format first - else it just takes over all the settings from the previous installation, including the one causing this problem.

I’m gonna take a wild guess here, but it’s the only thing that immediately comes to mind. Is there a proxy server, or automatic configuration of a proxy server, enabled in your internet connection settings? If there is, disable it.

#7

or a custom DNS server

but since he reinstalled Windows, I would doubt it, unless, as you say, these settings are kept during a non-clean install.

#8

Another consideration is a virus, which could have modified his Hosts file and/or created a proxy entry in the Registry. I’d recommend scanning with MBAM, Spybot S&D, and whatever antivirus you use.

Things to check -

  • Try pinging Google (as mentioned above), then try putting that IP address in the address bar in Firefox - do you get the same error?
  • Check your Internet Connection settings for any proxy information (Internet Explorer Options --> Connection tab, see if the Settings button is active [next to Proxy settings])
  • If you’re comfortable editing your Registry, Google “Registry proxy settings” and take a look
#9

^ sounds exactly like a virus. It is redirecting you to a server (most likely either a phishing site or a fake antivirus website)

#10

have you installed the same copy of win7 on other systems?
(are you using a non legit copy, if so, it could contain the virus)

#11

it basically comes down to pinging google and seeing who’s IP ur getting, zero formatting (low-level erasing) your hard drive, not just a simple reformat.

if it is a virus, which it sounds like, this would probably get rid of it, unless it somehow got into the memory the BIOS sits on (unlikely, not many sophisticated viruses like that out there) in which case you would need to reflash it.

#12

do you have the same issue on other networks?

#13

Yes, with this laptop I have the same issues with other networks, I have tried scanning it with MBAM, nothing comes up, I’ll try the other virus checkers as well, I will also try the things BaTz mentioned at some stage today, then I will put up what I’ve found here, thanks so far.

#14

If you did reinstall Windows 7 with a clean install then don’t go into the registry, the problem isn’t there and you could make it worse if you adjust the wrong thing.

#15

flash the bios

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