Kind of a weird problem I had since two weeks ago. Ironically, for how much I thought i was addicited to the net, i can live without it, on and off, while using the university's pcs for my every-other-day emailing, etc. But it's annoying. I can't go online for CoD2 anymore. My life revolves around non-MP Oblivion, as fun as it is, I miss good ol' Mr. Net.

It all started when I installed the lastest Firefox upgrade form their official website. Installed it, restarted, that error window pops up that says, basically, firefox cannot connect. be it me being not connected physically, a firewall, permissions, etc. Just unplug your ethernet and open firefox. same error. anyways, I'm using a belkin 125g wireless PCI card with some SLX-something router. Worked with the old version of firefox so I think the system just doesn't let firefox access the net. Trillian still connects, though only the AIM section. MSN on trillian no longer connects. I run ad-aware, zone-alarm and antivir so I'm pretty sure it's not a virus or malware. I only have XP SP1 and cannot upgrade to SP2 (for various reasons). Friends tell me to simply add firefox to the list of allowed programs, but I hate windows and can't find the damned option anywhere. Myabe SP1 doesn't have it. All i get in network connections is a little checkbox that says "firewall me" or some such thing.

I guess mac users don't know about how extensive they are because they don't need to ask for help on things that SHOULD be as simple as internet connection. Windows, I feel, is an unintentional myspace.


IDEAS? Screenshots helpful, but if you have the same OS setup as me, I can figure it out. cheers

First question: Are you still able to visit webpages with other browsers and access the internet?
Since Trillian is able to connect, I'd assume you can still access the internet. The problem of your latest version of Firefox not connecting to the internet might be due to the proxy settings. Schools usually have proxies which you will have to get onto it to use the internet. If you still remember, or still have the information of the configurations of your previous Firefox version, try changing or editing your proxy settings manually for your current version. See screenshot below.


If your Internet Explorer is still able to surf webpages, then you can also take reference from its proxy configuration for your Firefox. In the screenshot, there sin't any proxies set on my computer because I'm using it at home, hence I don't need a proxy. If you have text available on that Address textbox, copy it and paste on your Firefox configuration. Make sure the port number is the same as well. See screenshot below.


Your Firefox should be then able to surf webpages again.

Alot of servers are set up to enable standard internet explorer settings on all browsers which blocks all browsers from bypassing the websense or similar firewall. I used to use portable firefox but I can no longer bypass the firewall with it. www.doxyproxy.com is good proxy site and is free. Or alternatively use the IP address for www.netsack.net (This site is better but is blocked by websense, can only be accessed by pinging the site on your command prompt and using the IP address instead of the Web address) Pinging alot of your fav sites will work but firewall providers have caught onto this and are beginning to block some.
(for those who dont know how to ping, you simply type in the word PING followed by a space and the web address for the site you want, hit enter and the command prompt will show you the IP address. Use this instead of standard web address)

It sound a problem with the MS TCP, maybe you catch a virus.

If after you check your system and still is bad the internet connection, backup all your documents and settings and reinstall the OS.

Having the same issue with IE/Firefox
Internet Does Not Connect

I'm having almost the exact same problem. I updated Firefox and it stopped working, not able to connect to any websites. I was using IE for a week or so and just now it stopped working also, that is how I ended up at this forum. I read another post that mentioned something about ISPs not having compatible DNS servers, which sort of makes sense, because sometimes instead of getting the 'unable to connect' error, I get an 'invalid name' error, and the address bar resolves to 'ctrl:///'. Very interesting indeed. I can still connect to AIM on the PC, and my laptop is not having any problems with websites (that is on the wireless, the PC that is giving me the problem is hard-wired.) I'll be back with an answer if I find it...If not, the next step will be a reformat. I've been meaning to do that anyway...

-reply by Giro