Connected to internet but can't browse after a few minutes

Ok so I have my HP dv5 laptop with vista 64 bit home premium. Up until a few months ago it started giving me problems where if i was connected to the internet, the websites would load and everything would be fine, until after a while it would just stop. the internet was still connected but no websites would load, i would just get a "new tab" title for each new firefox tab i opened. IE wouldn't open anything either. i tried removing from the network and reconnecting, but no luck. if i restart the computer, or log off and log back on, it works again, until it stops working in the same way described. also this was at college, so i thought it must be my college router. however when i got home last week the problem still continued, so its not a router problem. i don't have norton or mccaffee.

any ideas of what to do or how to fix it? the only search i found with the exact problem as mine is here, but there was no help.
connected to the internet but cannot browse the after a couple min (Page 1) / Eee PC and Windows XP / EeeUser Forum

thanks!

 

Presumably you can still use the connection for other services like downloading from a POP mail account?

What anti-malware software is running on your computer? Could try uninstalling all of it to test your browser performance... on a trusted site.

Me, I would consider this a good excuse to ditch Vista and clean install Win7 Pro SP1 x64 OEM DVD. Your computer will run better under Win7.

GK

 

hm well i havent tried it yet, ill see if any of the other connections still work. yea i did but it has nothing to do with that, firefox wont even acknowledge that im opening a new tab or window with information, and if i refresh the tabs i alrready have nothing happens, sometimes if its on a forum the layout looks all weird like when u have a slow connection or seems its on the service side.

edit: i forgot to add, if i am downloading something, the download still continues (like if im downloading in firefox), it doesnt stop, though still cant access websites when that happens!

 

Is all of the networking down? Can the OP use/see their at-home resources like printers, other computers, etc?

 

yes i can use the other computers, and printers, the internet works fine on there, and the wifi on the iphone works fine too

 

Not use the *other* computers...

Can the computer --with the problem-- see/use the other machines in the house??

 

yes it can. my skype thats online still works, still send receive ims and everything even when it happens

 

So the problem, on the computer in question, is ONLY affecting the web browser?

Have you tried another browser?

Do you have anti-virus software running and is it perhaps blocking the browser?

 

yes thats correct. ive used firefox and internet explorer. same problem in both. nope no anti virus software running or even running automatically or anything afterwards causing it to block it

 

What happens if you disconnect/shutdown all other computers on the local network, running ONLY the one computer that has problems?

How are the computers connecting to the local network, wired or wireless.

What kind of router/switch?

What kind of DHCP?

 

The quickest solution may be to not solve the problem but to make it go away... ditch Vista!

GK

 

Looks like a DNS issue, the next time you experience the problem run ipconfig /flushdns in a command prompt, see if you can browse after that.

Do yo have Malwarebytes Anti-Malware software installed on your system?

 

the other computers dont affect my computer, as this problem was there even when i went to college and my computer was the only one on the network. 2 desktops wired, 2 laptops wireless. netgear, the one at college was a different router, so its NOT a router problem.

ok thanks will try that. yea i do

edit: I did what you said, ATG, and it seems to have worked!!!!!! what exactly was the problem???!????!?!
edit 2: never mind the problem came back, even after i do that in teh command prompt it still comes back :-(

 

If you do have the Malwarebytes software I suggest you disable the "Website blocking" function. For some reason the effect isn't instant but at the end it gets disabled.
Had to do the same thing on my own computer because of a similar problem though in my case the software would only block some sites, not all of them.

 

OP confirmed in post #3 that he uninstalled all anti-malware software to no affect...

GK

 

make sure that the computer with the problem is set to run DHCP and NOT have a static IP address or a force-set DNS server(s) on any of the network interfaces.

Also check the default hosts file to see that it doesn't have any static entries.

 

and how exactly do i do that? ^^

 

in the command prompt type "ipconfig /all"

to find the hosts file go to this path "C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc"

 

Restart the computer in safe mode. If the problem does not occur there then you have something on the computer that's causing it. Firewalls are very common for this but I see you say you don't have one. Spyware/Viruses are also another cause. There is no way that I can think of to tell you exactly what is causing it, but if it works in safe mode it's definitely something installed on the computer.

One thing you can try is see if you can ping out... Go to your command prompt and type:

ping www . google . com (remove spaces)
then...
ping 74.125.127.104

If both pings fail... could be firewall or software blocking.

if url ping fails, but ip ping is successful... possible dns issue, try flushing it (ipconfig /flushdns)

Take care,
Shannon

 

This is a good suggestion too.. Call you ISP support and they should be able to confirm you have the correct settings here (as long as you're connected to their equipment and not your OWN router).

 

both pings were successful...so yeaa lol

yup both of the above are correct.

 

and only one network adapter active?

If you're on a wired connection your wireless is turned off

If you're using your wireless, make sure that there is no wired connecton there.

Can you sketch out your home network setup? How does the modem (dsl or cable) hook into a home router/switch and where might a wireless AP hook in.

Are you running only ONE dhcp server at home?

 

yes thats correct. yup. it has nothing to do with my home network as this problem came up when i was at college, both on the college network and in my room on our own router

 

It's clearly a DNS o blocking software issue with that particular machine. Can you recheck if you've uninstalled/disabled any firewall, antivirus or antimalware software on the laptop?

 

yup theres none on there

 

it must have been something with DNS, though not really sure about DNS in the first place. used opendns.org and was able to last a few days before having the problem arise again. thats better than every day at around the same time!