Ping says YES Browser says NO!

[samken21]

Hi to you all,

I am trying to help out my nephew here. He recently built a new tower PC and after I checked everything, I installed Win 7 ultimate for him and updated all the drivers etc. Everything was working fine when plugged in at my house so I handed it over.

Two weeks later and I get a call saying he can't access certain sites on the net. Having spent an evening with him, I have been left totally confused by this. There is an internet connection because I can access Google and several other sites.

The site in question is Skype.com. I have tried IE, FF and Chrome and they all hang after about a minute of trying to connect.

He advises me that there are several other sites with the same problem so its not just Skype but it's not all sites.

Confusingly, I can use his wireless connection on my laptop and get access to skype that way but not on the base unit (which is connected via CAt 5)

Here is what I have tried:

Ran CMD ping on www.skype.com and got a full hit back with no lag time or loss of packets.

Added skype to the trusted site lists of all browsers

Turned firewalls off (both windows and on the router)

Turned Avira off

Any suggestions?

Cheers

Sam

[shnerdly]

Did you check to see if a proxy had been set?

Tools > Internet Options > Connections > LAN Settings

None of the boxes should be checked.

[samken21]

Hi,

I checked the proxy settings on all three browsers and all boxes were unticked. The fact that none of the browsers can open the skype site (but they can all open google) suggests that something is blocking access. I'm hoping it is something basic that I have missed.

Cheers

Sam

[handygal]

Parental controls? What anti-virus, anti-malware, firewall is on that system? Sounds like some pre-teen level access, doesn't it?

[samken21]

No parental controls that I know of. Presumably as I can't access skype on any of the browsers is there a parental control on Windows 7?

Using Avira (latest version) and have checked all the FW settings and listed the web address as an "allowed" site.

Have installed Malwarebytes and CC.

I can't get my head around the fact that I can access google, it even let me onto Pirate Bay - not that I use it, because I don't - but thought it was worth a try to see if it was being selective.

Have reset modem and router - still no joy.

Any ideas?

[handygal]

The page just times out? I was going to suggest trying a public dns server like 8.8.8.8 just for testing but you can ping skype.com so it's resolving the way that it is.

If you boot into safe mode with networking, can you get to skype then?

Was this a problem from day one or did it develop after a week or two?

[samken21]

Yes, the page times out on all three browsers. I haven't tried it in safe mode yet. So will give it a go. Can't tell when it started because we didn't know there was a fault until we tried to access the skype site.

The PC is a brand new build and has only been running a few weeks. I can't think of anything but a selective blocker that is causing it so I am looking for a button/selection somewhere. Trouble is it isn't in any of the usual places!

[DavidGP]

Hi

Do indeed try booting into safe mode (F8 at boot and choose safe mode with networking) and see if the sites that don't work, work now?

I would also as this is random, check for malware and the below should help

Please read and follow the following READ & RUN ME FIRST. Malware Removal Guide and once finished please start a new thread in the Malware Forum plus a guide on how to attach the logs HOW TO: Attach Items To Your Post

[samken21]

ok will do. I am also going to remove the antivirus completely and install any O/S windows updates. I have read that there are occassions when a windows update just after or prior to a av update causes the av prog to block certain ports.

Thanks for your help.