computer won't connect to remote sites

I think the 'not connecting to remote sites' problem is the common thread between all that is happening to my computer.

I have WinXP, and I've noticed that some of my programs can't automatically update themselves, like my Adobe Flash Player tries to update once a week and it always fails. When I try to update Malwarebytes from its control window, it won't connect to the website. I just tried to open Google Earth yesterday and it also can't connect to the remote server to pull up my files. I used to have uTorrent, but it never worked from day one because the ports were always closed and I couldn't download anything.

I tried turning off the Windows and Norton firewalls and trying to connect via Google Earth, but the result is the same. I've checked the 'allow' list and every one of those programs are allowed to connect to the internet through the firewalls. Could someone tell me how to fix this? It's getting really annoying to find yet another program that can't update! Thanks,
-Lisa

 

Yes I was able to turn off both firewalls just fine...both of them are on now but I can go ahead and turn one of them off. Which one would be better to turn off?

I'm using Windows XP Service Pack 3
Norton Security Center 2005 (Old and out of date since I can't afford to upgrade. I'm using Malwarebytes to fill the gap)
Firefox 3.6.12 (I can't pull anything up in IE anymore, which is kinda moot since I hate IE, It's probably very out of date by now)

Thanks!