Internet killing malware?

Hello,

I'm trying to fix my sisters vista laptop that she managed to get infected with all sorts of fake anti-malware malware.

Anyhow I was able to fix the 2 main problems: 1) Fake Anti-virus popup popping up constantly telling her she's infected and to buy 2) Trying to run any .exe resulted in a message saying it was infected.

Everything seems fine now except for the fact that the internet does not work. According to vista, there are no problems and it reports that she has full internet access. I tried uninstalling/disabling all anti-virus and firewall software but when you open chrome or IE it just says the "Webpage is not available".

Interestingly I can ping both Yahoo.com & Google.com, so it appears I do have some sort of internet access. Is it possible that she still has malware on her machine and it's blocking the net?

You help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
-Nub340

 

Damnit, I fixed it - sorry.

I went into IE8, Internet Options | LAN Settings and unchecked "Use a proxy server for your LAN". Not sure why this was effecting other browsers but after un-checking this and saving, the internet is working again. I think one of the malware that WAS running must have set this.

Thanks!