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View Full Version : PC internet connecting help requested.



CudaMan
May 13th, 2014, 10:20 PM
I'm trying to help my girl's mom from thousands of miles away. The computer is one of these (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883250750), just set up a week ago. It was working fine for a few days, then no internet connectivity.

This is the information I have:



Modem: Motorola 3360
Router: Netgear N300 WNR3500L v2
Connection: DSL

I did run Malwarebytes - would it be possible that it got rid of something needed to connect to the internet?

When I check the network connection, it says "Connected". I've tried disabling and enabling it (in my experience, sometimes that works!). When I run Windows diagnostics though, I get the attached message. And in the background you can see the "Proxy server not responding" message I get on the browser when trying to connect.

It's the second computer connected to the router via ethernet cable. The first computer works fine with it. This new computer has no wireless card, although there is room for one if we can't get this fixed "free." She may try a fresh Win7 install if it comes to that but she's never done one before. I won't be there for a couple weeks to help directly.

My girl suspects possible virus downloads by mistake, which is why she tried Malwarebytes.

I personally have never seen a browser show up with any error message about a Proxy connection, so I'm out of my depth here and can't go checking things out to discover anything.

Halp us? :)

553

Kchrpm
May 14th, 2014, 06:17 AM
Perhaps a firewall issue?

Can she pull up the router admin page, or does that error out as well?

thesameguy
May 14th, 2014, 10:26 AM
I think she has a virus, but she may have an anti-virus program gone rogue. Something has configured a proxy for web surfing, and it could be intentional or unintentional.

Looks like Win7, so open Control Panel, in the search box at the top left type "proxy" and then click on "Configure proxy server." You'll get the "Connections" tab of Internet Properties. Click on the "LAN Settings" button, make a note of what is all the boxes (just to be sure) and then erase all the content of the boxes and uncheck all the boxes. OK/Ok/close control panel and see if it works. Post back what you wrote down.

Whatever originally set the proxy up will probably try and reconfigure it - so you'll then have to determine what did it. Malwarebytes is a good start, but I'd also throw Superantispyware and Spybot S&D at all. Personally I run them, use them, then uninstall them - but she may want to leave ONE of them present. You'll also need to figure out what she is running for anti-virus and make a decision about whether it's a good go-forward plan. If you want, have her send us pictures of what the "Programs and Features" control panel applet has, and maybe we can see what should stay and what should go.

There may be more to do, but this is a good start.

CudaMan
May 14th, 2014, 08:45 PM
Thanks! It's working now. Deleting the stuff from LAN Settings did the trick. After further spyware/virus checks and a restart it's still working. :up:

Great to be able to know where to look. :)

thesameguy
May 14th, 2014, 08:46 PM
What was in the proxy settings before you deleted them?

CudaMan
May 14th, 2014, 10:59 PM
I'm told the proxy box was checked, and there was this in the fields:

Address: 127.0.0.1
Port: 13081

My girl says a million thanks for helping. :)

thesameguy
May 16th, 2014, 09:51 AM
I think that setting is part of an anti-virus program, but I cannot remember which. Some semi-sketchy lower-tier product. It routes internet traffic through a local proxy for inspection to sort out things you don't want. Changing that setting will prevent the product from working correctly. I would advise them to find a single, good anti-virus product and then go through the Add/Remove Programs list and uninstall any other AV programs before installing the one they've selected. They may not care, but in the interest of full disclosure... :)

Random
May 16th, 2014, 01:13 PM
Windows Security Essentials has been working fine for me, FWIW. I ran Avast on our XP machine and that was satisfactory as well.

Alan P
May 16th, 2014, 04:40 PM
Yup, MSE here for months now and no problems. Quiet and unobtrusive.