Browser problem

I have recently changed to a new broadband provider and had to change my antivirus program. Every second or third time I start up my computer, the browsers won't open. If I close it down again and restart it, it usually comes right. When it does happen neither google chrome nor internet explorer 9 will open and yet I am connected to the internet and I can open windows live mail. It's very annoying and I can't see anything about such a problem on google searches. My laptop has windows 7 home premium and it is fine. It only happens on my mainframe which is running windows 7 proffessional. Anyone have any experience of this.

Hi Rab,

have you tried re-installing the browsers? In IE's case you'll probably have to remove via 'Turn windows features on or off' in the Programs section of the control panel. I guess you already checked for malware etc?

Originally Posted by kemical

Hi Rab,

have you tried re-installing the browsers? In IE's case you'll probably have to remove via 'Turn windows features on or off' in the Programs section of the control panel. I guess you already checked for malware etc?

I did check for viruses. Haven't tried reinstalling the browsers yet but you have me thinking now and I will try downloading firefox first to see if it ever gets disabled at startup too. It might just be a coincidence but I wonder if it's a problem with the talktalk security system. I never had any problems with the old system from BT. But the fact that it is intermitant is puzzling and tends to suggest a virus. I will let you know if I get any joy with firefox. Thanks for the reply.

Not sure what your using but try scanning with this: Malwarebytes : Free anti-malware download For everyday use, you cannot get much better (for free) than : Microsoft Security Essentials - Free Antivirus for Windows

Question: Why did you "have" to change your AntiVirus?

I had free antivirus from BT as part of my package and when I changed to Talktalk they had a free antivirus as part of their package so I changed to that. Its called F-Secure.

How's it going Rab? Still got issue's?

I really think this is one of those cases where DOS is your friend. Go to the RUN command and type cmd to open a command prompt. The first command to type is "ipconfig" to see if you are getting an IPAddress that is a good start. Your address should be something like 192.168.1.100. If your address starts with 169. then you are not getting a valid address from your router. If you are getting a valid address you can extend that command and type "ipconfig /all" and look and see if you are getting a valid DNS. You can also check DNS by pinging a name like "ping google.com" you should see something like:
C:\>ping google.com
Pinging google.com [74.125.227.105] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 74.125.227.105: bytes=32 time=231ms TTL=53
Reply from 74.125.227.105: bytes=32 time=29ms TTL=53
Reply from 74.125.227.105: bytes=32 time=29ms TTL=53
Reply from 74.125.227.105: bytes=32 time=28ms TTL=53
Ping statistics for 74.125.227.105:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 28ms, Maximum = 231ms, Average = 79ms
If Google is not found you most likely have a DNS issue.
you can further test to see if it is connectivity or DNS by pinging google's address which looks this:
C:\>ping 74.125.227.105
Pinging 74.125.227.105 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 74.125.227.105: bytes=32 time=50ms TTL=53
Reply from 74.125.227.105: bytes=32 time=29ms TTL=53
Reply from 74.125.227.105: bytes=32 time=29ms TTL=53
Reply from 74.125.227.105: bytes=32 time=29ms TTL=53
Ping statistics for 74.125.227.105:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 29ms, Maximum = 50ms, Average = 34ms
If all these tests succeed than you may have your connectivity set up wrong in your Internet Options.
You can check this by opening Internet Explorer and going to "Tools" then "Internet Options" (You can also find "Internet Options" in the Control Panel. Once you have it open look for the tab at the top that says "Connections". For most people it should say "Never Dial a Connection". The only exception to this would be if your ISP (Internet Service Provider) did not provide a router, but supplied just a modem. If this is the case I would suggest you invest in your own router, I have bought wireless routers for as little as $15 (US).
I doubt changing the browser will fix this because if it was the browser it would not normally work sometimes and then sometimes not.
If you are still having an issue please give more information like what kind of broadband you have (e.g. cable, dsl, dialup). What kind of Anti-Virus programs are you using. What kind of Firewall on the PC. This could be just Windows or your Anti-Virus program could have also installed a Firewall.

I thought the problem was fixed after downloading firefox. But it's back tonight. I was using firefox as my default browser and when I tried to use the link I was sent via email to this site it went into loop and I had to make internet explorer the default browser again to get to this site via the link. I am going to make firefox the default browser again to see if it makes any difference. If it starts again I will try pinging.

I pinged google.com this morning when I started up and got no browser opening again. It was fine. So I have now deleted firefox. I also disabled internet explorer and restarted windows firewall. I am now back to using internet explorer but I couldn't figure out how to uninstall it so I could reinstall a new version. I am wondering if the F-Secure internet protection has its own firewall and maybe disabled windows firewall on installation. So far have no problems but it's early days.

To uninstall IE go to 'turn windows features on or off' found via the control panel.