computer help please!

Hello all. I know that a format would fix this, but i left my disk in ohio.

Well, the problem is, it wont let me load some sites, like google. It also will not let me log onto AIM, but i can log onto aol, but my buddylist does not show up.

My system is free of spyware right now. Can anyone think of what this could be? my firewall is off. Is there anything else that can block ports? and when i try to type in www.google.com, I dont even see my activity light go on, and it puts in http:///?%20www.google.com. I also checked for viruses on two different scanners. If anyone knows what is causing this, pleaseee let me know.

I cant even go into cpf chat! =\

Something is clobbering your URLs. For instance spaces aren't allowed and will show up as %20.

I guess it could be spyware or adware.

You ought to have a firewall of some sort whenever you are on the internet.

You can try various adware scanners. I use Ad-Aware and SpyBot S&D. Not to mention SpywareBlaster and Microsoft's Antispyware beta.

You could also look at your hosts file with notepad. The only entry that should be there on most people's machines is 127.0.0.1. That file is here: \Windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

You might try posting a message at annoyances.org. I've seen similar posts there, but I don't know if anyone ever came up with the silver bullet to fix it.

Thanks- working on it now. I'll tell the results.

What is "it"? Internet explorer? If so, maybe you could try Firefox, Opera, or another alternative browser.

you might try a different browser, see if it fails too.

here is a small-sized browser that works without hassle. it supposedly will run directly off a floppy or cd, but I have mine on my harddrive. no javascript or flash support, that may be a good thing on some websites.

http://www.offbyone.com/

The Off By One Web Browser may be the world's smallest and fastest web browser with full HTML 3.2 support. It is a completely self-contained, stand-alone 1.2 MB application with no dependencies on any other browser or browser component. For Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

.....a secure browser that protects your identity when browsing and leaves no track of where you've been.

.....a browser that can run directly from a floppy, CD, ZIP etc. without installation.

but than my AIM woudlnt work =(

I tried this browser just for {vulgar term for multiple feces} and giggles, and immediately found two issues:

1: When it does not find an image and displays that "X", there is no "View Image" option when you right-click on it.

2: Scroll wheel mouses do not seem to be supported. You have to use the scroll bars on the sides instead of the wheel on top of the mouse.

I agree that having two browsers is a good idea. Mozilla and Firefox are good and they aren't under attack by criminals as much as I.E. I did see reports that some people are having trouble with the latest version of Firefox and have backed off to the previous version.

I have Mozilla myself, though I have to admit I usually use I.E. Force of habit, I suppose.

There is a free Opera that's only a 4 meg download. It browses well, but there are a few things that annoy me that keep me from using it except for emergencies.

Okay, i got connected to AIM. I clicked "connect using proxy", with the protocall being Http:// on port 1080. It is automatically looking for the settings in Aim, so it found them. How would i do this for the internet explorer?

You can cahnge it under Tools/Internet Options-Connections-LAN Settings-Proxy Server..but..I'd be careful if you don't know for sure that you are accessing a proxy server. I have heard about some spyware and hijacks that use this method for key logging.