Solved All browsers except IE suddenly can't connect to network

Win8Neophyte

New Member
Messages
4
Hi,

I bought a new Windows 8.1 laptop about 2 weeks ago. So far, I like 8.1 and everything had been working OK. I've been using the laptop with my home wifi network, usually with the Firefox browser, for the whole 2 weeks. Yesterday, suddenly Firefox stopped being able to access the internet (error message: "Unable to connect"). Internet Explorer, Skype, and ping access the internet OK, but Firefox, Chrome, and Opera all fail with similar errors. (Needless to say, older devices I use on my network still work fine.)

Some possibly relevant details:
1) I'm running Windows Firewall. I've tried several times to "allow these apps through Windows Firewall" but it doesn't help. (I tried disabling the firewall from Control Panel\System and Security\Windows Firewall\Customize Settings, this still doesn't work!!)
2) The day before the problem started, I switched from Norton Internet Security to Windows Defender (this may be because the trial subscription expired -- before that it was very hard to control which was running).
3) Turning off Windows Defender (from Defender's Settings tab) didn't help.

I've spent hours trying to fix this. I'm getting pretty desperate to choose my own browser and be able to control my laptop better. Any advice would be really appreciated. Thanks very much!!!
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
System Restore saves the day

OK, the problem seems to be resolved by using Windows System Restore (I got this tip from a thread in Microsoft's user support forum). I still haven't pinpointed what caused the problem in the first place. Very probably related to Windows Defender -- note that the restore point was saved BEFORE Defender was turned on. I will post an update if the problem comes back, since I'm still using Defender & it's only been working for 20 minutes so far! :p
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
My only thoughts on this would be, did you run the Norton Removal Tool after uninstalling it in the normal way?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7 Ult SP1 + Win 10 Pro - (x64)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware® ALX X58
    CPU
    Intel® Core i7-975 Extreme 3.86 GHz 8MB Cache
    Motherboard
    ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 Socket 1366 Core i7, Dual Triple Channel DDR3 Mem
    Memory
    24GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 6 x 4096MB
    Graphics Card(s)
    1792 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 295/Hauppauge HVR2250 TV Tuner
    Sound Card
    Onboard Soundmax® High definition Sound
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung XL2370 LED
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1080P
    Hard Drives
    2 X 500gb SATA
    1 X 1TB SATA
    1 X 3TB external eSATA
    (Non-RAID)
    PSU
    Alienware® 1200 Watt Multi-GPU
    Case
    Alienware® P2 ALX Chassis with AlienIce 3.0 Video Cooling
    Cooling
    Alienware® High-Perf. Liquid Cooling + Acoustic Dampening
    Keyboard
    Microsoft® Wireless Entertainment 8000 + Logitech® G15 Wired
    Mouse
    Microsoft® Wireless Laser 8000 + Logitech® G9 Wired
    Internet Speed
    1tbs
    Other Info
    Using non-RAID on purpose as I find it too fussy and temperamental.
Norton removal tool

Hi,

Thanks for your reply! No, I haven't run the tool, nor did I uninstall Norton in the first place. It's still installed. The only reasons I thought it expired are:
a) It must expire eventually :)
b) Windows finally allowed me to enable Defender instead of Norton.
c) I still have a context-sensitive menu allowing me to scan files with Norton, but this doesn't work, or at least doesn't produce any notification of success after it's done.

By the way, I should mention that I never managed to see any control screen for Norton, even when it was active. I never found out how to turn it off or adjust it in any way.

If you think uninstalling Norton / using the tool could pinpoint the problem I was having, I can try doing this. (The reason I left it installed was because I figured it's probably a better product than Defender.) Particularly now that I've learned to use system restore, I can try uninstalling/removing Norton, and still restore to the current point with Norton if it doesn't help.

Thanks again!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
Well in 8 Windows Defender is different from what it in other OS's. It is an antivirus as well as the anti-spyware that it is in any other incarnation so rule #1, never, ever run 2 antivirus applications together as they could actually clash and lead you to become infected, or cause weird malfunctions, possibly this one.

Uninstall Norton from Control Panel > Programs and Features
Then run the Norton Removal Tool and reboot.

https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/kb20080710133834EN_EndUserProfile_en_us

System Restore is fine as long as you update everything right afterwards. But it will probably undo any uninstallation that you've done previously.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7 Ult SP1 + Win 10 Pro - (x64)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware® ALX X58
    CPU
    Intel® Core i7-975 Extreme 3.86 GHz 8MB Cache
    Motherboard
    ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 Socket 1366 Core i7, Dual Triple Channel DDR3 Mem
    Memory
    24GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 6 x 4096MB
    Graphics Card(s)
    1792 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 295/Hauppauge HVR2250 TV Tuner
    Sound Card
    Onboard Soundmax® High definition Sound
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung XL2370 LED
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1080P
    Hard Drives
    2 X 500gb SATA
    1 X 1TB SATA
    1 X 3TB external eSATA
    (Non-RAID)
    PSU
    Alienware® 1200 Watt Multi-GPU
    Case
    Alienware® P2 ALX Chassis with AlienIce 3.0 Video Cooling
    Cooling
    Alienware® High-Perf. Liquid Cooling + Acoustic Dampening
    Keyboard
    Microsoft® Wireless Entertainment 8000 + Logitech® G15 Wired
    Mouse
    Microsoft® Wireless Laser 8000 + Logitech® G9 Wired
    Internet Speed
    1tbs
    Other Info
    Using non-RAID on purpose as I find it too fussy and temperamental.
OK, it's been about 12 hours and several power downs, and it's still working. I uninstalled Norton and used the removal tool. Even if the problem comes back, I believe system restore will fix it. Incidentally, for others reading this who have a problem with software suddenly stopping to work, here's a post about system restore:
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/4692-system-restore-how-do-windows-8-a.html

Thanks again :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
Well good luck ;-)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7 Ult SP1 + Win 10 Pro - (x64)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware® ALX X58
    CPU
    Intel® Core i7-975 Extreme 3.86 GHz 8MB Cache
    Motherboard
    ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 Socket 1366 Core i7, Dual Triple Channel DDR3 Mem
    Memory
    24GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 6 x 4096MB
    Graphics Card(s)
    1792 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 295/Hauppauge HVR2250 TV Tuner
    Sound Card
    Onboard Soundmax® High definition Sound
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung XL2370 LED
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1080P
    Hard Drives
    2 X 500gb SATA
    1 X 1TB SATA
    1 X 3TB external eSATA
    (Non-RAID)
    PSU
    Alienware® 1200 Watt Multi-GPU
    Case
    Alienware® P2 ALX Chassis with AlienIce 3.0 Video Cooling
    Cooling
    Alienware® High-Perf. Liquid Cooling + Acoustic Dampening
    Keyboard
    Microsoft® Wireless Entertainment 8000 + Logitech® G15 Wired
    Mouse
    Microsoft® Wireless Laser 8000 + Logitech® G9 Wired
    Internet Speed
    1tbs
    Other Info
    Using non-RAID on purpose as I find it too fussy and temperamental.
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