I do not see how it can be DNS if you can ping YAHOO.COM if you can ping yahoo.com then your DNS is resolving the yahoo.com to one of yahoos IP addresses...i have seen that before, there is a large possibility that winsockfix will not fix your problem, but it is still a shot...also did not know you had a proxy setup, i did not assume that you did... Complete Computer Service Inc. NW Indiana

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He doesn't have a proxy set up. That was one guess about why the computer in question can ping but not browse. You are probably right about the DNS issue too - if a website can be pinged by name, the name can obviously be resolved. Considering that this is a borrowed connection, and we know nothing about the network, I think "winsockfix" is really a shot in the dark at this point. Especially since we have already established that name resolution works - which is what we would expect winsockfix to fix.

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i agree to disagree...i have seen winsockfix fix a machine that could ping a internet address by name but not browse...but yes that is its main purpose to rebuild TCP/IP...that is the only reason why i suggested it, so that it can be ruled out and i have seen it in the past...by being able to ping yahoo.com without a proxy being setup... yea i could see winsockfix possibly (literally) fixing this issue...

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I follow your reasoning, and don't necessarily disagree. However, unless the computer in question also has the same problem on other networks, I'll stand by my "shot in the dark" assessment. I always like to try and understand a problem before randomly throwing solutions at it. Couldn't hurt to try winsockfix though, I guess.

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ok 1. you randomly threw out that it could be a proxy issue, not knowing any background to that...s--- this person could have comcast cable, or dsl, there is not proxy a setup there 2. how do you know this machine would not have the exact same problem on another network?? 3. to understand the problem more i do that by ruling out fixes at hand (simple ones at that), as for we all know, one problem can have multiple upon multiple answers... not tryin to be a dick, just tryin to make a point, dont rule it out till it is tried, doesn't take long to try winsockfix, maybe 5 mins max? also i never said that it would for sure fix this issue, as stated above, i have seen the exact same symptoms, and the fix for it after hours of trying other things was winsockfix (or the command) so "shot in the dark" it may be, but at least it is a shot and if you proxy fixed it, or it was a proxy setup necessary, then hell yea, good work, from most business and home users i see and do work for none of them have proxies, so ya know... peace Complete Computer Service Inc. NW Indiana

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Josh, you seem not to have read my post in response #5. I suggest you go back and re-read it. Your philosohpy of "dont rule it out till it is tried" is a good one, but only if tempered by experience, logic, and common sense. I could just as easily recommend reinstalling Windows (which, believe me, I have heard people recommend far too often) under the premise that it shouldn't be ruled out as a troubleshooting step until it is tried. By that logic, everything could reasonably be tried as a troubleshooting step. The best way to eliminate the 99.999% of really bad troubleshooting ideas is to gather information about the problem before recommending anything. As I said, I always like to try and understand a problem before randomly throwing solutions at it. Even if those solutions have been known to work in apparently similar situations. In response to your numbered points: 1) I randomly threw out several hypotheses. I readily acknowledge that a proxy server is the least likely of these. Please reference my response #5: All of that being said - I doubt that a proxy server is in use on the network you found. If it's just somebody's unsecured home network, it is very unlikely that they are using a proxy server. Web proxying takes some effort to implement, and is more likely to be in use on business networks. I would suggest you investigate the DNS issue before worrying about the proxy 1a) Given that the computer in question can ping an Internet host successfuly, I think it would be trivial to determine what ISP the wireless network is connected to, if any. Maybe that's something worth investigating. 1b) You said "this person could have comcast cable, or dsl, there is not proxy a setup there". I have cable internet at my home. I have an open wireless access point. I use a squid web proxy on my network. There is, then, possibly a proxy set up on the network RLP's sister-in-law found. 2) I don't know if this machine has the same problem on other networks, as stated in my response #10. 3) Applying random "fixes" to a problem is, at best, a way to further obfuscate the source of the problem. If you get lucky and winsockfix somehow "fixes" the problem, what does that tell you? Unless you know exactly what winsock does, and the possible cascading results, it tells you nothing. Since you propose running winsockfix only because you "could see it possibly fixing this issue" I can only assume that you do not know exactly what it does. That is, in my opinion, scattershot troubleshooting. All that being said - this is devloping into an argument, which is pointless. Winsockfix almost certainly won't make things worse, so let's try it. If it succeeds in solving the problem, we can assume that the source of the problem was on RLP's local machine. If it doesn't fix the problem - well, we haven't learned anything further about the problem so we're basically back where we started. Which is, as I was trying to point out, in an unknown state of connectivity on a foreign network. Exploration of the network would be, in my opinion, the best course of action at this point. Short version: Let's run winsockfix and hope it works!

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I feel kind of dumb now. RLP, you're not a "he" are you? Sorry about that :)

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I didn't mean to cause so much distress! You're both right that this is all theoretical as I don't know anything about the network and I am not near the laptop now. (Belongs to my sister-in-law.) I appreciate the thoughts and effort. I'll deal with it next time I'm over there and try some of these ideas. Not a 'he' but that's okay. Roberta (the geek girl)

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No worries, RLP. It's discussion - not distress :) Good luck next time you get a chance to work on it. Post back and let us know how it goes!

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yea no distress =) purely discussion, and difference in ways of troulbeshooting but definitly post back if neither of our posts have solved your issue

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