Laptop internet problems

[rachelhappyface]

My laptop (a 5 year old Dell Studio) has suddenly stopped letting me do anything on the internet! Currently using my smartphone but I really need my laptop too, has anyone else got the same laptop or had this problem?

[Moon]

You need to be MUCH more descriptive if you want help. Not letting you on the internet says nothing about the problem. What browser are you using? What errors are you getting? What version of Windows is it, if you use Windows? What steps have you taken to resolve the issue yourself? Did you pay your internet bill, reboot your router, make sure it's plugged in, etc? I would advise that you Google your symptoms.

[rachelhappyface]

My wifi is working fine with my phone and my flatmates laptops. It's windows xp, I have chrome and ie installed and chrome will open but won't load anything, and ie point blank refuses to load. Oddly enough my windows live mail will open and send and receive emails, so I'm a bit baffled!

[ethelynn]

It won't load, but does it say you're not connected to the internet or page unavailable or just don't do absolutely anything? Can you get to the internet using IE?

[rachelhappyface]

Ie just won't open at all, and chrome just comes up with "the following page has become unresponsive" and the option to 'wait' or 'kill page' and if I click wait I just get the same message again a minute later!

[Hollandia]

I am pretty tech savy and have fixed many of PC and Laptop of my own. It sounds like it could be a virus of some sort that has corrupted your programming. I would first try to restore to a previous date like 2 days ago. Then reboot. If that does not work, you might have installed an update your computer does not like, so you could search your recent updates. If that does not work, you should be able to do a factory restore, but make sure you back up all your data first. If you want more help, feel free to PM me.

[rachelhappyface]

Ok, I'll have a go at that, thankyou! and thanks everyone for wanting to help

[ethelynn]

Before doing a restore, if you have an anti-virus program installed on your computer, then run it (doing preferably an indepth scan of your harddrive). Have you downloaded or installed something new right before or close to the time it happened?

[Hollandia]

I find most anti-virus do little to help in a situation like this. If they were doing there job in the first place, this never would have happened. I have even had to go to safe mode to remove some malware programs that can imbed itself into your installed anti-virus. If you have this problem the only way around it is a true wipe. I really don't trust Norton or McAfree especially, as they now carry so much Ad ware and Free ware installed in them if you don't pay attention and opt out prior to installation. A restore to a previous date of about 2-3 days won't change anything except something that has happened to alter to your computer's performance in the last few days.

[Moon]

Using your roommates laptop and a flash drive, download, install, and run this....MalwareBytes

If it's a malware problem, this program will find it and clean it. I use it in a professional capacity quite often. Also, can you boot into Safe Mode (hold down F8 after a restart, choose Safe Mode with Networking), and get to the internet that way? If you can, make sure your browsers are up to date, and then if you aren't running an antivirus, go get one immediately, here is a decent, free one - https://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage.

Run both MalwareBytes and AVG while in Safe Mode! When booting into Safe, no unnecessary files will load, and most spyware, viruses, etc., will run. Hold down F8 with every reboot. If your computer comes up clean after running both of those, it's something else.

[Moon]

I find most anti-virus do little to help in a situation like this. If they were doing there job in the first place, this never would have happened. I have even had to go to safe mode to remove some malware programs that can imbed itself into your installed anti-virus. If you have this problem the only way around it is a true wipe. I really don't trust Norton or McAfree especially, as they now carry so much Ad ware and Free ware installed in them if you don't pay attention and opt out prior to installation. A restore to a previous date of about 2-3 days won't change anything except something that has happened to alter to your computer's performance in the last few days.

No, you can usually fix these issues without rebuilding the machine, you just have to be patient and know how to do it. The only time a rebuild is in order usually is if the user has had malware for some time, and it's been able to do a lot of damage. If it's too complicated, she should take it into a shop for repair, most users don't back their machines up, and if she wipes it, she loses everything. A trained pro can save her data, and fix whatever the issue is.

[ethelynn]

No, you can usually fix these issues without rebuilding the machine, you just have to be patient and know how to do it. The only time a rebuild is in order usually is if the user has had malware for some time, and it's been able to do a lot of damage. If it's too complicated, she should take it into a shop for repair, most users don't back their machines up, and if she wipes it, she loses everything. A trained pro can save her data, and fix whatever the issue is.

I agree with this. I wouldn't recommend a restore if the person doesn't really know what they are doing and why. People can do more harm than good with it.

Also a good antivirus software is Microsoft Security Essentials, it's free and works on the background and doesn't take much resources.

[Hollandia]

No, you can usually fix these issues without rebuilding the machine, you just have to be patient and know how to do it. The only time a rebuild is in order usually is if the user has had malware for some time, and it's been able to do a lot of damage. If it's too complicated, she should take it into a shop for repair, most users don't back their machines up, and if she wipes it, she loses everything. A trained pro can save her data, and fix whatever the issue is.

I love you alls..............but.......................If you don't know computers, why do you feel a need to give advice on them?

A previous restore to an earlier date is far from rebuilding a machine. Any basic 101 computer person knows this. It is like step ONE of 10,000. I used to do all the ITT work for my previous job and trust me, it changes very little when you do one but any update or small changes that occurred in that small time window. A shop will cost her money. If she has that to spend she is free to spend it. I told her to back up it up and if she needs help willing to walk her through for free. A backup is quite easy and takes only a few minutes. But by all means, pooh pooh any offer of free help if you think she is not intelligent enough to handle some very basic help any IT desk customer service rep from DELL will be happy to provide her after 5 years out of warranty for up to a hundred bucks an hour.

I have offered my knowledge and expertise so do or do not listen to me/someone that knows about computers, and btw, do any of you actually have real advice other than not listening to mine? MicroSoft Security Essentials won't do squat if you get a virus/trojan/worm/malware that gets through it to begin with. It is acutally just built into to most windowns programs and not a stand alone anti-virus. On top of this once most anti-virus are breached they won't help you anymore. Try checking out sites that computer geeks use like Cnet and you can find the best free anti-virus. Avast is a great free one. I know of a few more hardcore programs to remove bad malware and such but I would wait before installing them.

The OP has a five year old computer. Once she backs up her Data and does a factory restore. Her computer will run like new. Not only does it take care of problems with viruses but it gives your computer a clean slate. Years of using a computer creates tons of unnecessary files that drag down your processing. No matter if you do your suggested cleanings and Defrags or not. I highly recommend dong one soon regardless. It will increase the life of your computer in leaps and bounds.

[Moon]

Hollandia, I'm an IT expert with almost 20 years in the field. I'm not a "savvy home user", this is what I do for a living. You think I don't know computers? I am more than slightly offended here, I guarantee my knowledge far exceeds your own, and I know exactly how to help people with little computer knowledge, I am a professional in this field, especially in assisting those with little knowledge. I'll bow out and let you continue giving your home user advice, seriously, WTF? OP, good luck.

[snow_girl]

Hollandia, I'm an IT expert with almost 20 years in the field. I'm not a "savvy home user", this is what I do for a living. You think I don't know computers? I am more than slightly offended here, I guarantee my knowledge far exceeds your own, and I know exactly how to help people with little computer knowledge, I am a professional in this field, especially in assisting those with little knowledge. I'll bow out and let you continue giving your home user advice, seriously, WTF? OP, good luck.