This is probably the wrong place to ask, but I have a computer problem. I know there are computer forums, but I don't know where to start because there are so many. If anyone can at least point me to the right forum...

My daughter's internet browser comes up a blank screen. We've checked all the connections, cables, router, etc. The other computers in the same house get the internet just fine. The LAN house connection between her computer & mine works just fine. I'm not getting any message that her ethernet card is bad. Just a blank screen. (control panel in her computer does not indicate an internet connection.)

Neither me nor my sons nor their computer geek friends can figure out the problem. They say "get a new computer."

I must be old fashioned because I would rather find the reason for problems and fix them rather than just spending them away by buying new stuff.

__________________
"I am happy to report that once again the universe is doing just great, thank you, purring with perfection, ever-changing same as always. Light is still cruising along at 186,000 miles per second, and the expanding universe shows no signs of contracting. At this rate, it won't be long before they'll have to let the photon belt out another notch."
Swami Beyondananda's 2007 State of the Universe address

If it has a 'rollback' feature in the operating system(windows) you may be able to try that.

(This thread may belong in Off-Topic Babbling, it may be moved)

__________________
'Sir........, I don't like these numbers.'
'Then hire somebody that can change them!'
("`-/")_.-'"``-.,,
\. . `; -._( );, `)
(v_,)' _ )`-. \ ``'`
_.- _..-/ /((.'
((,.-' ((,/

Is that the same as "system restore"?

__________________
"I am happy to report that once again the universe is doing just great, thank you, purring with perfection, ever-changing same as always. Light is still cruising along at 186,000 miles per second, and the expanding universe shows no signs of contracting. At this rate, it won't be long before they'll have to let the photon belt out another notch."
Swami Beyondananda's 2007 State of the Universe address

Moved to OTB. I think you may find some good help here.

__________________
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein

Yes, but I assume it has been tried.
Have you tried the browser to look at the local disc. Probably C:

There is another thread that has a command that will check your files with your windows disc. I will find it and post it here.

__________________
'Sir........, I don't like these numbers.'
'Then hire somebody that can change them!'
("`-/")_.-'"``-.,,
\. . `; -._( );, `)
(v_,)' _ )`-. \ ``'`
_.- _..-/ /((.'
((,.-' ((,/

Found it. It is from a computer wise member named amok.


"Select Start -> Run
type in the following text
sfc /scannow
press OK.

This is a basic System File Checker, which checks components on the computer and compares them to what is present on the disk to ensure integrity. Since OE is a system component it will check this as well. This scan (depending on the computer) can take anywhere from 10-30 minutes to peform."

__________________
'Sir........, I don't like these numbers.'
'Then hire somebody that can change them!'
("`-/")_.-'"``-.,,
\. . `; -._( );, `)
(v_,)' _ )`-. \ ``'`
_.- _..-/ /((.'
((,.-' ((,/

For Win 9X:

Click Start->Run. Type "command" and click OK

For Win 2000/XP/NT:

Click Start->Run. Type "cmd" and click OK.

Type 'ping 127.0.0.1' and hit enter. This just verifies that TCP-IP is installed and is responding. If the command times out, you should uninstall and reinstall TCP-IP from your network CP.

type 'ipconfig /all' and hit enter. Look for the line that says "Default Gateway" and write down the IP address. Type 'ping [ip address]' substituting the address above. If this fails you do not have connectivity to the gateway.

BTW, how does this computer connect to the net?

Do another ipconfig and look for the DNS servers. Try pinging them in the same manner as above. If that fails, you have DNS server issues. If that's the case, try pinging 209.191.93.52. Do those tests and check back in here.

__________________
In the progress of this discussion I shall endeavor to give a satisfactory answer to all the objections which shall have made their appearance, that may seem to have any claim to your attention.

Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 1

Do his stuff first. He is wiser than I.

__________________
'Sir........, I don't like these numbers.'
'Then hire somebody that can change them!'
("`-/")_.-'"``-.,,
\. . `; -._( );, `)
(v_,)' _ )`-. \ ``'`
_.- _..-/ /((.'
((,.-' ((,/

It uses a cable modem which is connected to a router, which has a total of 4 outlets. It gets the in-house connection with my computer just fine. But no 'network connection' icon comes up in Control Panel.

There are several other computers in the house, all of which get the internet just fine.

Thanks for all your help. I've tried all these Pings and they seem to come back fine. A 'ping" tests an internet connection? Or would it come back fine if only the house connection (LAN) worked?

I also reinstalled Firefox. Still not working. an empty Firefox window comes up. I also opened an Explorer browser. It gave me a message "can't find server or DNS Error".

I should mention that this machine also has other problems. It's an 'E-machines' and I think it runs Windows ME...can't tell for sure because at present it has frozen up (as usual). I think it's full of worms & viruses. All kinds of weird messages come up every time it boots up. It's terribly slow. I have run Symantec on it, but not able to find the problem.

My next approach is to look for another cable. Could a bad cable be the problem? Still, why would the local network be OK but not the internet? Or is it a Firefox problem?

Simply stumped.

__________________
"I am happy to report that once again the universe is doing just great, thank you, purring with perfection, ever-changing same as always. Light is still cruising along at 186,000 miles per second, and the expanding universe shows no signs of contracting. At this rate, it won't be long before they'll have to let the photon belt out another notch."
Swami Beyondananda's 2007 State of the Universe address

Ping is a tool that simply asks another computer to verify it's on the network by sending a single packet back to the requester.

Try pinging something by name such as 'ping www.yahoo.com' if this fails, you have an issue with your name server (the "phone book" computer that translates domain names to IP addresses.) If it passes you have an issue with your browser. The cable in all likelihood is fine.

Other computers connecting through your router can access the net, right?

__________________
In the progress of this discussion I shall endeavor to give a satisfactory answer to all the objections which shall have made their appearance, that may seem to have any claim to your attention.

Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 1

The 209.x.x.x address is outside your local network. In fact, it's the IP that resolves for www.yahoo.com. If that ping works, thde computer is reaching the wider internet by number at least. Plug those number in a browser and see if it opens the page or not. If it does, you have a DNS issue.

__________________
In the progress of this discussion I shall endeavor to give a satisfactory answer to all the objections which shall have made their appearance, that may seem to have any claim to your attention.

Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 1

You can also do the same test in a single step with the 'tracert' command (say trace route) but posting the results on a public message board is a very bad idea.

__________________
In the progress of this discussion I shall endeavor to give a satisfactory answer to all the objections which shall have made their appearance, that may seem to have any claim to your attention.

Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 1

Yes they can.
I didn't try these new pings yet...can't get to the computer right now..but to comment: All the earlier pings came back OK (IP, DNS), I reinstalled the browser Mozilla Firefox, and I still got a firefox window with a blank screen. I also tried to open an Internet Explorer icon on the same computer and got a message "can't find server or DNS error."

I can't find anyplace on control panel where I can find or reset a DNS. I'm wondering if there is a piece of software that controls internet access... back in the old daze (1993) you could get in and look at all your programs...but now a lot of that stuff seems to be inaccessible.

__________________
"I am happy to report that once again the universe is doing just great, thank you, purring with perfection, ever-changing same as always. Light is still cruising along at 186,000 miles per second, and the expanding universe shows no signs of contracting. At this rate, it won't be long before they'll have to let the photon belt out another notch."
Swami Beyondananda's 2007 State of the Universe address

Sounds like your router might be blocking you out, maybe.

__________________
Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum,
þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon.

What flavor of Windows?

Start->Run->Command (or cmd)

'ipconfig /release'

'ipconfig /renew'

Chances are you're using DHCP to get your internet setting from the router.

DHCP=dynamic host configuration protocol

__________________
In the progress of this discussion I shall endeavor to give a satisfactory answer to all the objections which shall have made their appearance, that may seem to have any claim to your attention.

Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 1

That's another good suggestion, though he apparently can ping a 209 ip. It could be just blocking http requests though. I really wonder (and suspect) if he has a DNS issue. If he can browse Yahoo by number, we'll know.

__________________
In the progress of this discussion I shall endeavor to give a satisfactory answer to all the objections which shall have made their appearance, that may seem to have any claim to your attention.

Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 1

Your DHCP suggestion is also a good (educated ) guess. I know that I have had that particular problem occasionally.

__________________
Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum,
þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon.

So what you're saying is, the router is controlling internet access, and it has blocked out ONE channel while allowing the rest of the computers?

How would I fix this?
Would shutting off the router allow it to reset itself?

__________________
"I am happy to report that once again the universe is doing just great, thank you, purring with perfection, ever-changing same as always. Light is still cruising along at 186,000 miles per second, and the expanding universe shows no signs of contracting. At this rate, it won't be long before they'll have to let the photon belt out another notch."
Swami Beyondananda's 2007 State of the Universe address

That's a guess at this point. If it were the case, you'd need to monkey with the router's settings. The next diagnostic procedure is ping by name by opening a command prompt and doing a 'ping www.yahoo.com' I'm guessing that will fail and you have a DNS issue. Bde certain that you can ping 209.191.93.52 first - I'm working on the assumption that command returned packets. If that fails and you can open 209.191.93.52 in a browser window, you definitely have a DNS issue.

__________________
In the progress of this discussion I shall endeavor to give a satisfactory answer to all the objections which shall have made their appearance, that may seem to have any claim to your attention.

Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 1