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I have been unable to access the Windows update site for a couple of weeks now. I just get a message saying "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage" and saying I have connection problems. Same thing is replicated with any other Microsoft site I try to access. The Automatic Updates also do not work.

I can access every other wesbite I've surfed to. I've tried Googling the problem and based on what other site have suggested I have cleared my cache and temp files. I've scanning my hard drive with my antivirus in case I have a virus (nada). I've tried turning off my firewall and anti-virus (I run Zone Alarm). I've downloaded SpyBot and scanned my drive with that in case something was missed by Zone Alarm (again nada).

Based on suggestions from the smart cookies on the Bad Science forum, I've used nslookup to check my translation isn't wonky (got all the info they said I should get). I've also tried navigating there directly using the IP address I was given (nope).

I normally access the internet through a 3 mobile broadband connection, but have also tried connecting using a mate's wi-fi connection in case it was something on my mobile modem interferring.

I run Windows XP SP3 with Internet Explorer 7 and Zone Alarm Internet Security Suite as my anti-virus/ firewall.

Any suggestions?

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  • Have you tried another browser, ie. Firefox or Chrome to get to the Microsoft sites?
    – Sim
    Feb 7, 2010 at 14:30
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    Also can you get to Anti-Virus sites like AVG, Symantec or Trend Micro etc - are you getting the latest updates for ZoneAlarm? If you can't then there is a good chance you have got a bad Trojan or Rootkit on your machine.
    – Sim
    Feb 7, 2010 at 14:50
  • Please check the Windowsupdate.log file in C:\Windows and paste the last few lines here. Also, run Hijackthis on your computer, clean everything and try again.
    – r0ca
    Feb 7, 2010 at 16:41
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    check also HOSTS file. Some viruses / worms might remap Windows Update sites to other IP.
    – Raptor
    Apr 21, 2010 at 3:07

2 Answers 2

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Could also be a symptom of having picked up a rootkit such as TDS or TD4.

Try running combofix and see what it finds. http://www.combofix.org/download.php

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Thank you for your replies. I managed to sort the problem before coming back here. The problem seems to be fixed by reinstalling IE7 from scratch.

CF

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    It is likely you had a trojan that interfered with IE in such a way that it prevented you from connecting to Microsoft's sites. I would make sure to do a full virus scan on your computer, and spyware scan, to be sure. Aug 24, 2011 at 17:16
  • I am going to guess internet explorer was set to use a proxy connection. That is how some malicous files or scareware work.
    – Ramhound
    Aug 24, 2011 at 18:31

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