computer help

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 13 Jul 2005 08:57

Ok I have a problem and I have no idea what it is - or even if the problems are connected although I think that's likely.

problem 1. I can't connect to footbag chat. Actually I can but when I get asked to put in a user name it comes up with a error. It doesn't say what the error is - just that I should try again.

problem 2. I can't connect to gmail. It starts to load and then restarts to load over and over forever (I presume forever). This happens with a supported browser (internet explorer) and with an unsupported browser (opera) - by unsupported I mean not ideal for the site.

problem 3. Peer to peer programs (ie. ares and bittorrent) have stopped working. They'll connect to users but won't download anything.

problem 4. Online games (counter strike) have stopped working - apparantly they cannot connect with the server.

Everything else seems to be working fine - I can still download stuff off the internet, I can still browse the internet. I can still go on msn. I've done virus scans and the like and checked through all the connection options etc. These things were working a few days ago and have slowly started failing one after the other - gmail was working 5 hours ago but now isn't. Please help.

kaos · Post by **kaos** » 13 Jul 2005 09:32

Do you have service pack 2 installed? (Assuming you are running XP). If you have recently installed service pack 2, it might be the cause, since it has a firewall enabled by default, and blocks certain ports by default.

It should not however have an impact on GMail, since you say you can browse the internet.

Maybe just check the firewall settings in your control panel. Try disabling the firewall, and see if it makes a difference?

Do you connect through a proxy?

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 13 Jul 2005 09:58

The firewall was turned off. I turned it on and then back off and neither made any difference. I also tried a system restore to back when things were working and that made no difference.

I haven't recently installed anything.

I'm too much of a computer n00b to know what connecting through a proxy is. I connect through my house mates computer and we have an adsl connection I think. As far as I know he's not having any problems although I haven't asked him since he's presumably asleep at 4 am, but I think he would have mentioned it to me if he was. I've checked all the hardware and it all says it's working. I've deleted all temporary files etc. I've played around with all the settings I can find that could possible make a difference and nothing has changed at all.

kaos · Post by **kaos** » 13 Jul 2005 10:27

Hmmm, seems like you are connecting through a proxy one way or the other (most probably through the other PC's shared Internet Connection, or some other software proxy installed on the other PC).

(A proxy server is a is a service that allows you to make an indirect connection to other network services. I.e. a client makes a request to a proxy server, which forwards the request to a different server. This allows you to share for example a internet connection between more than one PC)

Either way, I would assume that the other PC is blocking some ports, for you in any case. It may be that he recently installed some kind of firewall, and it would not necessarily have affected him. I would wait and ask him in the morning, maybe check his firewall settings.

My guess is that something is blocking ports, other than that, I don't really have an idea what would cause certain programs to stop working. (And I have no idea why Gmail would stop working if you can browse other sites).

_________________

Kobus Brümmer
__________________

"Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law." - Immanuel Kant

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 13 Jul 2005 10:36

Thanks for the help.

Actually I had some minor progress. I deleted all the cookies used by opera and managed to log into gmail. However this didn't work at all when I tried it with explorer

At least I can check my email though. Considering how much I use my email I'm too afraid to log out or close the window now incase I lose it again

Bander87 · Post by **Bander87** » 13 Jul 2005 11:49

Have you done spyware scans? Maybe you downloaded something off a sharing client? It seems weird that it would be sudden.

jon · Post by **jon** » 13 Jul 2005 12:00

sounds like spyware ++
get the microsoft beta spyware program

also adaware + spybot used togeather sometimes are good

hijackthis is awesome but you can #$*$&# up you comp if you dont know what you are doing