I originally asked this in the Vista Forum as it appeared that this problem was quite widespread in Vista. However Magon Liu, Microsoft Moderator suggested I repost in this forum, so here goes..... OS Win7 Home Premium 64bit Avast5 AV ZoneAlarm Pro MalwareBytes AntiMalware with realtime protection ThreatFire Browsers: IE8 version 8.0.7600.16385, Mozilla FireFox version 3.6.12 Immunet Protect About a week ago I had notification of 10 Windows updates. I selected 7, having unselected the Office ones, which I do not use. All downloaded and installed except one for IE. Tried various things, including manual install, but to no avail until I ran chkdsk. This identified and checked a couple of disc errors, unfortunately I cannot remember the details. I rebooted and the final update installed ok. Great I thought until I discovered that neither IE nor Firefox would open any web pages. My router is BT HomeHub 2 with ethernet connection. I am connected to the internet as updates are working, just cannot open web pages. Tried in Safe Mode with networking and pages open without any problem. I also have a laptop connected wirelessly to the BT Hub and have no problem with it. Also using ZoneAlarm Pro but with Microsoft Security Essentials instead of Avast5. Have tried resetting the hub and clearing the IE history. Have not tried System Restore yet and I have no intention of living without MS updates. Also tried Network Diagnostics on Internet Connections. After about 2 seconds got an error message with code 0x80010105 and Network Diagnostics did not complete. I have to say it is really disappointing that this problem has been around for such a long time without a clear-cut solution and that it is now present on Win7. Any positive suggestions welcomed. Thanks

Even money says that at least one of those updates was to Internet Explorer (which, typically, will change one or more core IE files.) ZoneAlarm is set to allow the older (and, no longer present) version of IE, and, therefore, is blocking the newer version. Solution: remove and re-add IE (and, while you're at it, Firefox) in ZoneAlarm's outgoing-exceptions list. You should have working browsers then. And, a side note: even though you might not use Office, it's still installed. Therefore, you should still continue to update it. You don't necessarily need to use it to be affected (adversely, usually) by a known security issue. HTH, ChrisMS-MVP (Media Center) [If this post helps to resolve your issue, please click the "Mark as Answer" or "Helpful" button at the top of this message. By marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster.]

Hi Thanks for your response. I have removed and re-added both IE and FF and this has not solved the problem. ZoneAlarm is set to allow all Microsoft Certified programs to run automatically. Also I have had no problems on my laptop, which also runs ZA. Can you suggest why Network Diagnostics will not run and what error code 0x80010105 might refer to? With regard to the Office updates these have consistently failed to install. Any other ideas? Cloudpilot

The error code can have several meanings, depending on where you're seeing it. A specific program? Windows Update? Network Diagnostics? ??? There's the possibility that your network stack on this PC got corrupted - it happens occasionally. That would explain the lack of 'net access, as well as network diagnostics failing to run (you'd think it could fix this - and, sometimes, it can!) So, let's try a quick TCP/IP reset. Open an Elevated command prompt (Start > type cmd at the searchbox > right-click command prompt > Run as Administrator.) Type (or copy/paste) the following command: netsh int ip reset C:\resetlog.txt Close the command prompt when it's done running, and reboot. Work now yes/no? HTH, ChrisMS-MVP (Media Center) [If this post helps to resolve your issue, please click the "Mark as Answer" or "Helpful" button at the top of this message. By marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster.]

The error code appeared in Network Diagnostics. Still unable to connect using either IE or FF. BTW MS Office only ships as a trial in Win7 Home Premium and I have never installed it. I use Open Office instead as my main requirement is for a word processor. Cloudpilot

Hi cloudpilot, I admire your quest for security. Running multiple security (antivirus\anti-malware) applications simutaneously can create problems that, at a minimum, will hamper the performance of the computer and cause other issues as well. This is not my opinion only. You'll find this is generally accepted. You list five applications providing real-time protection. Add to that that list, Windows Defender, unless you have disabled it. These will interfere with one another and the operating system. Blocking or corrupting MS updates or update processes, etc. Until you reduce it to one plus Immunet (which is listed as a companion application) and disable the real-time protection for Windows Defender (disable it), I don't know how you'll be able to troubleshoot any problems. Try a clean boot, method here, and try to visit a known safe website, only briefly, and close the browser. It will only take a few minutes, then reset to normal startup, reboot and test again. If the clean boot works, you can renable one non-MS service at time, reboot and test to find the culprit. Or uninstall all but one security application and Immunet.

Sorry - I marked as answered before submitting my reply and it disappeared), so I have to retype it (thanks Lazarus - you were no help at all on this occasion!). Hi Nano Warp and thanks for your input. I believe it is also generally accepted by those who know that a layered approach to security is required. This is because no single application can detect every type of threat. I currently have one firewall (ZoneAlarm - Windows Firewall is disabled), one definitions-based Antivirus (Avast), one malware detector MalwareBytes) and two cloud based AVs (Immunet Protect and ThreatFire) running in real time. Windows Defender is indeed disabled (it is shown as stopped in Task Manager). I also carry out regular on-demand scans with applications such as Defender and SuperAntispyware. I can certainly uninstall ThreatFire as it might be considered overkill. Presumably a clean boot would be similar to Safe Mode, which I have already used. As I reported in my original question I am able to open web pages in both IE and FF in Safe Mode with networking. This indeed points to a software problem and it could well be caused by a 3rd party program. However this type of situation is well documented going back to Windows Vista and often appears to coincide with a Windows Update. There never appears to have been a satisfactory explanation or fix. I will mark this question as answered while I seek help elsewhere. When I find the solution I will report back here. In the meantime, if anyone has anything positive to add, please feel free. Cloudpilot

OK, problem solved (yay!). Clean boot did not solve as problem still present afterwards. I was getting resigned to a reinstall when my friend Bill Mullins came up with the suggestion to try a tutorial at windows 7 forums - http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18203-internet-troubleshooting-guide.html. This very quickly led me to conclude that the problem lay with Avast5 antivirus. Uninstalling Avast and installing MSE immediately cured the problem. I have to say I do not blame Avast as I had been using it for some considerable time on 2 machines with no problems. The fact that this problem occurred after a Windows update seems to me to be more than coincidence. Thanks to those who contributed to this thread but mainly to Bill Mullins. Anyone who wants to learn about online security and all aspects of computing should take a look at his daily blog - http://billmullins.wordpress.com/ - I promise you will not look back. Cloudpilot