I've been using Windows 7 for about 4 months without a problem. Suddenly, IE8 will not display any web page, but Foxfire 3.5.8 continues to work as before. The diagnostic message on IE is: "the remote device or resource won't accept the connection". I have the same problem when trying Safari, Chrome, & Opera.
Just before I became aware of the problem, I apparently had a virus-originated message disguised as an anti-virus tool. It claimed to be scanning for viruses. I tried to shut it down with Task Manager, but the Task Manager kept disappearing, so I powered the computer down. After restarting, I did a Norton Internet Security scan, which showed only a tracking cookie. The following day, though, Norton quarantined Trojan.FakeAV, which, according to Symantec's description, displays false antivirus alerts and lowers security settings on compromised computers.
Since I still have Firefox and Thunderbird, the problem is probably with settings on the other browsers, but I have no idea where to look.
Ed
Just before I became aware of the problem, I apparently had a virus-originated message disguised as an anti-virus tool. It claimed to be scanning for viruses. I tried to shut it down with Task Manager, but the Task Manager kept disappearing, so I powered the computer down. After restarting, I did a Norton Internet Security scan, which showed only a tracking cookie. The following day, though, Norton quarantined Trojan.FakeAV, which, according to Symantec's description, displays false antivirus alerts and lowers security settings on compromised computers.
Since I still have Firefox and Thunderbird, the problem is probably with settings on the other browsers, but I have no idea where to look.
Ed