Possible DNS Virus?

I've got a computer here that will not load web pages. If I go into a command prompt, and ping www.google.com, I get nothing. Actually, I get "Ping request could not find host www.google.com. Please check the name and try again." But if I ping 72.14.205.99 (one of Google's IP Addresses), I get 4 Packets Received.

Same with the web browser. I type in www.google.com, and I get The webpage cannot be found. I type 72.14.205.99, and Google comes up.

I think I've got it narrowed down to the PC itself. When I hook my laptop into the same cable, everything is fine. My guess is some type of virus is blocking the lookup.

Dell Dimension 4550
Windows XP Home SP2
512 MB RAM
Pentium 4 2.53 GHz
IE7 (7.0.5730.11)

I ran Malwayrebytes, thinking maybe some malware may be the problem. It found 8 problems, but fixing them solved nothing.

I can also ping the loopback so TCP/IP is good.

Thank you for any help!

I don't think, it's any infection.
It looks like DNS is messed up.
Numeric address is not being translated to regular address.

Start with some basic troubleshooting....

Turn off computer. Disconnect router, and modem from power source for 30 seconds.
Power them back on.
Restart computer.

If that doesn't work, bypass router, and connect computer straight to the modem.

If that doesn't work...
Go Start>Run (Start search in Vista), type in:
cmd
Click OK (in Vista, while holding CTRL, and SHIFT, press Enter).

In Command Prompt window, type in following commands, and hit Enter after each one:
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /registerdns
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew

Restart computer.

If that doesn't work...
Go Start>Run (Start search in Vista), type in:
cmd
Click OK (in Vista, while holding CTRL, and SHIFT, press Enter).

At Command Prompt, type in:
netsh int ip reset reset.log
Hit Enter.
Type in:
netsh winsock reset catalog
Hit Enter.

Restart computer.


If that doesn't work...
Download, install, and run WinSockFix: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/N...nSockFix.shtml
Restart computer, and check again.

If that doesn't work...
Download Dial-A-Fix (DAF):
http://wiki.lunarsoft.net/wiki/Dial-...C_and_articles

Have XP CD available in case DAF needs a file. Likely not!

Check all boxes on the screen (clear any restrictions if it shows any)
Then click GO!

When the entire page is finished click the HammerHead at bottom to go to the second DAF page.

Here, one at a time, do the below:

Reinstall BITS
Reinstall Windows Firewall
Repair Permissions
Reset networking

Watch for any File not found or other errors and make note as this may lead to the fix!

Restart computer.

Thank you for the reply Broni.

I tried everything you suggested. When I got to Dial-A-Fix, I ran into some issues with IPSEC.exe, and that my version of Windows did not have it. So it couldn't go through with the fix. Could this be causing this?

That's where I'm at right now. Nothing has worked yet.

I don't think IPSEC.exe has anything to do with your problem, because IPSEC.exe is not required to run at computer startup.

See, if same thing happens in Safe Mode with Networking.

Trying this in Safe Mode was one of the first things I tried. My thinking was that something might have been running in the background, causing the DNS resolution process to cease. It didn't work then.

But I tried again since the newest reconfigurations, and I'm still getting the same issue. I can ping Google's IP Address, but I can't ping the Domain Name.

There are a ton of restore points. Should I try one of those?

Did you check "hosts" file?

Windows XP - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC

It's there, and only has the 127.0.0.1 localhost entry.

Yeah, that's fine.
The only other thing, that comes to my mind would be a problem either with router/modem, or bad NIC card. If one of those three malfunction, one of the possible results is lost ability to translate DNS.

The Modem/Router are good because my laptop works just fine. I never knew that a bad NIC would cause DNS issues. I'll slap a new one in, and see what happens. I'm going to cry if that's it. :(

Why? 15 bucks?

Haha, not the price. Because of the time it took to do all of this, and all it was was a bad $15 NIC. :D

I didn't guarantee anything :D

Yeah, I know you didn't guarantee it, and it's a good thing. Still having the same issue, even with the new NIC. This issue is such a crazy one.

Should I try and roll back to a previous check point under system restore? That's about the only thing I can think of.

You can give it a shot. Another possibility is some service(es) is not starting.
...or some damn infection?
However, it's bed time for me, so I'll check back tomorrow :)