Strange Computer Problem
 

So my dad's computer is full of useless junk -- he and my brother, the primary users, are not very good at anything computer related as a rule, and breaking computers is one of their specialties. Here's the jist of the problem...

The computer cannot access the internet through any programs other than Firefox. The programs he uses most often are Steam (for Half-Life 2 Deathmatch) and iTunes, but neither can connect to the internet. In iTunes, while waiting for the Music Store to load, the operation times out, and nothing is done. Steam simply will not connect. He has also purchased Norton Anti-Virus, but it cannot complete installation because it needs to check online for the most recent definitions, and it cannot access the internet. And, through all of this, he can surf the internet just fine by using Firefox.

He has a wireless network set up, and uses DSL. The computer shows that it is connected to the network according to the wireless card, and as I said, Firefox works fine. The connection is there, these other programs just can't seem to find it. In the minute or two I looked at it last time, I was able to determine that his version of iTunes is up to date, and that I can't find anything on internet connection options in iTunes. I wasn't able to look at Steam or at Norton at all to try to determine why they are not working.

Right now, I'm heading over to his house to take a serious look at it -- in the mean time, any ideas on why this might be happening and what we can do to fix it?

All the programs, when displaying their errors, warn you to "Check to make sure you are connected to the internet." I've looked at iTunes's online help section, and it basically says make sure you are running the latest version, and if it doesn't work, then reboot your computer.

Could he have every port blocked except http traffic?

IE is broken. Lots of internet software relies on IE to get their connection settings. Chances are, it's been jacked and has some bogus proxy entry or something.

Try running AdAware on the machine.

Is windows firewall blocking them?

Has he installed a firewall besides windows firewall that may be blocking them?

Check the wireless settings, and the open ports. Groundhog is probably right: he's got ports blocked, which will block programs from accessing, but not Firefox. Then run Adaware, as FN said, some spyware will change your proxy settings.

Ok, running AdAware now. Where in my Network setup can I allow ports -- that sounds exactly like what has happened, so that seems to be the next logical step if AdAware doesn't fix the problem.

What router is he using?

It's a 2Wire, let me see which one...

It's a 2Wire Wireless HomePortal 1000. The card is simply a 2Wire Wireless USB Adapter, running driver version 7.64.0.335.

AdAware has already found a lot of crap, and it isn't nearly finished yet, I'd bet.

http://gateway.2wire.net/ is the system default for 2wire routers.

Huh. Now, I'm no computer genius, but I do know what I'm doing most of the time. Inbound and outbound control of the firewall is set to allow everything to go through already. Is there something else I should be looking for?

They're not mentioning ports anywhere either.

That's what I am thinking. If he is using any type of firewall, then I would suggest turning it off to temporarily to see if the issue still remains. If it doesn't, you narrowed it down to the firewall.

Also, if he is on Windows XP, I would seriously try a System Restore to a date a time when it was working.

Hrm, ok. AdAware only found tracking cookies (which I deleted). Any other ideas?

We have all firewalls turned off.

System Restore.

Ok, I think I just fixed it.

I just went into IE and turned off the proxy (duh). Now IE works, and so do the other programs. Any ideas how it might have been turned on, and how to avoid it in the future?

I've never seen a program change those settings, although I guess it's possible. Probably your dad or brother changed it at one point and never realized what they were doing.