Web connectivity problems for a Viata Home laptop user with complete email connectivity

s54

The proxy settings are not enabled.  Automatic config script is also unchecked.  Tried "Automatically Detect Settings" both checked and unchecked, made no difference either way.  Also tried "resetting" IE from the advanced tab on the Internet Options screen, and that made no difference.  Have tried testing with the Windows Firewall turned on and turned off, but that doesn't make any difference either.  The fact that he can send and receive email just find, but can't surf the web leads me to think it's a port blocking issue, but I don't know of anything on his computer that might be causing it.  I suppose his machine could have been infected by a malicious program that is causing the problem, but his anti-virus software should be up-to-date, and I'm pretty sure his computer has Spy Sweeper installed on it, so there is at least something there keeping an eye on mal-ware.

"He cannot ping web sites on the Internet (either by name or IP address)"- sounds to me kike your dead in the water..  Using the ethernet cable connected, have your partner enter "ipconfig/release", then "ipconfig/renew"  & post the (suspected) error.  Also, I would

"He's tried other apps, and everything else but the browser seems to be working just fine" - does "everything else" include email (webmail and Outlook) access via internet?

Provide his network layout - router, firewall, switch, wireless, etc...

Press2Esc

Thanks for the response, of all the troubleshooting I did with him on the phone, I forgot to have him try to renew his DHCP.  As your other questions, my original question stated pretty clearly that his email (Outlook 2007) works just fine, and since he can't get on the web using his browser, there would be no way for webmail to work.  The other apps he tried were pretty much all that is installed on his computer, Microsoft Office apps, and Adobe Acrobat Reader.

His network layout is pretty simple, if he is not in the office, his laptop connects to the Internet via his wireless broadband card, and if he is in the office his laptop connects to the DSL modem/router via 802.11 and then out into the cloud.  In his office his assistant also connects to the same DSL modem/router via Ethernet cable, but other than that, his situation is about as simple as you can get.

What is this computer pulling for the DNS address?  From a cmd prompt, I would try entering "ipconfig /flushdns" and then "ipconfig /registerdns", then compare the DNS address to the other computers on the network and see if there are any differences?