For about six months now I have been unable to access Google from IE8 browser. I have it set as my home page but it will always timeout and give an "internet explorer can not display the web page" message. I have tried emptying cache, malware and virus scanning, reinstalling IE, updating and rolling back the system...the list goes on. I can get google images, google maps, google mail and google video but the main page will not load. Can't even get to it manually by putting it in the address bar or navigating to it by IP address.

The reason I am so determined to get it fixed now after six months is that I was putting the problem down to the poor service I was getting from my previous ISP. I changed ISP last week and would like to "start fresh" so to speak. Any ideas? Anyone who has experienced this problem and found a fix would be appreciated. PLEASE HELP!

Edit: Oh, and I have also changed browsers and tried Firefox and Google Chrome also both with the same problem...

What happens if you enter:

72.14.209.104

into your address bar? That is Google's IP address.

I would suspect your firewall, one of your security applications, or your hosts file. You can disable the FW and each of the security programs one at a time and test to see what happens. Do not leave them disabled, even if you successfully connect. Quickly re-enable and report back and we will go from there.

If you have customized your hosts file, there may be an entry in there blocking it. We can help with that too.

No, as I said navigatingto Google by IP also fails.

I am running Symantec Endpoint protection and it is all currently enabled but I find it difficult to use and do not know how to create exceptions or anything like that. I have tried disabling the whole thing though with no joy.

Tried to access the HOSTS.o1d file but and it does not seem to have any reference to Google. Though another site told me to try deleting the entire contents of that folder, also no success. I have inserted the current contents of the hosts file i have below:

# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

127.0.0.1 localhost

Any other ideas? Seems like such a simple thing but can't seem to find a fix for it.

I tried the Google IP address again after tweaking some firewall settings and got to the search page but once I searchfor anything it times out again and get the same message. So I tried pinging google from command prompt and got:

Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 206.53.61.77:
Packets : Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss)

The first thing I noticed is that the IP here is not the google IP. Am I assuming entirely incorrectly that this is a problem? I am thinking with my limited knowledge of such things that perhaps this is where my problem lies...

No, as I said navigatingto Google by IP also fails.

Sorry, I missed that.

I tried the Google IP address again after tweaking some firewall settings and got to the search page but once I searchfor anything it times out again and get the same message. So I tried pinging google from command prompt and got:

I don't what that IP address is. Is that your address in Canada?

Sorry, I was refering to your original post where you asked what happens when I enter72.14.209.104 into my browser. I tried it a while ago with no luck but I tweaked some firewall settings (disabled it all for a bit) and tried it again. I can get to the search page now but once I search something back to the same problem...

After pinging google.com through command prompt it got the result posted....I don't know what the address; 206.53.61.77 is either. My understanding of pinging a site is that I should get a reply from its IP which doesn not seem to have happened in this case. Is it possible that I am being redirected to an incorrect IP?

Also what gives you the idea I am in Canada? I am in Australia.

I don't know what the address; 206.53.61.77 is either.

Then where did you find it?

What happens if you ping D-A-L Computer Help

I said Canada because when I did a lookup on that IP, here, it showed Canada.

Did you check your hosts file?

That is the IP address that came up when I pinged google.com (by name not IP) through command prompt. Results of this ping are shown in one of my previous posts as are the contents of my hosts.o1d file that you asked about.

Results for pinging D-A-L website are below:


C:\>ping D-A-L Computer Help

Pinging D-A-L Computer Help [217.8.248.134] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 217.8.248.134: bytes=32 time=349ms TTL=47
Reply from 217.8.248.134: bytes=32 time=325ms TTL=47
Reply from 217.8.248.134: bytes=32 time=324ms TTL=47
Reply from 217.8.248.134: bytes=32 time=327ms TTL=47

Ping statistics for 217.8.248.134:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 324ms, Maximum = 349ms, Average = 331ms
C:\>

I hope that has helped clear it all up a bit.

Note: URL links have been manually removed.

That is the IP address that came up when I pinged google.com

Then I say again, "did you check your hosts file?" If the hosts file has an extension on it (such as hosts.o1d) then it is the wrong file.

These are symptoms you would get if your hosts file has been modified and that is not good if you did not do it manually. And in researching that particular IP, it seems to be associated with users infected after visiting bit-torrent or P2P sites that support illegal filesharing of copyrighted materials, such as songs, videos, or other published documents. If you participate in such risky activities, I advise to stop immediately or this is not likely to be the last time for problems. It is also against site rules to help folks participate in such illegal activities.

I suspect if you look in the hosts file you will find about 100 entries that look similar to this,

206.53.61.77 google.ae
206.53.61.77 google.as
206.53.61.77 google.at
206.53.61.77 google.az
206.53.61.77 google.ba
206.53.61.77 google.be
206.53.61.77 google.bg
206.53.61.77 google.bs
206.53.61.77 google.ca
206.53.61.77 google.cd
206.53.61.77 google.com.gh
206.53.61.77 google.com.hk
206.53.61.77 google.com.jm
206.53.61.77 google.com.mx
206.53.61.77 google.com.my
206.53.61.77 google.co.nz
206.53.61.77 google.co.tz
206.53.61.77 google.co.ug
206.53.61.77 google.co.uk
206.53.61.77 google.co.za
206.53.61.77 google.co.zm
206.53.61.77 google.com
206.53.61.77 google.com.af

To restore your hosts file, download and run HostsXpert. This is a compressed file you can save to your desktop, or someplace else convenient.

Click on Restore MS Hosts File to restore your Hosts file to its default condition,
Click on Make ReadOnly to prevent any more unauthorized changes,
Exit the program then see if you can access Google.

Then I would urge you to run a full scan for malware. If you don't have MBAM start there. Download and install Malwarebytes's Anti-Malware (MBAM) and scan as follows:

Check for updates before scanning,
Select Perform quick scan > Scan,
When complete, click OK, then Show Results,
Ensure all is selected, and click Remove Selected,
When complete, save the log in Notepad to a convenient place for future reference.

Repeat for all computers in the "Trusted Zone" of your network (your side of the Internet "gateway" - typically the cable or DSL modem).

Okay. Tried using HostsXpert but it was unable to reset the file for me so I sought out other programs to do the same thing and came across:

Download the MS Fixit Tool, to reset your Hosts file back to default. Found HERE
Once downloaded run the downloaded: MicrosoftFixit50267.msi tool, and when completed restart.

Next, download the Reset Internet Explorer Settings MS Fixit Tool. Found HERE
Once downloaded run the downloaded: MicrosoftFixit50195.msi tool, and when completed restart Internet Explorer.


So followed said instructions and now it all works brilliantly. Wanted to thank you for your time in helping me sort this out. Even though I did not get the final fix here it pointed me in the right direction.