No browser works except IE

No luck unfortunately; it won’t work, I’m getting the same error. I’m starting to think it might be a general issue, not just related to browsers, since I cannot update any programs (Avast! for example). Also, Skype does not connect either. Apparently only IE can connect to the internet. Could this be a particular malware/virus? It all happened all of a sudden and I didn’t change any internet settings recently.

You may be correct. You have three browsers and IE still works. Let's determine if Opera was corrupted.
Under Control Panel->Programs, find Opera and start to uninstall it. *IF* you are given a REPAIR option, try that first. Otherwise, do the uninstall, get a fresh copy and then reinstall.

I just reinstalled a fresh copy of Opera (same version) and it gives me the same error.

Sorry man - - I'm at the end of my rope - - sure wish I could have solved this for you.
Look at it this way - - this thread is good documentation.

Hopefully you have backups of your Documents + Pictures (don't try to recover anything other than those).

Thanks for everything Jobeard, I really appreciate it. Have a great weekend!

This may or may not help, but it won't hurt, try this link http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/
If nothing else, bookmark it for future use.

Do you have a proxy set in IE? Could be proxy settings as IE uses it's own settings for that. Just a stab in the dark but check and compare to your other browsers.

Mirela - I am having this SAME exact issue. Tried everything you have, nothing helps. I'm able to ping sites from command prompt, but cannot access them via chrome or 32-bit IE. The only IE that works for me is the 64-bit version (which seems to be what you are experiencing). Been searching for solutions to this topic for a couple weeks now.... your issue is the most similar to mine I've seen in any forum. If anything else is figured out please post!!

I'd also like to add that several other forums that sounded like a similar issue, recommended running "netsh winsock reset" via command prompt as admin. This sounded like it helped some people, but this doesn't work for me. Like Mirela said, certain other programs that typically connect to the internet also are having problems connecting (such as MS security essentials, drop box, picasa...). Seems very bizarre, and I really don't see any signs of a virus/malware on my pc, at least not in the typical places they like to hide.

Comments elsewhere suggest Chrome issue is related to Java.
Java has had many many security issues, so personally I'm running without browser plug-ins.

You can also go to Control -> Programs and just uninstall

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