Unable to connect to internet

Im having trouble connecting to the internet on PC. When I try to start up Firefox (or any other internet accessing program on my computer) I get a message saying the server cannot be found, etc etc. I have tried restarting my computer, re-connecting the connection, repairing the connecting. All my firewalls are turned off, I even removed one of them. This has happened before but normally I can clean spyware off and it runs just fine. I've already run everything on my computer to clean of spyware, virus's, vundo, and a bunch of other things that I got from the security portion of this site. I've also checked back a few pages of posts and done searches, but it is to no avail.

If any one has any ideas as to what could be the problem, Im willing to try almost anything. oh, and im connecting to the internet from the same ethernet cord, from the same connection, but its on my mac. Which, imo, rules out the problem being something with either of those.

You said "Same ethernet cord, same connection". And what's on the other end of that ethernet cord? How do you connect to your ISP?

1. You connected directly from computer to (cable or dsl) modem? If you have a router or something in between remove it. And, btw, are you using a cable or dsl provider. Have you called them as well see if it's their problem?
2. Have you power cycled the modem?
3. Is the NIC on your mac configured to match the parameters required by your ISP? e.g. DHCP
4. Is an IP address getting assigned to the computer? or are there connection problems even before that step is completed?

1- I connect my ethernet cord straight into the wall. I live in an apartment complex, so I dont really have an ISP to contact.

2- N/a

3-can you explain this a bit more in depth or tell me how to check it. I dont quite understand

4- I do see an IP when I look at the properties of the connection, I can't access it atm, but if needed I can list it.

Hope this helps a little bit. I recently took my PC to my parents house and used my little brothers wireless card. When I arrived home the connection wouldn't work. I've already uninstalled the wireless LAN card drivers, so i dont think thats a factor.

If you believe you're really getting an IP address assigned you're probably OK between you and the device on the other end. But make sure it's listed as the local IP address (eg. not the IP address for a gateway). Also, just to cover all bases: if you see an IP address of 0.0.0.0 it means NO IP address is assigned.

1. An ethernet connection provided in your apartment complex? Now that's handy. But, still, someone is providing the internet connection (probably to a router that services the building then.)
2. n/a
3. Your Network Interface Card (NIC) should be configured to work correctly with the Internet device on the other end of the cable. It typically comes with default values which will work with many devices and configs but not all of the possible device/config combinations. One example, is how you get your IP address
   • Dynamic IP addresses. In this case, your IP address is assigned by the router on the other end. DHCP is the Internet protocol by which your computer requests an IP address and the router gives it one. Your NIC would need be configured to use DHCP. Note it's completely up to the provider when they want to change your IP address. DHCP allows your computer's IP address to be changed in as little as every 4 hours but an ISP wouldn't have a reason to do it that frequently that often. (As i recall, your PC is assigned both an IP address and "lease" time for that IP address. Your PC is supposed to start inquiring about a new IP address after 1/2 the lease time has expired thus the "as often as every 4 hours".)
   • Static IP addresses. If you have a static IP address from your provider, it's assigned and doesn't change. You don't use DHCP. You assign the IP address when configuring the NIC.
   If your cable goes into the wall, then you probably have a router on the other end assigning your IP address dynamically using DHCP (Dynamic Addressing is often the case)
4. Don't tell me your full IP address (is just wise not to provide it in public forums) but you can tell me the first two out of the four numbers in your IP address

I'm familiar with Windows but not Mac OS. In Windows I'd also check my network connections to make sure the NIC card is the only connection enabled while i was testing this out and i;d also check the packet data statistics to see if any data traffic is appearing. Would guess there's an equivalent with MAC's?

Macintosh network config

>but its on my mac.

click the Apple Icon upper-left->system preferences
there are rows/columns of icons; in the fourth row,
click NETWORK

there are two choice boxes; Location: and Show:
click Show->Built-in Ethernet

[if you need to change anything: the bottom left of the window may have a lock symbol: if it's locked,
click it and enter the admin password to unlock it]

there are FIVE buttons just below Show:

tcp/ip, ppoe, apple talk, proxies, ethernet

click tcp/ip
next line is Config ipv4--> make sure it's Using DHCP
next lines are IP addresses and a subnet mask; you should have something
in each of the OTHER than 0.0.0.0
[typically: 192.168.*.*, 172.16.*.*, or 10.*.*.*]

Click the SHOWALL icon at the top to get off this page.

next;
dbl-click your HD icon on the desktop
click Applications -->Utilities
click Network Utility

top left, click and select Ethernet (en0)
you should have status info on the left and traffic info on the right

you can use lookup to test DNS, eg enter www.google.com and click enter

use traceroute to find your isp gateway;
enter 66.75.164.90 and click trace
the second line will contain your isp gateway address

thank you for the input joebeard, but my mac is working fine.

The IP address im being assigned starts with 192.

as far as data traffic, im sending out packets at a steady rate. im up to 214 sent after 10 minutes connected. But nothing is being received.

Also, I only have on connection enabled.

What does the router say is it able to connect to the internet? Do you see any DNS: 00.00.00.00.00 like this you're not connected they?

I used a windows restore point and everything is back to normal.

Thanks for the help everyone.