XP refuses to open microsoft.com

[Galaxy High]

why, oh why, will my computer not open certain sites?
I have tried IE and firefox both dont seem to work

here is a list so far...

microsoft (the irony)
ebay
imdb
download
zdnet
+ many others

any help much appreciated
sam

 

[Spike]

Silly question perhaps - do you use a router, and do you use AOL for your internet?

Those very same sites fail to open in these circumstances when the MTU is set incorrectly.

 

[Galaxy High]

yes i do use a router and i am signed up to AOL, but dont use their broweser. What is MTU??

cheers again
sam

 

[RealBlackStuff]

Go here first:
http://www.dslreports.com/tweaks

Then get DrTCP here:
http://www.dslreports.com/drtcp

With the help of the above you can 'tune' your internet settings (one of them is MTU)

 

[Spike]

Change the MTU for your connection to 1400 on BOTH your router (then reboot it) and then XP (as per the guide posted by RBS above.)

 

[Galaxy High]

Cheers guys!!!

I owe you both a pint!

Regards,
Sam

 

[Galaxy High]

Reprise

I've become stuck, again.
I've recently acquired a new-ish PC, for free.
I've hooked it up to the router and everything seems fine.
Until, I have the same prblem as last time, not being able to visit microsoft.com (see first post)
It cant be anything to do with my router (can it?) as I used the Router config thing (cheers RBS) successfuly on my laptop.

Any help, as always, much apreciated.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Well, try it out and see if it fixes the problem. Cheers! :grinthumb

 

[Galaxy High]

nahh, no change.

 

[RealBlackStuff]

Check the router's website for a firmware update. Read the specifics of the update, then install it if it includes your problem.
Netgear DG834G had this problem (DNS Proxy could fail over time), which was fixed by a firmware update.

 

[Galaxy High]

Yeah man.
Firmware. I had no idea how I managed to sort it out so, sheer fluke, so I cant really say what I did.

Thanx for all your help guys.

MTU at 1400, cheers spike.