Website won't work properly

[Rob Pomeroy]

Oh, okay Soybean.  That's that hypothesis out of the window.  I guess the target IP depends on your location.  Maybe in the US you get 66.xxx.xxx.xxx while in the UK we get 145.xxx.xxx.xxx.

crispbreeze, now you're a whizz at working the command prompt, could we move onto the next test?  This time use the following command: telnet www.wikipedia.org 80

Again, please give the output, if any.  If it appears that nothing is happening after a while, you can just close the command prompt.

[crispbreeze]

Hi Rob. Sorry for the lateness of the response but I had a ton of deadlines to meet and my computer didn't make it any easier with its constant stalling and loss of internet connection so I've been short on time. Anyway, there was no output.

[Rob Pomeroy]

<rob mumbles to himself>
  ping but can't telnet to port 80...  ping but can't telnet to port 80...
  ping but can't telnet to port 80...  ping but can't telnet to port 80...
</rob mumbles to himself>

I'm a bit foxed.  A firewall could cause this problem, but I don't see why anyone would just exclude Wikipedia's IP addresses.  Are you still having this problem?  Have you any other computers you can try?

Yes, it would be worth jumping through all the anti-spyware and anti-virus hoops.  If you need links to some reputable, free anti-malware programs, look in the software FAQ (see my signature).

[crispbreeze]

Hi again, Rob.

I uninstalled and reinstalled the whole microsoft system and wikipedia works now, finally! Thanks for all your help, Rob. See you around.

[Dilbert]

I uninstalled and reinstalled the whole microsoft system

[Raptor]

I uninstalled and reinstalled the whole microsoft system

Bill Gates was not amused.

[Rob Pomeroy]

Hi again, Rob.

I uninstalled and reinstalled the whole microsoft system and wikipedia works now, finally! Thanks for all your help, Rob. See you around.

Well I'm glad you sorted it.  I'm sure the format-reinstall was good therapy too.