Very strange Internet Problem with Applications.

[quarantine]

So, I was on my gaming computer yesterday, I was using some applications like Steam, xfire, Counter-strike etc.. If any of you are familiar with steam you'll know there is an in-game community page where you can see your groups/friends and other info about your personal steam profile by press alt+tab. Well anyway, I was in game and needed to view that page, I tried opening it and it was loading really slow, until is gave me "This program cannot display the webpage".

Here is a screenshot of the exact message it gave me.

http://i34.tinypic.com/65sxp3.jpg

Later I found out that absolutely ALL programs besides my interenet browsers, (Opera, firefox, IE) Appeared to be blocked from displaying web based pages.

For example, steam won't load my community page inside the client, Veoh (steaming video app) won't load any videos, xfire doesn't load the banner ads at the top.

BUT remember I can still access the internet with these apps, Just none of them will render what appears to be web based code like

HTML, flash etc..  WITHIN non-browser applications only. I can still use web browsers fine.

Things I've tried....

disabling my firewall & checking if the programs were allowed
disabling my anti-virus
Restarting my router
repairing my internet connection.

I am running Windows XP Home Edition version 2002 Service Pack 3.

Any advice? I am so frustrated trying to figure this out.

EDIT: If it's any help I also found out all of my internet browsers are running under a proxy that I DIDN'T set. I'm not sure if adware could be responsible or what.

It says it's using "local host"  as the name address when I check me ip.

[Broni]

Did you try System Restore?

[quarantine]

I did not, I think i'll give that a shot and report back.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[Broni]

We'll be here

[quarantine]

Did you try System Restore?

I think my system restore points were deleted.

I tells me windows cannot restore to an earlier time when ever I attempt a restore. 

[Broni]

Try from Safe Mode.

[quarantine]

Try from Safe Mode.

I selected plain "Safe Mode", it successfully booted, I tried restoring to a later time, and It gave me the same result "Windows cannot restore to an earlier time" .

 

[Broni]

Download HijackThis:
http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/tools/security_tools/hijackthis/download
Click on Download HijackThis Installer
Post HijackTHis log.

[quarantine]

Download HijackThis:
http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/tools/security_tools/hijackthis/download
Click on Download HijackThis Installer
Post HijackTHis log.

I put the log as an attachment.

[Saving space - attachment deleted by admin]

[Broni]

The log looks clean.

Try some basic connection fixes, and we'll go from there:

Turn off computer. Disconnect router, and modem from power source for 30 seconds.
Power them back on.
Restart computer.

If that doesn't work, bypass router, and connect computer straight to the modem.

If that doesn't work...
Go Start>Run (Start search in Vista), type in:
cmd
Click OK.

In Command Prompt window, type in following commands, and hit Enter after each one:
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /registerdns
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew

Restart computer.

If that doesn't work...
Go Start>Run (Start search in Vista), type in:
cmd
Click OK.

At Command Prompt, type in:
netsh int ip reset reset.log
Hit Enter.
Type in:
netsh winsock reset catalog
Hit Enter.

Restart computer.


If that doesn't work...
Download, install, and run WinSockFix: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Network-Tweak/WinSockFix.shtml
Restart computer, and check again.