no internet but yahoo messenger still works?

Hi Im new to this forum and not the best with pcs but my friend asked me to look at her laptop as it wont let you connect through firefox or ie but yahoo messenger still works !. when it boots up there is a message saying "internet error host is unreachable" - i tried turning off the firewall norton etc but still wont connect - its running xp sp3

Hello beppeboy, welcome to the forum.
Has the machine had a past infection, like just recently?

Try this.
Press start > Run
type this in: ipconfig /release
Press enter.
Press start > Run again.
type this in: ipconfig /renew
Press enter.

Does it work now?

If not, try this.
Press start > Run
type this in: netsh winsock reset
Press enter.

Thanks very much for the quick response .. im at work at the mo so unable to try that out but will give it a go tomorrow and let you know .. im unaware of any recent infection but will double check -

cheers Belahzur

Okay, will watch out for your reply.

Hi Belahzur .. i tried what you said but still no joy - and since last night it does not even connect to yahoo messenger - as for spyware the only thing i can see was mywebsearch which i believe adaware removed ...
Any further advice would be gratefully received

Cheers

Hello.
Mywebsearch doesn't install on it's own, it has to be installed by malware. There is probably malware hiding on your system.
I want you to post a Hijack This log in the malware removal forum.

Please download the current version of HijackThis from The links provided here.

• Double click and run the installer.
  
• It will install to C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\HijackThis\hijackthis.exe
  
• After installing, you should get the user agreement, press accept and Hijack This will run.
  
• Select Do a system scan and save a log file. This will open a notepad file of everything Hijack This found, copy and paste it.
  

hi Belahzur - i have posted the log ... cheers