Connected, but not?Follow

So the problem is with my brother's laptop. The computer says it has a working internet connection, I can ping websites and my router without a problem, but nothing is able to connect. Not firefox, IE, aim, or Steam. Absolutely nothing. I can't even load the router configuration through a browser.He also can't connect wirelessly or through a hardline.

There is no IP conflict and the DNS settings are fine. There are no firewalls blocking his connection. I use a Linksys router that works fine for my two desktops, laptop, 2 360s, and PS2. The problem seems to be isolated to just his laptop. According to him, it started with him having to click links 3 or 4 times to get them to work until it finally just stopped loading pages.

Today I will be scanning his pc for malware and viruses and I'll also check the registry to see if there are any errors. I'm posting here in hopes that someone else has had this problem and what they did to resolve it. Thank you.

His wireless is built in. But like I said, it's the same no matter if he's wireless or using an ethernet cord. Yes he can connect to other networks, but with the same problem.

Troubleshooting the network card is a good idea, but I don't have an extra one and replacing hardware is a last resort. And wouldn't it be a software issue seeing as I can ping outside sources?

Ok, I've fixed the problem and it was either one of two things(did them both at the same time).

His Norton trial had expired so it was just sitting there on his system doing nothing so I removed it thinking that maybe its firewall could be causing a problem.

Also, I noticed that I could not find Windows Firewall on his xp sp2 system, which was pretty odd. I couldn't even change its settings in the LAN settings. I would just click the button and nothing would happen. I had to go into Administrative Tools and disable it.

After that, I restarted the laptop and everything is working fine.