I cannot open any website on my Windows Vista machine though I am connected to internet ( can make calls using Skype). I am connected to a wireless network. Everytime, when I open a URL, it shows error that name could not be resolved. I tried to ping the dns server and it successfully pinged.
Also, when I reboot the machine in Ubuntu, I am able to open websites.
Windows – Cannot open any website but connected to internet
internetwindows-vista
Related Solutions
For how Windows determines internet connectivity, see this SuperUser question. Basically, Windows tries to access a Microsoft hosted text document and judges your connectivity depending on the response (timeout, 403 denied, 200 OK, etc).
Yes, BitTorrent (or anything else) using excessively large chunks of your bandwidth can saturate your connection. Basically, you're transferring so much at once that other packets end up timing out and getting dropped. Imagine a water pipe, if you try to put too much in it will fill up faster than it can be emptied and start overflowing, losing the water that overflows.
A typical IP (Internet Protocol) request requires you to send some packets to the server you are requesting from, which will then send some packets back - its response. This requires both some upstream and downstream bandwidth. When your upstream bandwidth becomes saturated, you can't send the request. When your downstream bandwidth becomes saturated, you can't receive the response. It is entirely possible for a BitTorrent client to use all your available bandwidth.
Generally, it is best to set your BitTorrent client to only utilise up to 80% of your upstream and downstream bandwidth, as determined by speed tests. If you require low latency, e.g. online gaming, the percentage should be even lower.
It's also possible for BitTorrent to overload home modems and routers by opening too many connections, overflowing their NAT tables. The maximum number of connections should therefore be kept at a fairly low level. A maximum of 300 connections globally should be alright. An overflowing NAT table's symptoms will vary from router to router, but often cause them to freeze.
I had a feeling that OpenVPN not working had something to do with faulty drivers (software that tells the operating system how to use the hardware), so I followed the following steps.
Uninstall the OpenVPN software. This will also uinstall the TAP adapter. This is what you want. Then you want to uninstall your computer's wifi drivers, but it has to be done properly.
Then you want to go to your computer manufacturer's website, and download the latest drivers for the wifi adapter (drivers are located in the support section). Make sure you download the correct installer.
Open Device Manager
. It can be opened by using the Windows + X shortcut, or going to Start then Run Windows + R and typing in devmgmt.msc
, or searching for it in the Start menu, or going to Control Panel then clicking Device Manager (under Hardware and Sound if you're on "category view").
Once open, expand Network adapters
and right click the one that says Wi-Fi Adapter
then click uninstall.
Important! Check the box to delete the wifi drivers from your computer.
The reason why you must do this, is because if you don't, when you restart your computer, windows will automatically install the driver again (as it does with all drivers you uninstall if you don't check the box). You want the wifi driver (and it's installer) to be completely gone from your computer, so windows does not install it again when you restart your computer.
Once checked, click OK.
Important! What windows does not tell you (as the windows usability is terrible and appalling), is that when you uninstall drivers from your computer using Device Manager and click OK, even though the driver list flashes and the driver you chose is gone from the list, it does not actually uninstall when you click OK. To finalise the installation, you must restart your computer. (Reinstalling the driver now won't work, as it will install corrupted due to traces of the faulty driver still existing on your computer, despite the software telling you that it uninstalled successfully.)
So restart your computer.
Once you have restarted your computer, you might notice that the wifi icon in the system tray
(the icons where the clock is) has a red X
on it, indicating that your computer does not have the ability to scan for wifi networks. This is good.
Do not install your wifi driver yet. There are steps you must do, before you do that.
The first thing you must do, is make sure that the installer for your wifi driver runs as administrator
. On Windows, .exe
executables (or programs), by default (the decision that happens unprompted), do not run with full permissions. They run with limited permissions. This means that they cannot use the full capabilities that Windows has. As you want to install a driver (a wifi driver to be specific), you want it to run with full privileges, or in Windows speak, make it run as administrator
.
You could right click the .exe
installer and click run as administrator
, but what if you forget to do that, double click the file instead, then have to do the whole instructions again?
What you want to do is right click the installer for the driver, then click properties. Then go to the compatibilty
tab. Then check the run as administrator
tab then click OK.
Do not install the driver yet.
Another thing that might be happening is that your antivirus software might be blocking the driver. Even if the installer file itself isn't blocked (or you antivirus says the file is safe), it might be a file that extracts lots of files to your computer, and one of those files it extracts might be blocked.
What you must do is disable your security software. Security software is notorious for interfering with the installation of drivers. Security software is also notorious for blocking the functionality of software and installers without giving you a visual indication/notification that the software has been blocked (which happened to me). You might want to check your security software to see which files have been sandboxed or quarantined to mark them as safe.
I use Comodo Internet Security (it's free xD), so I disabled both the antivirus and auto-sandbox. What you must do will depend on what security software you have installed.
For me, the process is simple.
Now you are ready to install the wifi driver on your computer. You better of downloaded the right installer onto your computer LOL.
Once you have installed your wifi driver, you then have to install OpenVPN, but must also be run as administrator. (Well you are installing a TAP driver.)
Once done, enable your security software, and the whole process is done. That's the end of the instructions.
Now you should be able to connect to your wifi network, and then your vpn using openvpn.
Note that when you uninstall openvpn, your connection profiles
are not deleted, so you might want to delete duplicate profiles from your computer.
Now everything should work.
Best Answer
This is a DNS issue.
Go to your network settings and see what DNS is currently used. It is most likely set to obtain one from your router. Try putting in
4.2.2.1
which is a free public verizon DNS and see if that makes a difference.As a test, try putting in
http://72.14.204.147
into your browser. That should get you to google.com.