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My windows 10 computer suddenly got a problem with connecting to the internet. It started with my login pin not working, due to being offline. I then started noticing that most of the software on my computer could not connect to the internet at all, but some worked fine.

Working and not working stuff

Stuff confirmed not working:

  • Windows login
  • Windows Update
  • Discord Client
  • Twitch Client
  • Edge
  • Internet Explorer
  • Kaspersky installation downloader

Stuff confirmed working:

  • Steam
  • Chrome
  • Firefox
  • Torrent client
  • Plex server
  • Ping in cmd
  • Dropbox

Stuff I've tried that did not solve it

  • Other computers on the same network work fine. This computer tethered via USB to my phone shows the same problem. This leads me to believe the problem is in Windows.

  • Running both MalwareBytes and Kaspersky, both in premium trials. They found one or two threats each, but removing them did not solve the issue.

  • Rebooting the computer into Safe mode with networking.

  • Changing the DNS settings to either Google's DNS or 1.1.1.1.

  • Disabling proxy settings in internet settings (they were never on).

  • Turning off firewall.

  • Disabling antivirus (only Windows defender installed when problem appeared).

  • Running the following commands in an elevated command prompt.

Commands:

ipconfig /flushdns
netsh winsock reset catalog
netsh int ipv4 reset reset.log

Other information possibly relevant

The day before my chrome acted up, showing clear signs of being infected by a malware, from god knows where. All my google search results were littered with spam links, and about half of the real links instead pointed to something called Search Feed Tech. After uninstalling some extensions that problem disappeared. But it seems to much of a coincidence to not be linked. Again, MalwareBytes did not find anything.

I have not been able to install windows updates for several months. Every time it tries to install an update it crashes with an error code, resets the update, and reboots back to normal. Searching around for that error code seemed to be a problem with missing DLLs from the N version of my windows. Have not been able to remedy that.

Per Enström
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  • Possible duplicate of [How can I remove malicious spyware, malware, adware, viruses, trojans or rootkits from my PC?](https://superuser.com/questions/100360/how-can-i-remove-malicious-spyware-malware-adware-viruses-trojans-or-rootkit) – harrymc Sep 11 '18 at 08:59
  • @harrymc I wouldn't say duplicate. That's a possible solution to my problem. But the problem statement is different. That being said, I will read through those answers. Thank you. – Per Enström Sep 11 '18 at 09:07
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    Your problems are cleaning **and** restoring. The only sure remedy is reinstalling Windows after format of the disk. – harrymc Sep 11 '18 at 09:13
  • So in your mind this is 100% a malware issue? – Per Enström Sep 11 '18 at 10:56
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    I think this is mostly damage from after the malware, but there is never any guarantee that it was totally cleaned out. In the link I gave as duplicate you will find lots of helpful advice. – harrymc Sep 11 '18 at 11:00
  • To add to those suggestions from the other question also check your hosts file. This is ancient but can be used to block or redirect traffic and is still used by some malware authors today to have a lasting effect after the obvious infection is removed. As the top answer there says though the best thing would be to completely erase the disk and reinstall everything, because this install is now officially tainted. In the future something like [Sandboxie](https://www.sandboxie.com) may help if you run any possibly-shady programs. – l3l_aze Sep 15 '18 at 04:04
  • Thank you all for questions and tips. I went with formatting and reinstalling. Luckily, a Windows 10 Pro N digital license works fine with regular Windows 10 Pro! – Per Enström Sep 16 '18 at 14:40

0 Answers0