MSN Messenger and Mcafee internet access blocked

[Laurence]

Hi,

I have recently updated to broadband via BT (not cable) and everything was working fine until my mother started interferring. I have set up a router to split the internet connect throughout the house. Recently the internet stopped working and my mother, being in a panic, called a help desk for the broadband, who took her through changing settings. Everything is working on the computer, except MSN Messenger and Mcafee Virus Scan will not connect to the internet.

I have had a look through the network and internet settings, although not sure what I should be looking for. Everything was working ok before she played about with the settings, but now I cannot update my virus definitions or connect to MSN Messenger. The normal windows messenger works fine as does all other internet applications.

Has anyone any idea what to do and how to sort out? I have checked the firewall on the computer to make sure it was not blocking any applications, although it is not!

Hope everyone is having a Merry Christmas!

Cheers

[chewmanfoo]

Configure MSN Messenger and McAfee to use a proxy. I'm not sure how to do this in McAfee, but in Messenger, do the following:

1. In MSN Messenger, click the Tools menu
2. Click the Connections tab
3. Click the Advanced Settings button
4. In the HTTP proxy box, type the internal address of your router (ie. 192.168.1.1)

Not sure if this will work but it's worth a shot.

[FlyingPenguin]

Hi Lawrence,

Welcome to PCA.

I have to disagree with chewmanfoo. You don't need a proxy behind a NAT router.

It's going to be VERY hard to troubleshoot your problem without knowing what settings were changed on your computer.

Are you certain this is not a problem with the entire LAN? It's possible the router is acting up. I would recommend you check to see if MSN is working on the other computers. If it is, then the problem is not with the router, it's with your computer.

It's FAR more likely that your firewall is blocking these programs than the router. You can safely disable the firewall if you're behind a router. Disable it and see if the problem clears up.

If you haven't done it yet, you should power down the router and restart it (power cycle). ANYTIME you have issues with your broadband you should power cycle the modem and the router.

Hope this helps.

[Laurence]

Hi,

Thanks for the advice. I went through an diabled the firewall via mcafee and everything worked fine. Looks like the setting changes caused mcafee to block itself. did a complete reinstall of mcafee and changed a few of the settings. Everything seems to be working ok now and hopefully if my mother doesn't play around again, should remain that way.

Cheers

[MegaVectra]

brrrrrrrrrr MCAFEE!