Internet Connection Error

I can connect to the internet - ie. the dial up is successfull - but cannot access any website, just get error page as if the website does not exist. I have checked settings and the account settings are correct
Also I am getting a Symantech Email Proxy error telling me the network is not properly configured
Does anybody have any suggestions pls?

Did this work before? If so what has changed since? In situations such as this it is normally prudent to start checking for viruses/parasites. See . Have you tried another browser in case the problem is browser specific?

Has anyone encountered this problem with Internet Explorer.When I try to launch Microsoft internet Explorer, a message appears:
"Microsoft internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close. we are sorry for the inconvenience.............................
Please tell Microsoft about this problem. We have created an error report...........
Given the option to :Send error report or Dont send
Fearing some kind of hi jack I select dont send but sceeen just freezes.
Cant proceed with internet explorer.
Have suceeded in installing Firefox so will happily ignore IE but would like to know what kind of virus or parasite is on my machine.
Have done usual antivirus/ spybot/ adaware/ registry cleaner
Any advice gratefully received. thanks

It may not be a virus/parasite/hijack at all. From the error it seems that IE is simply crashing on startup. This could be due to innumerable issues and not necessarily any infection. One way of attempting to find out why is to work out when it worked last and what changed to cause it to stop working. It may be possible to rectify the problem by doing a repair or re-install of IE. Bear in mind that even if you use another browser it is sometimes still necessary to use IE (e.g. for some sites and Windows Update in particular).