Hello Folks,

Was hoping you can help me with an issue I've been facing.

I've recently cleaned a computer infested with various viruses and spyware.
I don't know the condition of the system prior to being solicated to repair
it.

Anyway, removed all of the viruses and spyware without to much problem. Of
course, things were rooted inside of the operating system and I was forced to
repair the operating system (Windows XP Home).

After repairing the system the computer ran far more smoothly and appeared
to be running. Had a couple issues with Norton Anti-Virus and I replaced it
with Avast. Also, got rid of several freeware anti-spyware programs and am
using Microsoft Anti-Spyware software.

The problem that I am facing now is that there seems to be an issue with
connectivity. What happens is that after rebooting the system I can access
the internet through IE browser. After a minute or so I lose all connectivity
through the browser and am unable to reach any site.

I checked to see the settings using "IPconfig" and there were appeared to be
nothing wrong. Interestingly, I can sucessfully connect via the command
prompt, to ftp, ping, and telnet services.

So far as a solution I've tried:
Deleting and Reinstalling the TCP/IP protocols.
Removing winsock & winsock2 and reinstalling several times using a couple
different methods. (netdiag + LSP fix)
I am currently in the process of repairing the OS (with winsock/2 deleted)
in the hopes that it will repair.

I am beginning to think that the issue may not be with the TCP/IP Protocols
or the Winsock. I suspected that the IE Browser may be the problem and tried
using firefox to see if I could keep an active connection. Firefox was
unsuccessful.

Basically, I've run out of ideas. I'd appreciate any advice or insight that
any of you can offer.

Thanks,

Ben