plse help with network connections and internet

[maverickr62]

hi guys, im hoping someone can help me. god knows what i have done but my network/internet settings seem to have gone fubar!

when i go to click multiplayer in cfs3 i can a 'network error' message - this bever happen before. i use imesh for music downloads - this no longer connects to the servers. when i follow there trouble shooting pages it mentions ome ports (??) 139 and 445 and these have to be open but they are blocked. also, i cant seem to open avhistory's pages or the 46th design teams pages. its say they are unavailable etc. but i know they are 100% working because i check them at work and all is ok.

i do have sp2 but this all happened befor i installed the SP. i thought it might help solve it!! i dont have virus protection enabled and my firewall is OFF both my own one and the sp2 one. im stumped!! and it really winding me up!!!

hope some one can help.... if you can im a bit of a plank when it comes to this so a step by step would be a great help. thanx  ;)

[Politically Incorrect]

First and foremost you should never have a computer connected to the Internet without anti-virus or a firewall running!! This could be the problem of a port being blocked, you could be infected, or something is hijacking you.

As for blocked ports you may have to contact your ISP to find out how to unblock them, they should be able to tell you which ones are being blocked and how to fix them.
Or wait a little longer to see if someone can give a answer that will explain how to do it, I have a idea but might confuse you beyond belife

[eno]

Heres a hint for you .......... and many other posters who ask specific questions. Give as much information as possible!!!

Operating system?... Im assuming XP
How are you connecting ... modem/adsl/cable?
What firewall and antivirus, if any, are you using because sometimes switching them off doesn't, it just disables the main features and leaves background bits and bobs running.

The first thing I would suggest is checking the security settings in Internet Explorer if thats what you use ... put INTERNET to medium ... that gives enough protection for general use. Included in SP2 is an automatic pop up blocker .... try disabling that.
As for anything else more info is required.

cheers
eno

[maverickr62]

no worries.... its XP, running a built-in firewall on my broadband BT Voyger router. which i can switch from off to high in varying degrees. i have avg confgigured so that it can be completly turned off and not running in tha back ground.

the internet security setting are at medium eno.... i do have the pop-up blocker on. wi will try to remove that.... but as i say it was happeneing befor i installed sp2 so that shouldnt be a problem. good suggestion though