W2K3 Server can not browse the internet

[ls62]

Hi,

We had a virus infect our W2k3 server and I'm pretty sure it has been cleaned. Malwarebytes and McAfee Enterprise all come up clean now. The problem is that server can not browse the internet, at least anything out on the public internet.

This server is not a dc, and has a static ip address. All the tcp/ip settings see to be ok.

1) I can Ping, tracert and do dns lookups to anywhere on our lan or out to the public.
2) I can FTP to public sites.
3) I can use internet explorer to get to hosted web site on another server on the lan and sharepoint on this server.

When I try to use IE for any public site it just sits there and eventually I get the 'IE cannot display the page' message.

We don't normally use the server for browsing but some software uses http for downloading updates.

Anyone have any idea what I need to do to correct this?

Thanks for any help.
Lee

 

[goombawaho]

When I try to use IE for any public site

Yes, this was someone's first mistake. Never use a server for web browsing. Ideally, you would download the update on a workstation and transfer to the server via network driver or even by memory stick. Memory stick however introduces another vector for malware infection. IT professionals should never get complacent and take the easy way.

Proxy server need to be set??

Try running Junk Removal Tool first and then reboot the server and see if IE is happy. Then:
Link

Have you reset IE options?
Link

Microsoft Fix-Its for Internet Explorer? Not sure if they'll work on a server product.
Link

Sure-fire fix and a much better idea than running IE8 on an old server product (very insecure browser):
Run FireFox or Chrome

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[ls62]

Like I said we generally don't use this for web browsing and only our admin's have access to browse from this server. I'm not sure how we got the virus. The reason I mentioned that IE doesn't work is because in trying to make sure everything was functioning after cleaning the server we found the issue where browsing wouldn't work.

Our McAfee enterprise AV product uses http protocol to download updates so without the http working through the browser we know something was still broken. We were able to switch McAfee to use Ftp to download updates and it that works but it still doesn't explain or resolve why IE or http won't work.

There is no proxy server in our setup.

Any suggestions or idea's on resolving this are appreciated.

Thanks

 

[ls62]

Like I said we generally don't use this for web browsing and only our admin's have access to browse from this server. Your comment about not using the server is understood, but there's not much we can do about that now.

I'm not sure how we got the virus. The reason I mentioned that IE doesn't work is because in trying to make sure everything was functioning after cleaning the server we found the issue where browsing was not working.

Our McAfee enterprise AV product uses http protocol to download updates so without the http working through the browser we know something was still broken. We were able to switch McAfee to use Ftp to download updates and it that works but it still doesn't explain or resolve why IE or http won't work.

There is no proxy server in our setup.

Any suggestions or idea's on resolving this are appreciated.

Thanks

 

[goombawaho]

Did you try anything I suggested? You haven't said what you have tried. Why not use alternate browser if my fixes don't work? IE8 is extremely insecure so you shouldn't even be using it. You should be glad it's broken. If Firefox works for browsing it will give you another troubleshooting step.
Here's another tool: Link

But honestly I wouldn't fool with it and just use an alternate browser.



"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[ls62]

Goombawaho

Sorry I wasn't sure what my associates had tried when I replied to your thread.

Here's what we've done.

1) No we have not tried the removal tool. we will try this.
2) We did reset the IE options and it still does not work.
3) We have not tried the fix-it for IE. We will look into this.
4) WE DID try multiple other browsers and they do not work either. Firefox and Chrome both were tried. Same result.

We would be ok just using another browse all the time but as I said they don't work either.​

Thanks
Lee

 

[goombawaho]

I don't think you mentioned that other browsers didn't work. Do you know the name of the malware that was removed? Are you willing to uninstall the network adapter in device manager, run ccleaner to clean out temp files and then registry, the reboot and install the latest network card driver?

Alternative - disable the existing network card and install a different network card PCI/PCI-E and see if IT is able to provide internet.

Check your HOSTS file and also compare the IPCONFIG /ALL compared to a functioning computer (or bettter - server) on your network.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[ls62]

We could do some of that, but I want to mention again that we have no problem accessing to/from that server on our lan.

We can ping, tracert and FTP from sites outside (public).
We can access our web site running on another server on the lan using any browser on that server.

The hosts file is clean... only has one entry for 127.0.0.1 localhosts

I'll double check the ipconfig /all info.

thanks