Firefox Issues (personal, not a flaw perse)

[NewScientist]

I have been using Firefox v happily for a long time now, however, after upgrading to Version 1.5 on my laptop it has lost the ability to access the internet!

Some additional info:
the laptop connects to the web via a wireless LAN,
firefox DOES load but displays the 'Page cannot be loaded' screen
at the time of my upgrade, I also installed MSN messenger
Also I reactivated IE

THis program too cannot access the internet - I have tried a sysem restore and uninstallation/reinstallation to no avail - any ideas?

NB - there is a high percentage chance that it could be ports related : which ports need to be open for the 2 programs to work. - OH another fact - IE still runs and can access internet.

 

[[Quadratic]]

What kind of wireless network are you on? Ad-hoc? Or do you have a wireless router? If you have a router, get into it's settings and try restoring them to the factory default. I've had to do that a couple times after installing certain programs on my lappy.

 

[dduardo]

Have you tried deleting your profile? Here is the location:

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_Folder#Firefox

Make sure to backup any bookmarks you want to save.

 

[franznietzsche]

Firefox runs on the same ports as IE(port 80). If IE is accessing webpages then your problem is elsewhere.

 

[NewScientist]

An update, my ADSL router which provides the broadband link has just been repaired and this has allowed me to investigate the problem more, it is now apparent NO other programs except IE can access internet!

any ideas why/any solution?