Question : Cannot access any microsoft web sites - SBS 2003

Hi,

I am not able to access any microsoft web sites, however I can access most others. I cannot even ping the microsoft website IP address 207.46.198.30.

I have SBS 2003. I use a Netgear DG834G router to connect to the net which also acts as the DHCP server.

Previously I tried "nslookup www.microsoft.com" and it came up with my servers IP address and then some error like can't resolve the name or something. I tried it again just now and it says the following:

server:  myserver.domainname.local
address:   192.168.0.2

non-authorative answer:
name:  microsoft.com
address:  66.199.240.221
aliases:  www.microsoft.com

But i still can't ping it or the IP address.

I have had a look at the host file in c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc and it has nothing except localhost which points to 127.0.0.1 and an entry for a printer which points to the printer IP address of 192.168.0.4.
I currently don't have any anti-virus software on it as I am trying to figure out what is a good one for an SBS server (any suggestions). I know this is not good practice but I am flat broke and need to make sure my money is spent wisely. I did one of those online scans though using Trend Micro web site and it came up with nothing.
I have also installed Microsoft Anti-spyware (downloaded from another PC) and done a full scan (after updating it) which also came up with nothing.

I tried "ipconfig /flushdns" and also went into DNS manager and right clicked on the server and clicked on "clear cache".

There are no other PC's on the network so I am unable to test from anything else. I just tried www.yahoo.com and appear to have the exact same problem with this site. Every other web site I have tried seems to work. I also currently don't have SP1 installed as I am not able to get to the MS website.

Obviously it's not a DNS problem as I can't even ping the IP. So I'm completely lost. Can anyone help me.

Thanks
Simon Rix

Answer : Cannot access any microsoft web sites - SBS 2003

PAQed with points refunded (500)

CetusMOD
Community Support Moderator