Thanks again everyone. Have done the iconfig /flushdns and restarted modem and PC but nothing changed!
ipconfig /all came up with this:
Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : stuart01
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : vic.bigpond.net.au
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 3Com 3C920 Integrated Fast Ethernet Controller (3C905C-TX Compatible)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-B0-D0-36-C1-19
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : vic.bigpond.net.au
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : SMC EZ Connect USB/Ethernet Series Converter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-04-E2-7B-60-67
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.0.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.138
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.138
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 61.9.192.14
61.9.192.15
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, 19 December 2006 3:01:50 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, 19 December 2006 5:01:50 PM
I have passed this back to my ISP who also suggested the flush, that said it had been satisfactorily completed.
Haven't tried
Duff Beer's suggestion yet as it sounds a bit radical but am getting desperate enough too soon!
I also have a hijacked browser and don't seem to be able to get rid of the highjackers!
When I first attempt to go into my browser it does not come up with my chosen default page but comes up with
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid54834 and after a few seconds changes to
http://runonce.msn.com/runonce2.aspx which shows a blank page with the tab, (IE7), saying "customise settings" - I don't understand this and my efforts in privacy and security to block these two sites doesn't work either.
I'll reload IE7 and see if that helps.
EDIT My ISP came back and said my DNS settings were wrong, (but didn't give me the correct ones to insert manually!), and that I should go into Internet Connections and ensure that the boxes "Obtain Automatically" were ticked, which they were, so no change there and reloading IE7 made no difference, my browser is still hijacked! Have passed the ball back to ISP in the hope that they have some better ideas,
Duff Beers suggestion gets more attractive by the minute!
2nd EDIT
received these instructions from ISP:
Dear Stuart,
Thank you for your email dated 19/12/2006 regarding DNS settings.
The DNS servers which your connection appears to be using are old, invalid DNS servers not currently used by BigPond. Please complete the following steps:
* click Start,
* click Control Panel,
* click Network Connections,
* right-click Local Area Connection (Description Alcatel SpeedTouch, SpeedStream Ethernet, or the SMC EZ Connect USB/Ethernet Series Converter),
* click Properties,
* highlight Internet Protocol (TCP/IP),
* click Properties,
* select "Use the following IP address",
* enter 10.0.0.1 as the IP Address (Can also use 10.0.0.2 - 3 - 4 and so on),
* enter 255.255.255.0 as the Sub net mask,
* enter 10.0.0.138 as the Default Gateway,
* select "Use the following DNS Server Addresses",
* enter 10.0.0.138 as the Preferred DNS Server,
* click on the Advanced button,
* click on the DNS tab,.
* select "Append these DNS suffixes (in order):",
* click on the Add button,
* type "vic.bigpond.net.au" (without quotations),
* click on the Add button,
* click on the Add button again,
* type x.bigpond.net.au where x=your state (New South Wales and ACT = nsw, Queensland=qld, South Australia=nt, Western Australia=wa),
* click OK 3 times to return to the connection window.
but they changed nothing, (well I lost my email too but reverted to old settings and it seems to be back) Also right at the bottom where it says, "click on the Add button again" - it won't accept the information as it is identical to that just above, "type vic.bigpond.net.au"
Life is becoming a green swirling mass at the moment and tall buildings are starting to look attractive! Just kidding, but it is a pain in the nether regions!.