Is this a system managed by a company? In that case, please check with your IT department because I don't want to cause you to violate company policy.

If removing some unwanted software stops network access, that software may have made some settings at the system level. Could you check your browser connection settings?

• Internet Explorer: Tools > Internet Options > Connections tab > "LAN settings" button
  • If anything is checked or set here, make a note of it, then clear everything, then test whether that makes a difference

• Firefox: "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Options > Advanced > Network mini-tab > "Settings" button
  • Try "No proxy" to see whether that makes a difference

It is just an individual PC, no company. I have run Firefox for years & never had a problem, Tab plus was one of the add on's in Firefox, but when they went to the latest version for some reason it has been eliminated by the admin's. Now when I type search to go to tumblr or Facebook it will try & connect but it always times out & won't load. I can't load things like YouTube etc.

I am a little confused about something being eliminated by an administrator. If it's your personal computer, aren't you the administrator? Or maybe you got a message from a service company associated with the add-on referring to one of its administrators...

If this was an add-on, could you check whether you still have it among the disabled extensions. Open the Add-ons page using either:

• Ctrl+Shift+a
• "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons

In the left column, click Extensions. Then scroll to the bottom to find disabled extensions and see whether it's there and can be re-enabled. If it can't be re-enabled, could you provide more information about it. If it isn't there at all, I don't know whether we'll get to the bottom of this.