Originally Posted by
efreeti
You don't know first-hand if mine does that. I do. And it doesn't.
*sigh*
First-hand meaning my personal experience. I've seen at least a dozen different firewalls, hardware and software, that claim they are 'disabled', when in fact they block almost any access outside the network. I'm not saying it's your case. I'm saying that because I've seen at least 12 cases where that WAS the case, it MIGHT be your problem, which is why I suggested you double-check. And the fact that you're refusing to at least check isn't helping. How hard is it to try something. It would take you less than it took to post and wait for my replies.
And obviously since you didn't start misunderstanding me, you know what you're doing with your computer, so I don't assume you don't know anything about computers. But I DO assume that you're taking the info you're given for granted. The fact that it says something's disabled, and that it's supposed to be, doesn't mean it is.
And the fact that for now you're not getting a solution, at least trying a somewhat weird solution isn't a problem. It isn't going to kill you, in any case.