[foxxyvixxen]

Hello, this is a rather lengthy and irritating problem. I will start by saying that I have had and used Windows XP on my HP computer for about a year now. I have successfully been connecting to the internet using AOL 9.0 the entire time.
About a month ago, I installed Netzero to my computer, and I was jumping back and forth between netzero and AOL sucessfully. The entire time I have connected to the internet I have had virus protection - first with Norton, then with McAfee. Recently, my subscription to McAfee ran out, and I decided to uninstall and try a free virus protection program downloaded from the web - BIG mistake. That was last Thursday, and ever since my computer has not been the same. Other than THAT incident, I have done NOTHING out of the ordinary, simply connected to chat with friends and play some games, as I have always done.
The following evening, my internet connection was behaving oddly, only allowing me to send and recieve e-mails. I could not view ANY web pages. I decided to restart the computer, only to find that when I tried to reconnect, I would get to step 5 of AOL and the connection would stop - with no error message. I tried logging on through Netzero; this dialed me up, went through the connection process, said I was logged in, but then started the dialing process over again, with no error message. With each ISP, I can hear the computer dial and connect.
I have checked the phone line, it works. On the Friday following the download of the supposed virus protection, I unninstalled it, thinking it was the source of my problems - most likely a trojan. So, I went to Best Buy and forked out $50 to get McAfee again, thinking it would surely resolve my issue - 120,000 files scanned, no infected files, or suspicious files or programs... STILL no internet connection.
I have run the modem detection, it says it is installed and running properly. I have gone through the motions of countless troubleshooting steps, through AOL, Netzero, and Windows XP. None have resolved my problem. I cannot for the life of me figure out what has happened or how to resolve it. No other part of my computer has been affected at all, everything else is running smoothly. While I was poking around, searching for a possible solution (in vain, of course - I am not very computer savvy), I came upon a page on my computer that listed all the technical stuff about my computer - model, maker, hardware installed, etc. Where it listed my IP address, it said: 0.0.0.0
I am DESPERATE because I have been using a friend's computer to check e-mail and spend the COUNTLESS hours searching the web for an explaination, and the most I have come up with is that it is most likely "a Windows XP problem." I will gladly try any suggestions. PLEASE help me!!!