I've been having some problems with my connection for the last few days, problems that I've never quite seen before. I cannot connect to the internet using IE or a few other programs, such as Yahoo Messenger or Steam. However, I AM able to connect using programs such as mIRC, or through online games. Windows reports that the connection is fine, repairing the connection in the Control Panal hasn't helped (it stops halfway through the repair), so I really have no idea what's going on. My first impression was that these were Winsock problems, but Winsock Fix 2.1 hasn't helped either. My only other clue to what might be going on is that I am unable to shut down, restart, or log off the computer - clicking on any of these options through the Windows shutdown menu has no effect.

Can anybody tell me what is going on, and how to fix this? Thank you in advance.