Following on from CharleyO, the most common cause is firewall blocking the Web Shield file ashWebSv.exe, if that can’t connect then effectively you can’t browse, except for https (SSL, secure encrypted) pages which the web shield can’t and doesn’t scan.

You could have paused or terminated the Web Shield provider to see if that allowed you to browse, it would tend to confirm firewall blocking.

I’m sorry you chose the nuclear option of a factory restore before seeking help on the forums as we may have been able to help you avoid that. I can only assume that since you couldn’t connect to the internet you couldn’t do that, which begs the question how are you connecting now ?

I kept getting an error code Ieframe DNS Error............ Explorer cannot open the webpage.

I’m not entirely sure if the above error is related, but I guess if DNS requests are also routed through the web shield proxy then you would get an error or blank page, etc. though I’m not sure if it would be Ieframe DNS Error, but lots of hits on google http://www.google.com/search?q=Ieframe+DNS+Error

What is your firewall ?
Does it allow ashWebSv.exe internet access ?

  • If it does delete the entries for them and do a manual update and reconnect to the internet, this will force the firewall to ask permission again.

You don’t have to threaten to uninstall and tell your friends to receive a prompt response on these forums.