At least someone else is on the same page with me!
I have used the same programs for some time now, Symantec Personal Firewall, Norton Anti-virus. I have to admit that I can't remember exactly what I was doing on Friday that might have started this problem. I've looked at logs and don't find anything even showing up for that date, and nothing particularly interesting for the next day when I turned the machine on again.
I manually dial up to the internet, nothing is set to automatically log on. I've unplugged the modem a few times to see if that helps, but it doesn't. In the last few days I did reinstall Spybot Search and Destroy, and I did back up the registry--does this set off any alarms for you?
I tried to use the Run feature from the start button for "ipconfig/flushdns" (no quotes) but it doesn't like that command.
I do use Earthlink as my Internet Provider, but I don't think I've done anything with their software for a while. But maybe this needs to go back to them for another examination (now that I've apologized for suggesting that their DSL coverage in this area was out and they didn't warn us. . . )
I have a router set up for wireless access from the kids' computer, and it works as well as ever. My computer is plugged into the router, and even if I plug in the DSL connection straight from the DSL modem, it still doesn't work. So I've ruled out the hardware and a lot of the software stuff.
Thanks for you assistance, I'll keep looking at the flush dns thing.