try this first

click on start, then run

type cmd and press enter, you'll get a black screen with white writing

you will have no choice as to where to type, don't worry about that,

type   ping google.com

If you get a screen something like;

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Owner1>ping google.com

Pinging google.com [209.85.225.99] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 209.85.225.99: bytes=32 time=61ms TTL=51
Reply from 209.85.225.99: bytes=32 time=32ms TTL=51
Reply from 209.85.225.99: bytes=32 time=35ms TTL=51
Reply from 209.85.225.99: bytes=32 time=38ms TTL=51

Ping statistics for 209.85.225.99:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 32ms, Maximum = 61ms, Average = 41ms

C:\Documents and Settings\Owner1>

If you get that type of response they you are getting on the Internet.

 Let us know the result of the test.