This may be connected to several issues.
Firstly, what browser are you using, and what version of it? Do you have any other applications installed that uses the internet connection at the same time? Have you ran a full ad-/spy-/malware scan and deleted anything suspicious?
Secondly we need to take a look at your router. What is enabled and disabled of security features in it, is NAT on or off? Is your computer configured to be in the DMZ of the router or not?
There's also the chance that your ISP's DNS server doesn't handle URL requests properly. In stead of just typing in "hotmail.com", try with www.hotmail.com" and so on. I've been changing between ISPs quite often, and some DNS servers aren't configured properly to process URLs without the leading "www" for some sites.
You may also try to access the sites via their designated IP address in stead of a URL. To get to Hotmail, just type 216.219.72.36 into your browser's address bar and hit enter. To find the IP address of other sites, open up a command prompt (Start - Run, type "cmd" without the quotes and click OK) and ping the URL. Just type
ping www.hotmail.com
to get the IP of Hotmail, and just substitute "www.hotmail.com" with the address you want to get to.
You'll get a response like this if the site is up and working, and your computer is able to connect to it:
Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.
C:\>ping www.hotmail.com
Pinging www.hotmail.com [216.219.72.36] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 216.219.72.36: bytes=32 time=71ms TTL=49
Reply from 216.219.72.36: bytes=32 time=28ms TTL=49
Reply from 216.219.72.36: bytes=32 time=29ms TTL=49
Reply from 216.219.72.36: bytes=32 time=29ms TTL=49
Ping statistics for 216.219.72.36:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 28ms, Maximum = 71ms, Average = 39ms
C:\>_
You can get the IP address of every website in existence with this command, as long as the site is up and running.
However, if you get a reply like this:
Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.
C:\>ping www.hotmail.com
Pinging www.hotmail.com with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Ping statistics for www.hotmail.com:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),
C:\>_
That means the site is unavailable and/or doesn't exist. If you get this response for a well know site, like Hotmail, talk to your ISP and see what they have to say about it.
If the site is pingable, then it's either a DNS or browser problem, in wich case I'd recommend you talk to your ISP about it and see if thay have imposed any filters or have DNS problems.
If it's a browser problem, post back in this thread, and I (or whoever gets here first) will be able to help you further.
