Only my sister's computer was still working, so I used it to browse the web and read up on the news tab that appears in Mozilla Firefox, and found all of my answers right here.
Basically, a Microsoft Windows Update patch conflicts with ZoneAlarm, a popular Internet security package, and prevents all Internet access. The temporary fixes available involve uninstalling the patch, code-named KB951748, or setting ZoneAlarm's firewall settings to Medium. To permanently fix, install the new ZoneAlarm patch from Check Point.
Edited by Crane, 10 July 2008 - 02:45 PM.