Windows Socket Error #10060

[John Cougar]

I know the FAQ has a Windows Socket #10060 entry in it, but the following problem is weird and not easily explained away by the FAQ.

All my Pidgin-configured accounts abruptly showed the Windows Socket #10060 error after my ISP turned off its proxy server and instead provided a direct connection to the internet. Here are the environment details:

OS: Windows (all)
Pidgin: 2.2.2
Proxy Type: No Proxy, Use Environmental Settings
IE Proxy: None
FireFox Proxy: None
Affected accounts: All - Yahoo, XMPP (Google), MSN, ICQ, AIM
Windows Firewall: Turned OFF
Other Firewall: None
Antivirus: McAfee
Autodetect IP Address: Turned ON

I'm able to view and connect to all web pages using both IE 7.x and FF 2.x browsers.
Yahoo Messenger is able to connect when configured with no proxies.
MSN Live Messenger is able to connect when configured with no proxies.
Google Talk is able to connect when configured with no proxies.
ICQ Client is able to connect when configured with no proxies.
AIM is able to connect when configured with no proxies.

I've uninstalled and reinstalled Pidgin, including cleaning up the settings.

Nothing's worked so far.

Please help.
TIA,
JohnC

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