Minion Can't Connect to Internet

[Wolfman4500]

Just installed minion (v3.0.5 i believe) and i keep getting the "cant connect to internet check your security and prxy settings..." splash window. i have read all the other threads about internet connection and tried all of those and nothing has worked. my proxy settings are on auto, i've added minion to windows defender, i have selected to run start minion as admin. i have also installed the 32-bit version, while i have a 64-bit OS windows 7 serivce pack 1.

im not sure what else i can try to get minion to work. any help would be great. thanks.