No Internet unless in Safe Mode.

[J741]

Windows XP Pro w/ SP2. Internet access is fine when in Windows Safe Mode. No internet access in Windows normal mode.

Can Ping a web address by name or IP without a problem.

Open Internet Explorer, status bar indicates 'accessing

http://websitename',

followed by 'accessing

http://IPaddress',

then IE displays the 'can not connect / DNS error' generic error message page.

Try the 'Opera' web browser, and get 'network error' message.

Try to update the customer's anti-virus program, and get 'can not connect to update server'.

I have tried all the common cleanup tools including anti-virs scans, AdAware SE v.12, Microsoft AntiSpyware beta1, LSPfix, IEfix, BHOdemon, Spybot S&D, HijackThis, and I even tried re-installing TCP/IP as per Microsoft knowledge base article Q299357.

Many spyware/adware/malware items were removed, but this issue still remains.

Ayone got any thoughts on this one? I'm stumped!

- James.

My memory is not as good as it should be, and neither is my memory.

I have forgotten more than I can remember

 

[J741]

The more I think about this problem, the more I think I need better tools to help isolate the source of the problem.

I think something which could provide a trace of the internet connection process, showing what DLLs, Windows services, registry entries, etc. are accessed during an internet connection attempt would be very useful right now.

Something similar to the TRACERT tool used when troubleshooting a TCP/IP route problem. If I had something like this for tracing Windows' internet connection process, then I might be able to isolate the source of the problem and possible solve it.

Does anyone know if such a tool (or set of tools) currently exists?

- James.

My memory is not as good as it should be, and neither is my memory.

I have forgotten more than I can remember

 

[westredd]

J741 wrote:
"The comments regarding the configuration of our router and DNS server are appreciated, but that aspect of our network configuration is not at fault here"

Exactly, This is what I have been trying to tell bcastner all along.

bcastner wrote:
"Without knowing more about the number of routers involved, and the router discovery protocols used, my answer was too specific. "

Number of routers or discovery protocols used has nothing to do with it.. No one uses the DNS servers ip address for their default gateway (unless they have a broadband type router that provides DNS proxy services, these things are commonly used in homes or small networks). The fact that you didnt include any links to websites as I asked must mean you couldnt find any. I certainly couldnt even find 1 that supported what you wrote here)..

Gettting back to the original problem, J741, try updating the NIC driver or try another NIC in the PC.. Failing that, I think I would format the damn thing and start over!

Cheers
Mike

 

[J741]

Well, I have tried updating the NIC driver, with no success.

Unless anyone has any other suggestions, I may need to resort to erasing and re-installing, but I certainly don't want to do that.

- James.

My memory is not as good as it should be, and neither is my memory.

I have forgotten more than I can remember

 

[bcastner]

Have you checked your HOST file to make sure its only entry is a reference to localhost?

It still suggests a Winsock issue, perhaps an LSP is only active in normal mode.

; note only for SP2

Start, Run, CMD
netsh winsock reset catalog

(Wait for the prompt to return suggesting a restart).

Restart the computer.

If still no joy, try the KB Q811259 method of rebuilding the TCP/IP stack, although this seems less likely the issue:

Install TCP/IP on top of itself

A) Open the properties window of the network connection
B) Click Install
C) Click Protocol, then Add
D) Click Have Disk
E) Type the path to the nettcpip.inf file, for example: c:\windows\inf, and click OK (if you try to click Browse, then browse to the \inf folder, it may not show up
in the list).
F) You should now see "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" in the list of available protocols. Select it and click OK.
G) Restart the computer

If still no joy, download the newest version of HijackThis! and post the log results back here:

HijackThis! 1.99

http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html

 

[J741]

Thanks for the feedback Bill.

- I had already checked the Host file, and it contains only one entry for localhost at 127.0.0.1

- The 'netsh winsock reset catalog' command was previously unknown to me and I had not done it. Now that I have however, the issue still remains.

- I had already followed all instructions in KB Q811259, and found nothing out of the ordinary, and the issue still remains.

- I had already re-installed the TCP/IP protocol (using the same method you describe), but it did not resolve the issue.

- As for the Hijack This log, it is already at the top of this post.


My memory is not as good as it should be, and neither is my memory.

I have forgotten more than I can remember

 

[bcastner]

So you did, I missed it as it is the shortest HijackThis log I think I have ever seen.

And the state of your services?

DHCP is obviously running.

DNS client?
Remote Procedure - all?
DCOM - all?

This is really puzzling.
I think your next step is a clean install.

 

[J741]

Thanks Bill, here's the current state of the services you mentioned:

- DHCP Client: Started
- DNS Client: Started
- RPC: Started
- RPC Locator: Was not started, now is started.
- DCOM Server process launcher: Started.
- COM+ Event System: Started
- COM+ System Application: Was not started, now is started.

The problem still remains after starting two of those services.


I also used the Windows services manager to export a list of all of the services on the affewcted computer, the list is as follows:

------------ Explorted Services List --------------------
Name Status
Alerter
Application Layer Gateway Service Started
Application Management
ASP.NET State Service
Automatic Updates Started
AVG7 Alert Manager Server Started
AVG7 Update Service Started
Background Intelligent Transfer Service
ClipBook
COM+ Event System Started
COM+ System Application Started
Computer Browser
Cryptographic Services Started
DCOM Server Process Launcher Started
Deepsight Extractor
DeepSight Extractor Service for NPF03
DeepSight Extractor Service for NPF04
DHCP Client Started
Diskeeper
Distributed Link Tracking Client Started
Distributed Transaction Coordinator
DNS Client Started
Error Reporting Service
Event Log Started
Fast User Switching Compatibility Started
Help and Support
HID Input Service Started
HTTP SSL
IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service
Indexing Service
Ipctenmtwhnt
IPSEC Services
Logical Disk Manager Started
Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service
Machine Debug Manager Started
Macromedia Licensing Service
Messenger
MS Software Shadow Copy Provider
Net Logon
NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing
Network Connections Started
Network DDE
Network DDE DSDM
Network Location Awareness (NLA) Started
Network Provisioning Service
Norton AntiVirus Auto Protect Service
NT LM Security Support Provider
NTLOAD
NTSVCMGR
Office Source Engine
Performance Logs and Alerts
Plug and Play Started
Portable Media Serial Number Service
Print Spooler Started
Protected Storage Started
QoS RSVP
Remote Access Auto Connection Manager
Remote Access Connection Manager
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Started
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator Started
Remote Registry
Removable Storage
Routing and Remote Access
ScriptBlocking Service
Secondary Logon Started
Security Accounts Manager Started
Security Center Started
Server Started
Shell Hardware Detection Started
Smart Card
SSDP Discovery Service Started
System Event Notification Started
System Restore Service Started
Task Scheduler Started
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Started
Telephony
Telnet
Terminal Services Started
Themes Started
Uninterruptible Power Supply
Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Volume Shadow Copy
WebClient Started
Windows Audio Started
Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) Started
Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)
Windows Installer
Windows Management Instrumentation Started
Windows Management Instrumentation Driver Extensions
Windows Time
Wireless Zero Configuration
WMI Performance Adapter
Workstation Started
---------------------------------------------------------

- James.

My memory is not as good as it should be, and neither is my memory.

I have forgotten more than I can remember

 

[J741]

Well, this doesn't matter any more, as I have now erased the computer and started again from scratch.

I'd sure like to know how to fix this so that the next time I see this problem, I may be able to handle it.

- James.

My memory is not as good as it should be, and neither is my memory.

I have forgotten more than I can remember