RTO when pinging a specific macine

[willisd]

I have a problem with an XP laptop, that has (probably) occured since updating laptop to win xp sp2.

The laptop in question has intermittent network issues when accessing mapped drives. Upon testing laptop with ping tests, i noticed that the laptop can ping out, to anywhere within our lan. Yet i cannot ping the laptop. I've tried pinging the laptops DNS address, and the laptops IP address, and all i get is Request Timed Out. The laptop gets its ip address via DHCP. I've renewed the address twice now (getting different addresses back). But the problem is still there. I've removed WinXP firewall (disabled it) but this hasn't resolved it either.

I'm now stumped on this. any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[bcastner]

Open the SP2 firewall, and enable exceptions for File and Printer Sharing. In addition, under the 'Advanced' tab of the Firewall, use the ICMP box to enable ICMP echo requests from your LAN.

 

[willisd]

Thanks for the advice, but as i stated, i've disabled the XP firewall.

 

[bcastner]

And replaced it with another firewall?

You have a mixed diagnostic: it appears from the disconnected drives that there is an issue with your physical or logical plant; the disconnected drive and the ping failure is usually a firewall issue.

There are server side issues, but they have nothing to do with ping failures:

http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...port/kb/articles/q138/3/65.asp&NoWebContent=1

A ping failure is a cable plant or network adapter issue; or, a firewall issue.

Be wary of:

. some firewalls (Norton NIS, and McAfee come to mind) will still block even if disabled.

. some Antivirus programs, (PC-Illan comes to mine) has a default firewall component that will block the ping and complicate network traffic if not configured properly, or the firewall component uninstalled (not just disabled);

. If you turn off SP2 firewall, depending on how it was done, it could well enable the original ICF firewall;

. This troubleshooter is well done and may help:

http://www.michna.com/kb/wxnet.htm

. Check your TCP/IP settings, as if your are not pulling a DHCP issues address in the same subnet as the rest of your LAN a ping can fail and other bad things can happen. Most likely this is a Winsock issue. It would be worthwhile doing a Start, Run, cmd
netsh winsock reset catalog

Wait for the prompt suggesting a restart is required, and restart and test again. I describe in faq779-4625 (at the bottom) that you may have to rebuild the TCP/IP stack as well as the Winsock stack. The MS KB article to rebuild the TCP/IP stack is linked.

. Finally, many of the network adapter manufacturers have issued post-SP2 network adapter upgrades. Search the website for the adapter manufacturer and see if it applies in your instance.

Please post back as to your progress.

 

[willisd]

Hello,
thanks for you help. So far I've:
Enabled the firewall, and selected all the icmp settings, so it will allow, enabled the file and print sharing.

This didn't help.

I've updated the nic driver to the latest available driver, from the intel website.

I've also tried another nic, that didn't help.

There is another message that appears in the bottom right windows status bar, that appears after you connect the network stating "Your connection has limited or no connectivity". which is strange, i've tested nework at physical layer, and all is ok. I've also connected laptop, into another users network connection, and problem still occurs.

 

[bcastner]

. rebuild the Winsock stack:

Start, Run, CMD
netsh winsock reset catalog

Reboot the machine when the prompt appeaers that this is a required step.

. then rebuild the tcp/ip service stack:

1. Right-click the network connection, and then click Properties.
2. Click Install.
3. Click Protocol, and then click Add.
4. Click Have Disk.
5. Type C:\Windows\inf, and then click OK.
6. On the list of available protocols, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click OK.
7. Restart the computer.

 

[willisd]

Hello, i've carried out your instructions, but still no joy. I've un-installed xp sp2, and the machine is still unreachable. I checked the ICF, and that isn't ticked. I'm now quite stuck on this problem. ANy help will be greatly appreciated.