XP won't connect - restore won't work - a challenge ??

[Bebez]

Hi there,

I have an annoying problem, which has turned into a MAJOR headache.
I'm running XP home Ed. and yesterday morning, as I was surfing the net, it just up and quit working. This has happened to me before, and when I have restored the computer to a point when it was working, it always worked, well this time it just wouldn't work. I have been without my internet for 2 days now, and both my ISP provider and computer manufacturer are unable to assist, so at the end of my teether, I am really hoping someone might have some brilliant suggestions that will get me back surfing again.

I have tried the following:

System Restore from point at which PC was working

Uninstalling network adapters

Repairing IP address to no avail (tells me that it is unable to renew IP address)

Disabling and renabling Network connections eg. the Local Network Connection etc.

Power cycling modem and router

Unplugging all the cables and then connecting them again

Using different cables

I believe that I have tried every conceivable thing that I in my limited knowledge can think of. What baffles me, is that my Xbox and second computer is working fine, of course it runs 98SE, and is as stable as ever.

Why does it just decide to stop working from time to time ??

How can I make it work again ??
Your suggestions will be very very much appreciated.
I hope you enjoy a challenge,
Kushla ;-)

 

[smah]

"Repairing IP address to no avail (tells me that it is unable to renew IP address)"

This most often indicates a hardware problem. Most likely with the the cable from the router to your pc, but you state that you've changed cables - i assume with a known good one. It sounds like you've covered most everything. Device manager doesn't show any problems with the network card? Are you using a USB device or a PCI card for your network connection?

Follow this proceedure and post back what you find in Device Manager under Network Adapters.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315539

Don't remove anything yet, some of the things you will find belong there.

Lastly, did you use Ad-Aware or Spybot to remove any adware recently?

 

[Bebez]

Hey there !

Ok, my network card is a PCI version, and I haven't downloaded or run any spyware since I have had the PC.
The cable is a good one, atleast the best I could find, and I have only had it about 8 or 9 weeks, so it's fairly new.

In the link you provided, I found these things underneath network adapters:
1394 Net Adapter Direct Parallel
Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI fast Ethernet NIC
Wan Miniport (IP)
Wan Miniport (IP) McAfee Firewall Network Filter Miniport
Wan Miniport (IP) Packet Scheduler Miniport
Wan Miniport (IP) L2TP
Wan Miniport (IP) PPPOE
Wan Miniport (IP) PPTP

I haven't removed anything as yet, I tried another restore point, to no avail, it just doesn't seem to wanna go....

 

[Bebez]

Hey Just another tid bit of information I tried the release all/renew all function and I got this message:

No adapter is in the state permissable for this operation

 

[smah]

I suspect the McAfee Firwall Network filter may have something to do with it. I vaguely remember something about it on this board.

Do you have any idea what '1394 Net Adapter Direct Parallel' is? A firewire network card?

 

[Bebez]

I have no idea what the 1394 net adapter is, or why it's even there.

I used to have a home network set-up and it had a network bridge connection icon in my network connections....but that has since disappeared.

Also, to note, I don't show up on my router, the xbox and other PC will show a link/active light, but not my XP computer.
Do you think I should remove the Mcafee firewall network ??

 

[Bebez]

I think the 1394 net adapter could have something to do with my digital camera. I have hooked my video camera up via a USB port before, but I really don't know if that's it or not....just a thought

 

[smah]

If the link light don't show, this again points to hardware. If you're sure the cable is good and the router port you're connected to is good, I would suspect the network card.

I wouldn't mess with the McAfee firewall yet - I don't even remember for sure in what context it came up. A search here sould find it.

You might want to see if there's any NIC diagnostic tools on the Realtek web site. Or just try replacing it - they're not too expensive.

 

[Bebez]

Hey SMAH, thanks heaps for the advice, best advice I've had all day actually.

Could the network card be damaged even if it's saying that the device is working properly ??

But ya, no lights nothing on the router, won't even connect via plugging directly into the modem..

Thanks again, I really appreciate it

 

[smah]

It's possible - there are some things that Windows would know about and some things that it wouldn't. For example, there are at least 4 small contacts in the jack itself. If 1 of these was bent I don't think Windows would know that there was anything wrong. I had this happen to me once when installing a phone jack - it took a while to figure out what was wrong, that's why I came up with that as a possibility. I'm sure there are others.

 

[NRGeti]

Is it possible that your router has lost its MAC address? This happens to me occasionally and I have to set it up again manually.

My router is a Linksys and it has a menu option where you can enter the MAC address. You can get the MAC address by issuing
IPCONFIG /ALL
in the Start/Run box.

 

[pcs800]

check for new.net spyware
It has caused this problem for me multiple times.
Use adaware to detect it.

 

[ParkRanger]

I have this problem as well. It happened once before, to a friend's computer. After 2 different NICs and multiple attempts with System Restore, we finally gave up. What's wierd is that after letting it idle for a couple hours it magically fixed itself.

Now it's a different computer, but the same problem. It has been attached to a network for several months, but all of a sudden it just quit working. I've been messing with it all day and have had no success.

I'm on my 3rd NIC and I just don't get it. When I plug/unplug the cable, Windows knows it. But neither DHCP nor setting a static IP works. Every other computer on the network is fine except this one.

The only odd thing is that the network, video, sound, and USB are all on IRQ3, but I can't make it change that. If I force IRQs in the BIOS, Windows picks one IRQ and assigns all NICS (even if there's 3!), sound, USB, and video to that IRQ.

When answering, keep in mind that this system has functioned without problem for many months now, and no configuration changes have been made in several weeks. The normal users don't have Admin rights, and all admin accounts are passworded. There is no firewall software on this computer either. Thanks!

 

[bajan2]

there is a program out there called dot.net
or something like that. It modifies some of the key
files that are needed for connection to the internet.
One of the files is winsock something.
Do a search for dot net or winsock file corruption.
I have seen this problem ans there is a fix for it out
there also

Bajan

 

[rfhall3]

Good Morning....

Just saw y'alls messages this AM. I am having the exact same problem. What really caught my eye was the reference to a Realtek network adapter. I have a Gigabyte 7VAXP MB that has a Realtek built-in n/w adapter. I connect to a Linksys BEFSR4 router, then to a Toshiba cable modem connected to Cox. As was pointed out, good old 98SEworked great, plugging and unplugging nodes in different parts of the house. I have done the unplug and wait 60 seconds thing more times than I want to count. The last time I called Cox they had me do a REPAIR, unplug all and wait, then they did some magic through the line and it started working. The problem is that my 98SE Laptop is working just fine. I just don't believe it is the Linksys or Toshiba. I am probably headed next to the Gigabyte site and send them a message. Wonder if a separate n/w card would be better ??

A very frustrated ......... Bobby

 

[BuckeyeComputers]

newdot.net will cause explorer problems such as page cannot be displayed, but it will not interfer with the nic card as in no link light, suggest hardware problem, have on client that every so often the will loose the link light and the fix for them is to unplug the cable and remove the nic card, then put it back in and fire it up, they are in an old building and thier cables run thru the ceiling next to alot of fluresent lighting which seems to cause enough static buildup or something to shut the card down and even sometimes not even let the system power up. locks the controller chip or something. Any way more info can be found on newdot.net here

http://www.cexx.org/newnet.htm

i would try removing the nic card physically from the machine and then put it back and see if that helps