Network/Modem Problem - Win XP

Factual Questions
1

A little while ago, our trusty old Win XP computer had some hiccups and almost died. After getting it back up and running, the only lingering problem seems to be that it doesn’t recognize/can’t connect to our internet connection.

At first, I thought that the onboard ethernet connection got fried and replaced it with a PCI NIC, but we are still having the same problem.

In the system tray, the little networking icon tells us that it is “Acquiring Network Address”, but alas never succeeds. The connection on the router does work, as we’ve connected our other computer to it and had success in connecting to the internet.

System Restoring the computer to an earlier date does not solve the problem.

Does anyone have any ideas of what might be wrong, and what needs to be done to fix it?

2

It sounds like DHCP has crapped out. If your NIC is indeed using DHCP, a quick workaround for this problem is to configure it to use a static IP address. On your other computer, look at its network settings to see whether it’s manually-configured or configured by DHCP.

The best way to do this is to right-click the network icon in the System Tray, click Status, then click the Support tab, then click the Details button. Write down the IP address, subnet mask, default gateway and the DNS servers.

Next, let me know what the IP address looks like. Caution: your IP address is sensitive information, so if it’s a “real-world” address, you don’t want to post it here without xxx-ing over some of the digits. For example, if it’s 216.109.112.135, type 216.109.1xx.xxx. If it’s something like 192.168.0.1 or 10.0.0.1, then you’re using a private IP address which is generally safe to post.

I can then help you set a static address on your malfunctioning computer.

If you want to fix the DHCP issue, that’ll take a little DOS-command manipulation.

3

The message ‘acquiring network address” usually means that the NIC is trying to get an IP address from a DHCP server. Your cable/DSL modem usually serves as the DHCP server in the system, but it could also be done by a router if you’re using one. So it sounds like the NIC is not talking to the modem or router, or the modem or router is not talking back.

First, if you haven’t already, power off the cable/DSL modem, router if have one, and the computer. Wait a minute or two, then power up the cable/DSL modem. Once it is fully active, power up the router if you have one, then when it is up, power up the computer. Sometimes the cable/DSL modem will keep a list of MAC addresses that isn’t refreshed until it is power cycled.

If that doesn’t help, you’re fortunate in having another computer that does work, so we can use it to compare settings.

Check the TCP/IP properties on the working computer. Click on Start, Control Panel. In the Control Panel click on Network Connections. In Network Connections, right-click the appropriate connection (usually called “local area connection” or something like that). On the connection properties, find the “Internet Protocol TCP/IP” in the list of items used by the connection. Highlight that and click the Properties button.

What you want to know is if this working computer is set to use DHCP or if it has an address manually assigned. If the radio button “Obtain an IP address automatically” is selected, then it is trying to use DHCP. If instead the radio button “Use the following IP address” is selected, then write down the IP Address, Subnet Mask and Default Gateway that is filled in. Also make note of any Preferred or Alternate DHCP server listed in the lower part of the window.

Now go to the new computer and find the same TCP properties. IF the old computer was set to obtain an address automatically, make sure this one is also set that way.

If the old computer had an assigned IP address, make all the settings for this computer identical except the IP address. That should have the same first three numbers, but a different fourth number. Usually the easiest thing to do is to add 1 to last number of the other computer. So if the working computer is set for IP address 192.168.0.2, set the other computer to 192.168.0.3. Make sure all the other settings match exactly, and click on OK, and OK again as many times as you need to close and save.

If none of that helps, you may a problem with your NIC. For example, does the NIC built on the motherboard need to be disabled so that it doesn’t interfere with the new PCI card? Or are the drivers for the PCI card installed correctly?

Good luck!

4

Caution: The “other”/working computer is a Windows Vista machine, so I might not be getting the information you are asking for.

The working machine says that the connection is DHCP Enabled. IPv4 IP Address is 192.168.1.46 and IPv4 Subnet Mask is 255.255.255.0

Thanks for your help, and for the record, I do not mind mucking around with some Dos-level commands if necessary.

5

With that information, you can now try a couple of things.

You can set your address on the non-working box to 192.168.1.47 (one up from the working box), and set the subnet mask, gateway, and DNS to match the working box.

If that makes the non-working box work, then there is a problem with the DHCP server, so that it is not responding to the one PC. This is possibly because of some configuration problem, or possibly because the server is defective in some way. But you can probably just leave you addresses manually assigned, it should work fine that way.

If that doesn’t work, try pinging the modem. The address of the modem should be the address the Gateway is set for on the working PC. Based on the address you gave, it is probably 192.168.1.1. Open a command prompt, and type

ping 192.168.1.1

and press enter. You should see 4 replies, with no lost packets.

If you get four lost packets, that box is not able to talk to the router. This could be a bad cable, bad NIC, bad port on the modem, or some other configuration problem.

6

That unfortunately did not work.

Digging around, I’ve found a new error message:

“Windows cannot display the properties of this connection. The Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) information might be corrupted. To correct this, use System Restore to restore Windows to an earlier time (called a restore point). System Restore is located in the System Tools folder in the Accessories.”

The problem is that I’ve already done a system restore, and that didn’t solve the problem. Is there someway to manually fix this WMI?

7

You might try running the System File Checker and see if it reports any corrupted system files. Make sure you have your Win XP disc ready, then click Start, Run, and type

SFC /scannow

The checker will scan through your systems files and replace any that it thinks are bad with good ones from the disc. Reboot and see what happens.

Off hand, the only thing I can think of is to fall back on the old windows standard, delete the device and reload it.

Go into the Device Manager and remove the PCI NIC. If prompted, choose to remove the drivers. Then shut the PC down (don’t just reboot). Remove the card, and let the PC boot once without it.

Then shut the PC down again, and reinstall the NIC, this time in a different slot (if another slot is available). Hopefully, you will be prompted to load the drivers. Make sure you choose to load a new driver, not just re-use the old one.

If you’re not given any options on loading the driver (XP may just load a driver automatically), try it. If it’s still no go, and a driver came with the NIC on CD or diskette, try re-loading the driver from the Device Manager, and tell it you have a disk. Let it load the drivers from the disk and see what happens.

8

Is it possible that your router was set up with a MAC address filter, and when you put in a new NIC the card is not authorized to use the network?

9

I just ran into this type of scenario a few days ago, in my case, TCP/IP socket handling was shot due to some piss poor anti malware software.

Do you get any error messages if you

Run —> cmd —> Ipconfig /renew

if you get an error message involving performing an action on something that is not a socket , google the error message, there are numerous sources for a good fix from MS as well as third parties.

In my case I tried removing and reinstalling the nic as well and it had no effect.

10

I’m happy to help. It looked like RJKUgly had you moving nicely so I didn’t think it necessary to clutter up the thread with redundant stuff. That’s what I love about this place.

Regarding the WMI issue, I would, with respect, advise against the SFC route that RJKUgly recommended. The WMI infrastructure is a database that has a few dependencies that have each been independently updated throughout XP’s existence; rolling some of it back to “fresh XP” from the installation disc might (in my experience) result in Blue Screen of Death.

My best, most expeditious solution would be to back up your data, then perform an overinstall/in-place installation of Windows XP.

11

If there’s been some kind of malware or virus activity on the machine (actually, sometimes even if there hasn’t - if networking hardware has been added and removed, or drivers have been fiddled about with), the network Layered Service Provider might be corrupted. You can analyse/fix this with LSPFix.

12

Good Point. I’ve had pretty good luck with the SFC, but there is always the chance something could get out of sync.

A reload in place would probably fix it.

But you may want to try Mangetout suggestion of LSPfix first. It probably can’t hurt, and only takes a few minutes to try. After that, El Cid’s suggestion is the way I’d go.

13

I might be wrong about this, but it was my impression that an in-place reinstallation would also revert some of the system files to the version on the installation medium, backward of any service packs and patches that might have updated them - in this sense, I thought it was quite similar to SFC (although more exhaustive) - am I wrong about this?

14

No, I believe you’re correct. After an in-place reinstall, you’d have to get all the updates from MS that have been released since the version on your CD. So you’d want to do your install from a CD that at least had SP2 on it.

But everything would get reset to the same level. In running SFC, there is some possibility that one file might be reset to an earlier version, while leaving others that rely on it at a later version. This can cause problems, and as El Cid Viscoso said, that conflictin version level can even cause a lockup or bluescreen.

But having said that, I’ve had pretty good luck with it, and had it fix a problem or two over the years. It’s usually a kind of last ditch sort of thing, but I use it now and then.