We have a cable modem in our house now and the “sys admin” at my dad’s work was helping us set it up and network the computers. Well, things aren’t working out so hot. I wasn’t home at the time that they were doing all this so I can’t tell exactly what happened, but I do know this.
The problem:
I can only boot into windows in the safe mode. I also tried running ipconfig (nothing happened) and winipconfig. When I ran winipconfig, it gave me an error saying that the IP address couldn’t be read and was corrupt. When I tell the computer to run in normal mode, it freezes.
I really am at a lost as to what to do. I thought about resetting my IP, but I don’t know how without winipconfig. And does having a corrupt IP going to stop me from booting into windows in the normal mode?
I’ll try and provide more information if you guys need it. Thanks!!
Was the ethernet card recently installed? Are you sure it’s seated correctly and compatible with the computer it’s been installed in? Is it the same computer and ethernet card used when the cable-modem installer intially set it up? Most importantly, what Operating System are you running? Could you provide the EXACT error message you’re seeing?
Going off past experience, it sounds to me that the driver for your modem or network card is seriously corrupt. Since you can’t load Windows without going into Safe Mode, I am going to suspect that the modem/network card driver is way out of wack.
From another computer, download the a current driver. Delete the driver from Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Device Drivers an the troubled computer.
Have the disk ready to load when you reboot your machine.
What I gather is happening is that while it’s going through it’s boot process, it’s seeing a corrupt driver and thereby the only means by which to get into Windows is to by-pass all the extraneous drivers…I bet if you did a step by step boot and bypassed the network card/modem card drivers you would have a clean boot…I can’t remember what the function key is after F8 when you get the first beep…but it will list it.
Anyhow, I think that is your problem, an incompatible driver with your version of Windows. I almost bet that if you get the most recent driver your computer will boot just fine.
BTW, write down all the information in your “My Computer” and then “Properties” before you go dinking around.
I hope this helps, it’s one of the things I have experienced in the past so maybe a farked up driver is your problem.
The ethernet card should be fine from a hardware standpoint. I’ve used the computer on the university T-1 line and at DSL when I lived in my apartment. I’m running win98 by the way.
The error message doesn’t give a number or anything. Just says a the IP is corrupt and can’t be read.
I’ll try d/l new drivers though. Sounds like it couldn’t hurt. Thanks for the help. I’ll keep everyone updated.
Just agreeing with techchick68; I’ve seen this happen quite a few times under 95. It’s almost certainly a corrupt driver.
IIRC, with win98, the tcpip stack won’t be loaded, so there’s no IP address to reset at the moment. Removing the old driver and installing the new should fix it OK.
Thanks for the help everyone! Techchick you’re my new hero! I’m up and running again. And I think I’ve decided to switch to redhat, just a few more days
I wasn’t home at the time that they were doing all this so I can’t tell exactly what happened, but I do know this.
Techchick you’re my new hero! I’m up and running again. And I think I’ve decided to switch to redhat, just a few more days