Can renew IP from router but cannot ping router 1

[kelang]

I'm experiencing a problem similar to, but slightly more frustrating than, this thread:

thread581-177979 ("Can ping network connections but cannot access internet&quot

I have a network with 3 computers -- 1 Windows98 and 2 WindowsME machines. I have a cable modem through Cox, a Netgear router, and a netgear switch.

About 3 days ago one of the ME computers lost its ability to access any computer, either on the LAN or on Internet.

I followed all of the advice on the other thread (both from PEANUTSMM and LUWAIN), from removing all network components, including dial-up, and editing the registry, to actually removing the NICs and installing a new one in a different slot. I still experience the same error.

I can renew the IP address either through the router (it gives me 192.168.0.2) or through my ISP if I connect the computer directly to the cable modem. But once the IP is renewed I cannot ping anything other than 127.0.0.1 and the IP of the NIC. I've tried setting a static IP with a static gateway of the router and get the same error. I cannot ping anything outside of the network either.

Other computers on the network can ping and access everything fine, but they cannot see this computer.

I've also checked ROUTE PRINT (which looks the same as the other WindowsME machine except the local IP is different), and performed various ARP commands, from removing all (-d) to setting each individual IP/MAC address (-s). Nothing is working.

So my question is, any thoughts outside of reinstalling windows from scratch? This is probably where I'm heading but I wanted to understand this issue better because I've seen it at the office as well and our tech support guys just tend to reinstall an image from scratch.

Thanks in advance.

 

[CCIEWANNABE]

1 Windows98 and 2 WindowsME ...Are they in different workgroups? Or one workgroup and one domain.
Route once; switch many

 

[kelang]

In one workgroup and one domain.

And cannot ping anything outside of the local machine's NIC. But can get an IP assignment from DHCP. Very bizarre.

 

[MattWray]

Have you checked your patch cable? Matt Wray
CCNA, MCP
mwray77518@yahoo.com

 

[CCIEWANNABE]

"About 3 days ago one of the ME computers lost its ability to access any computer, either on the LAN or on Internet." Your Statement

Question: is this machine part of a work group or logs on to the Doamin.

Post the results of the following command from the windows Me machine. (WINIPCFG) utility

To use the IP configuration (WINIPCFG) utility

Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type:
winipcfg

Click More Info.

To see the addresses of the Domain Name System (DNS) servers that the computer is set up to use, click the ellipses (...) button to the right of DNS Servers.
A DNS is an Internet service that translates domain names into Internet protocol (IP) addresses.

To see address information for your network adapter(s), select an adapter from the list in Ethernet Adapter Information. Click Release All then shut down computer. Post the results and we can proceed from there. Route once; switch many

 

[kelang]

Response to Mattwray-- Yeah I checked all cables. Switched them around between machines. They are all fine.

Response to CCIEWANNABE:
Machine was part of a workgroup, but this really isn't the problem because I've also tried to hook it directly to the cable modem, which doesn't even check the workgroup name. You can have anything you want in the identification box.

I don't think the DNS is a problem because I cannot even ping another computer within the LAN. I can't ping the router. I can't see the DNS server. But only from this one machine - the other 2 are fine.

So when I check winipcfg, the DNS server is listed as:

192.168.0.1 (This is the same for the computers that are working -- it merely passes it through this address. The DNS on the router is set to receive automatically from the ISP after getting the IP from DHCP).

Just to test this thought, I set the DNS to be: 209.219.133.110, 209.157.142.114 -- couple of others. Still didn't work.

From this screen I can release the IP, and I can renew the IP, but I still cannot ping anything.

Couple of notes -- this is not a hardware issue because I tried installing the NICs in the other computers and they worked fine. I'm relatively certain it is a corrupted dll, but I cannot seem to elminate that corruption even after doing all of the steps noted in the first message of this thread.

Thanks for giving this some thought.

 

[TheOldMan346]

kelang,

Are you running any personal firewall software such as ZoneAlarm, Kerio, Tiny Personal Firewall, Norton, etc,?

The Old Man

 

[kelang]

Reply to TheOldMan346--

No firewall software on the machine. I uninstalled it.

This weekend I installed another hard drive in the machine and installed WindowsME from scratch. Everything works fine. So it seems that it must be a corrupted driver or a bad registery entry. I've completely removed everything to do with networking per the instructions in the other thread, but somehow I'm missing something.

When I do a ROUTE PRINT I receive the same information from the old Windows installation (OldWin) and the New installation I did this weekend (NewWin). Both OldWin and NewWin have the same TCP/IP settings, and both return the same values with an ARP -a request. Both have the same version of the driver installed for the 3Com 10/100 card. So I'm at a loss.

Couple of other things -- I tried reinstalling Windows on top of OldWin but it did not fix the problem. I also tried copying several of the networking dll files from NewWin to OldWin, but none of these changed the result.

So, I'm back to the conclusion that you have to reinstall windows when this happens. But I'm still playing around and would appreciate thoughts on this problem. As I've mentioned, I've seen it at least 3 other times in my office and if it is a simple matter of changing some settings instead of reinstalling windows, that would save everyone hours of time.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[TheOldMan346]

kelang,

Did this problem first occur while the firewall software was running? I understand you uninstalled it but was that subsequent to the problem?

Which firewall was it? Some do not completely remove themselves.

Exactly what happens when you ping? Do you get a message like PING: transmit failed, error code 10050 or PING: Transmit failed, error code 65?

You can check for software remnants by
Click Start , and then click Run .

In the Open box, type msconfig , and then click OK .

In System Configuration Utility, on the Startup tab, click to clear all check boxes that are related to the personal firewall program. For example, with ZoneLabs ZoneAlarm, clear the following check boxes:

TrueVector
MiniLog
ZoneAlarm
Click Apply , and then click OK .

Click Yes to restart the computer.

Here is the MSKB article.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q298100

Hope that helps.
The Old Man

 

[skitchead1]

I've got a very similar problem -once in a while I lose connectivity - but on re-boot it comes back. I saw that mini-log was checked in startup of msconfig - when I unchecked, and rebooted - I up the creek - this had the opposite affect - and made the problem constant, instead of intermittent. This is interesting - any ideas/suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[pansophic]

Have we checked DNS settings? See if you can connect by IP address, not computer name. If you can ping/connect by using IP addresses and not by names, it is frequently DNS settings.

If you use a laptop, like I do, and you must move from network to network, you find some 'interesting' issues with DNS and Dial-up Networking. If I am connected to a customer's LAN, and need to dial in to my ISP to relay mail through them, after I disconnect, I find that my DNS settings are happily overwritten by DHCP, but not rewritten when I terminate. I have to disconnect from the customer LAN and reconnect in order to reestablish the correct DNS settings and default gateways.

Interestingly, the default gateway changes to the DHCP setting as well. Very frustrating to have a T-1 available for use to the internet, and have my computer choose the dial-up connection as its default route.

pansophic

 

[kelang]

For the situation that I submitted, ThisOldMan was right about checking the firewall software. After much playing around I discovered a remnant of ZoneAlarm that was causing the problem. However it never really ran consistently even after I removed the last files. The real solution, unfortunately, seemed to be a clean install of Windows. Pretty bad solution.

For the problems you are noting in the last 2 messages, DNS might indeed be a culprit.

 

[fenris]

If you think that it was a corrupted dll, there is a utility with windows ME that goes through and scans the systems files and reports back any problems. It even offers to fix the problems it finds. The program is called the system file checker (sfc.exe). This might find something.

Personally I can't stand reinstalling windows. Also WinME is not the best OS of the MS stables. If it is an option go back to win 98se or up to windows 2000.

Good Luck Troy Williams E.I.T.
fenris@hotmail.com

 

[TheOldMan346]

skitchead1,

What exactly are the symptoms? How do you know you've lost connectivity? Is it connectivity you've lost or the ability to resolve addresses? It may be DNS as pansophic has suggested. It seems to me, though, that is generally not an intermittent problem. The DNS is either wrong or it's right but it doesn't generally go away unless the DNS server goes down.

If you're able to connect and surf and then lose the ability to surf, that sounds like something is happening to the browser or the connection.

What type of connection do you use? Dialup/cable/DSL?
Is there a router involved?
What is the OS?
What type/version browser?

The Old Man

 

[skitchead1]

pansophic - It's a desktop. No network changes and the DNS setting are the same. If I remember correctly, I couldn't ping the DNS server - the problem has been resolved - sort of. Instead of using 'go back' or re-installing ME, I've sort of copped out and re-installed Zone Alarm - and everything works fine.

fenris - thanks for the tip - I'm going to try sfc.exe (but it doesn't reside on my hard drive - is this for ME or Windows 98?).

TheOldMan346 - I checked connectivity by trying to ping the DNS server - no luck. I also couldn't ping the ancient (but very reliable)Gateway 166 three feet away.

Sad to say, I'm stuck with ZoneAlarm until I have the time play around.

 

[skitchead1]

Sorry, I forgot to answer your other questions...

What type of connection do you use? Cable

Is there a router involved?
A D=Link DI-704

What is the OS?
Win ME

What type/version browser?
IW 5.50, Outlook Express 5.50, and Netscape 6
None of the above work when this happened.

 

[TheOldMan346]

Ahhh, my old friend ZoneAlarm. I tried using the free version but had so many intermittent problems, I gave it up. Maybe the Pro version is different. I often had symptoms like you describe where ZA would ask for permission, work OK for awhile, then stop working and eventually ask permission again for the same access that was working before.

After hearing that many others had similar problems, I switched to Tiny Personal Firewall [now Kerio] and was much happier. It is solid as a rock, works like it is supposed to and passes all security scans I've seen quite easily. It also allows me to work directly with the rules, which I prefer.

Just my opinion.
The Old Man

 

[skitchead1]

Quick udate - I uninstalled ZoneAlar, had to manually delete the ZA folder (uninstall was 'complete' but not really) cleaned the registry and files with System Mechanic, then tried to accesss the internet. NO LUCK. I reinstalled ZA without rebooting, and access was restored.

During the installation of ZA it mentioned that there were pre-existing ZA sequrity settings that would be over written. Any idea where these settings reside?

 

[TheOldMan346]

skitchead1,

This may help.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q291793

The Old Man

 

[skitchead1]

DEAR OLD MAN,

I OWE YOU A VIRTUAL BEER!!!

That seems to have worked very well.

It's like someone breathed new life into my connection.

Now, maybe I won't get any more panicked calls from home when I'm trying to get some work done.

Much appreciated.

Skitchead