General description of the problem:
"This problem may be caused by an invalid network adapter entry in the registry."
This can be a really tough one.
Boot into Safe Mode.
Go to Device Manager.
View, Show all hidden devices.
Remove all dial-up adapters.
Boot into Normal mode and let it reinstall the dial-up adapter.
Boot into Safe Mode again.
Go to Device Manager, Show all hidden devices, and remove all network adapters (non-dial up).
Reboot into normal mode.
Run this:
Removing those files will not remove TCP/IP, and the Windows File Protection system will simply restore them.
The closest to a uninstall/reinstall of TCP/IP I have managed (Warning: note for the faint of heart):
1: Delete registry keys
A) Open Regedit from the Run line
B) Go to both of the following keys, export each of them, and then delete them:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock2
C) Restart the computer
NOTE: It is important to restart the computer after deleting the Winsock keys. Doing so causes the XP operating system to recreate shell entries for those two
keys. If this is not done, the next step does not work correctly.
2: Install TCP/IP on top of itself
A) Open the properties window of the network connection
B) Click Install
C) Click Protocol, then Add
D) Click Have Disk
E) Type the path to the nettcpip.inf file, c:\windows\inf and click OK (Not Browse)
F) You should now see "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" in the list of available protocols. Select it and click OK.
G) Restart the computer
When the computer reboots you will have functional Winsock keys.
If the network connection properties contained more than the following three items: Client for Microsoft Networks, File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks, and TCP/IP, then the additional items may need to be removed in order to restore browsing. If those items are needed they can be reinstalled. The reason for removing them is due to those items placing entries into the Winsock keys and those entries will no longer be there.
Side effects and possible problems:
This method will restore basic functionality to the Winsock keys, but is not a complete rebuild. On a default install of Windows XP the registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock2\ParametersProtocol_Catalog9\Catalog_Entries - will have 11 sub-keys. When applying this method, the Catalog_Entries will only have three sub-keys. However, it works and there does not appear to be any side effects. The missing entries relate back to the:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces key.
Also, third-party proxy software or firewalls may need to be reinstalled.
To avoid the reistry problem, restore now a full set of registry entries with this utility:
I hope so too, as the last alternative I can think of would be to do a repair reinstallation of XP, with the following additions:
. Use Device Manager and uninstall all Network Adapters
. Remove all network adapters from the machine
. Do the repair reinstall of XP
. Add the adapters back one at a time.
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