Network locks up system when connected

[Springfire]

Ok, short of reformatting 2 computer systems I am at a loss.
Set Up - 2 identical HP 6730, started with win98
Computer A has 598 MGHz Celeron , just under 200 MG RAM
XP home [ Version 5.1.2600] recntly installed(mid January) on extra drive (30 G)system set to boot into XP
Computer B has 598 MGHz Celeron , 320 MG RAM, has a new HD 1 yr old 10 G with XP home installed, new power source in November.
Network on EFAH05W Etherfast, 10/100 LAN, LNE100TX ver 4.1, 5 port workgroup hub/switch, cables are CAT 5 straight, into the cards that came with the hub.

The Problem -- after a year of perfect network using, A had 98 and B had XP. B was disconnected for 6 months while A was connected using the same hardware to a different computer. Now when A and B are connected together changing nothing before hooking up (it worked before why change right) Computer B would lock up within 1 min up connecting. Upon reboot, B locks up anytime from 1 min to 3-4 hours constantly. This has been going on for 5 weeks now anytime B is hooked into the network.

What we have done to try and fix this.
updated drivers, replaced a cable, checked IP, TCP/ip, net bios, uninstalled network, reinstalled network. Did the whole IP thing again.. did ping, one time it works fine then next time would have 50-25% packet loss.

Now Computer A has XP home installed on 2nd drive (thinking this would help), now on the network connections XP is using a generic ethernet Macronix MX98715. And it still won't work..
so next we make Comp B the main and try to connect A into it, resetting, uninstalling the network stuff again, reinstalled network stuff. Still won't stay connected but it is only B that is locking up. Oh also on B it was just rebooting so I changed the RPC properties to not reboot just restart. still hasn't helped.

So I start trying to think of things that I have added in the 6 months while off the network. New Mcafee virusscan, added a cd burner, so took off Mcaffe completely, still didn't help.
I am at a total loss of what to do next. I have done a ping.
Pinging 127.0.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 127.0.0.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

Next did the ipconfig not connected to network or internet
Windows IP Configuration


Ethernet adapter Home:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected

PPP adapter chase3000:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 12.36.212.218
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 12.36.212.218

Ran IPconfig connected to internet and network
ipconfig

Windows IP Configuration


Ethernet adapter Home:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

PPP adapter chase3000:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 12.36.212.218
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 12.36.212.218


Pinged myself
C:\>ping 192.168.0.1

Pinging 192.168.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 192.168.0.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

Ran IP Config /all
C:\>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : springfire
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Home:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Macronix MX98715-Based Ethernet Adap
ter (Generic)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-20-78-D0-51-75
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

PPP adapter chase3000:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-53-45-00-00-00
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 12.36.212.218
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 12.36.212.218
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 12.36.212.25
12.36.212.40
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Managed to ping Computer A
C:\>ping 169.254.197.33

Pinging 169.254.197.33 with 32 bytes of data:

Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 169.254.197.33:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

Computer A gave itself a new IP so pinged that too.
C:\>ping 192.168.0.210

Pinging 192.168.0.210 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.0.210: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.0.210: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.0.210: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.0.210: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 192.168.0.210:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 1ms, Average = 0ms


I am wondering about the Dhcp should it be disabled? is that the problem, is it as simple as that... I went to Blackviper's site and adjusted somethings but changed them back thinking I had messed up somewhere. I have run Ad-aware, Stinger, on both systems reinstalled mcafee again. And also Comp A has issues of not wanting to shut down and is really lugging along. Comp A was doing a reboot/shut down thing due to the RPC stuff too ..

I saw on one post (thread 602-752575) here about connecting the computers directly with a CAT5 crossover cable.. any thoughts on that.
Another thought is that the system is overheating..is this possible?

Any thoughts, ideas or hammers in the mail would be gratefully appreciated.

Thank your for taking the time to read this super long rambling post.

 

[bcastner]

Do not disable the DHCP service, nor the workstation, server or TCP/IP Helper service.

Revert to original settings the XP box:

http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/registry.htm

Look under the &quot;Files Section&quot;
Reboot.

Then, run this utility from FAQ faq779-4625

 

[Springfire]

Ok this is the weird part all of those are on automatic and started I didn't change any of them originally. But going to run that fix on both systems to see if it helps..

 

[Springfire]

Ran the Winsock fix on both systems still no go anything else anyone can think of to try?

 

[nemotek]

hi,

go to your TCP IP SETTINGS and set static IP on both computers
ex.
ip 192.168.1.2 (A) 192.168.1.8 (B)
sn 255.255.255.0
dg 192.168.1.1 * optional

make sure there is no firewall software or just disable it.
ex. Mcafee PFwall, Norton Int Security, BlackIce, Sygate etc..

ping each computer computer address,

and the 192.168.0.1 looks like a bridge connection..

QUESTIONS..
A. ARE YOU USING ETHERNET AND USB CONNECTION AT SAME TIME ?

B. ARE YOU USING ONE OF YOUR COMPUTERS THERE TO SHARE INTERENET ACCESS SINCE NO ROUTER OR GATEWAY IS MENTIONED ?

C. DO YOU HAVE BROADBAND CONNECTION ? CABLE OR DSL ?
D. WHAT IS THE BRAND OF YOUR MODEM ?
E. AND WHO IS ASSIGNING DHCP IN YOUR NETWORK SINCE YOU HAVE ONLY 2 COMPUTERS ?

 

[iamauser]

Maybe this is something you have already tried - have you checked to see if one of the systems is plugged into an uplink port on the switch?

Also, I noticed you have a PPP connection. Firstly - why would you use it? Are you using a router for internet access or are you setting each system up with PPPoe to get to a DSL account? The PPP setting for the WAN interface doesn't look right. It has it's own IP address as the gateway.

I had a DLink router at work that was setup just to switch but I manually configured the WAN port gateway wrong, and nothing would move across the switch even though it shouldn't have had anything to do with it.

 

[WolfRAMit]

I don't know if this might help, but I noticed you might not have a router and your ADSL or Cable Modem is plugged into the hub, so upon first time connection the modem grabs the first MAC address it finds on the network and sends it to the CO (Telco) and register it, Now if you unplug it for say 6 months and plugged it back in, then the second computers MAC address being registerd at the CO prevents internet connection... my explanation might be hard to understand but I had to reset MAC address at the CO lots of time on my HUB-PC network where as with a router doing the job of keeping the CO happy this doesn't happen anymore...

PS: excuse my english since I'm from Montreal, PQ...