XP Home Problem, Lost my Connection 2

[tphilli]

Hello everybody,
This is my first post so please bear with me. I just recently put together and set up a Windows XP Home computer system. Just the other day, I attempting to set a small network with another XP computer. After a second failed attempt, I started to download the system updates from Microsoft. For some reason after I lost all Internet connections. Now the motherboard I have is an ASUS P4S8X with a built-in SiS 900-based PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter. I can't get anywhere. I've tried ipconfig /release and /renew. I tried to reset the TCP/IP settings using an article off of the Microsoft Knowledge base. I even reinstalled XP to see if that would help. Can anybody help me please? I contacted my ISP and I was told that the problem was definitely with the Ethernet Adapter.

 

[bcastner]

It is impossible to tell where the Windows Upgrade process went south for you, and what the result would be even after a maintenance upgrade of XP.

Since you obviously have one PC with internet access, I want you to download two things:

1.

http://members.shaw.ca/techcd/WinsockXPFix.exe

Your maintenance upgrade should have done most of the steps of this little batch utility, but it will not do all of them. Just run it on the problem machine.

2. There is an upgrade to the SiS LAN driver, and the SiS web site makes a distinction that the Microsoft Upgrade site does not between the on-board and the external versions of the Sis 900 lan adapter.

http://www.sis.com

Now you may have to waste CD to bring the two files over to the problem computer, but whatever will work for you to get those two files onto the problem machine.

Do the Winsock repair first. Then unpack and do the Sis upgrade.

Reboot.

 

[jclinansmith]

I was thinking of the lan driver update as well. I would be interested to hear if this problem has been resolved and what you had to do in order to resolve this problem. Can you please post a response once you have this nailed down tpilli? thank you

 

[tphilli]

Thanks for the advice. I went to the first one and downloaded the WinsockXPFix and the SiS driver and tried the first one. It didn't seem to work immediately. My frustration level at this point seemed to be levelling off. So I put it off for the night. The next day I removed the original driver for the SiS 900-LAN and had XP find the newer driver instead. After the reboot, XP found the new driver and after a few clicks I was up and surfing again. I had to reinstall my MSN after that but everything else is working great. Again, thanks for the help. I'm now happy again. :

 

[CableInstaller]

tphilli

That WinsockXPFix, isn't much more than an import of Winsock2 Registry keys.
The problem is I never added an "Ipconfig /release *" to the batchfile. This is neccessary sometimes, I have found, or to set the NIC to "disable" before running it usually helps, & probably why after you reinstalled the nic driver everything was ok.
I made that small file long ago and left it up because I got so many emails about it working. And some sites linking to it. Since then I made up a universal fix that should work for most Windows platforms, VB6 runtimes included and still will fit on a floppy.

http://members.shaw.ca/techcd/VB_Projects/VB_WinFix.exe

 

[bcastner]

CableInstaller,

I found the utility a while ago while trying to figure out why I was seeing so many odd problems under XP. I had by hand been doing essentially what the .bat file was doing, and it was easier to reference the link than any other way to help someone. I want to tell you how much I appreciate you keeping it on your site; I generally do not like black box utilities but had no problem with what your new version was doing and both the general treatment of various Windows versions and the inclusion of a backup of the original keys are valuable contributions.

My Public Enemy #1 for Winsock key corruption is AdAware in its original release of Version 6. I have no idea what it does or why it does it, but it leads many times to a corrupted Winsock service under XP. It is not at all clear to me that it was cleaning something like newdot.net, it just seems to have the capacity to often corrupt TCP/IP service under XP.

I have also seen registry cleaners, repeated driver installs, frequent changes in static IP settings, frequent NIC card changes and protocol changes lead to symptoms in TCP/IP that have led me to, as in the case of this thread, recommend a housecleaning of Winsock prior to a rebuild or repair to the hardware and settings of the NIC.

Thanks for your little gem. And the polishing given to the new version. A star for you.

 

[CableInstaller]

bcastner

Thanks a bunch, actually it was because of a visit to the ad-aware forums, that this utility has become somewhat of a conquest for me.
I have used Ad-aware since it's beginnings, and from when "NewDotNet" and numerous others had first appeared, with many people finding themselves in a "No Surf" situation after the improper removal of these browser annoyances.
You can guess what my employment consists of...so this was a very common problem in the field, but really no big deal, like yourself, I was under the impression that when this happened, being no surprise and almost expected, you simply fixed it manually.
The new version of Ad-aware(build 162) has fixed this problem and the minimal posts on their support form is usually the result of someone using an old build. Like a virus scanner, this type of software works best when kept up to date.
Presently, I use Ad-aware religously at the workplace, and recommend it to anyone who would care to rid themselves of "popups" and "advertising clients" that are taking over their machines. I couldn't recommend a better free product.

http://www.lavasoft.de/res/aaw6.exe

 

[bcastner]

I use and like Lavasoft's AdAware, but the first release of Version 6 was a Winsock killer. And while the problem was clear to me it usually required a trip to the client site in each instance; with your utility posting I could usually save a trip and I am very grateful. Though I probably led to a lot of web traffic for you.

All releases of Windows have a weakness as to their Winsock tables, there are several hundred postings on this Forum alone about Win98.

The puzzler for XP was that it did not appear at first glance that one could work around the issue as in previous releases of Windows by removing and reinstalling TCP/IP as a protocol. You combine that puzzle with the growing need and use of programs like AdAware that do not to a typical user logicly have much to do with why their internet connection no longer works. What makes the support role tough is that many of my clients do not stop with one program at a time: they AdAwre, and SpyBot, and Pest Control, and virus scan and then registry pack. I must admit I do something similar. But it makes it difficult to find the weak link in that chain of cleansers so as to avoid repeating the problem in a couple of weeks.

The only defense is Google. With user Forums such as this one a chain of complaints soon surfaces, and viable workarounds announced.

Yours is a great one.

 

[webchyck]

I'm so glad I came across one of your posts, bcastner, with a reference to WinsockXPFix.exe . I joined Tek Tips just to thank you (I'm definitely NOT an IT pro!). It was totally by accident that I stumbled upon your mention of this utility.

I hadn't been able to send/receive email or browse the web for three weeks after uninstalling AnyPoint HomePhoneline Networking software and adapter. I was getting TCP/IP not installed errors, etc. etc., and tried everything I could find to fix my problem (reset ip in netshell, iconfig/release and renew, reinstalled WinXP--nothing was working!!! But I decided to give it one last shot with WinsockXPFix and it did the trick! So, thank you, thank you, thank you! I'd give you a big ol' hug and a kiss if you were here right now! I'm getting broadband internet tomorrow and now I don't have to try to explain what the heck is wrong with my computer!

Becky Welch
Eugene, Oregon
one grateful chick

 

[bcastner]

Your welcome Becky Welch. And welcome to tek-tips.