Limited or no Connectivity through LAN (Ethernet)

Is there any firewalls or Antivirus programs (besides the remnense of CA eTrust) on the computer? If so, I would disable and even uninstall them. I've seen this behavior, especially with them Antivirus 'suites'.

Also, look in your Network Connections and make sure that only your Local Area Connection exists. I remember one time a connection called 'gateway for windows' (or something like that) was somehow installed and was messing everything up.

check your Local Area Connections Properties, on the general tab, you only really need TCP/IP and typically File and Printer Sharing, and Client for Microsoft Networks installed. If anything else appears, I would uninstall it.

Next thing you can try is to start disabling services. Short of a complete reinstall, would be to start uninstalling software.

I hope this helps

Not wireless. And there is definitely no other AV or firewall on there. By all accounts and purposes it should be connecting with no issues? Again all help is appreciated.

>until SP3 came along?

Use the update fix of service pack 2.


Good Luck!

Sorry, missed that one. Tried it and got error stating that it was a higher version than the fix was meant for. Something along those lines, anyways. Thanks for the input, though, every bit of info is helpful. I know this is a hard one (imagine how I feel getting shut down at every possible solution!) but I know someone has the answer.

And they will be crowned king! :)

Thanks again guys.

Try changing NetBIOS from Default (use if needed blablabla) to Use NetBIOS over TCP/IP

Try completely taking out winsock

Step 1: Delete the 'corrupted' registry keys.
This is usually safe, however, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. And you might back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs.
Back up and restore the registry  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/ )

Click Start, and then click Run. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
In Registry Editor, locate the following keys, right-click each key, and then click Delete:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock2

(if you see any others - like a GoogleSock -- take them out also. A bad GoogleBar uninstall had me running in circles for days)

When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
Note: Restart the computer after you delete the Winsock keys. Doing so causes the Windows XP operating system to create new shell entries for those two keys. If you do not restart the computer after you delete the Winsock keys, the next step does not work correctly.

Step 2: Install TCP/IP Right-click the network connection, and then click Properties. Click Install. Click Protocol, and then click Add. Click Have Disk. Type C:\Windows\inf, and then click OK. On the list of available protocols, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click OK.

Added note:
sometimes you get lucky and don't need to do the Have Disk part, Windows just starts installing it.

Okay. Sorry for the delay. Tried the above with no luck once again. I ended up rolling back to SP2 just to see if there was any change. Lo and behold - instant internet! I reinstalled SP3, thinking maybe it was a dodgy install the first time. That dreaded bubble reappears and internet is gone again.

So, my conclusion is that SP3 has broke it, but how? No fixes from Microsoft that I can see.

Possiblity that there are remnants of CA (possibly Zone alarm as well? Thought I saw the name in the registry somewhere) that is mixing with the SP3 update causing the issue? Have read many posts where people have simply turned off the zone alarm firewall and internet has been fine, but obviously I don't have that luxury.

Still doubtful its driver issues - 2 NIC cards with the exact same issue is just too coincidental.

What do you guys reckon? Try a reinstall (still REALLY reluctant. If it didn't work I would be charging the client for nothing and I will have wasted my time) or rollback and turn off updates? Unless of course someone knows of an M$ fix?

Thanks fellas.

I think it'd be worthwhile testing to make sure its not some bizzare hardware problem, such as a faulty PCI Bus (Been there!).

Use UBCD4Win to test.
If you're not familiar with this, it is based of Bart's PE (Pre-installed Environemnt), meaning it is effectively a copy of windows you can run from a CD drive. This lets you test whether a totally independent copy of the operating system will show the same problems or not. I'd expect that it will work fine, but its worth the test anyway.

Head over to http://www.ubcd4win.com/, follow the instructions, and see how you go.

Also, you'll need a windows XP CD.

If UBCD4Win works, it means it is definitely a problem on the installed OS.

I'd next recommend using the Windows Install CleanUp Utility to totally remove any remaining bits of the CA Firewall you mentioned. It'll create a list of all installed (or partially installed) programs, and give you the option to remove them. Head over to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301 for more information.

Hope this helps.

SP3 has been causing some wierd problems. Including breaking networks.
I can't remember if a reinstall with SP3, then setting up the network did the trick, or if they just had to stay with SP2. But it seems like SP2 was the answer one time, along with a bug note to MS.