Unable to Flush the ARP cache

I am not on a router, but my Ethernet card is directly connected to a DSL modem.

What isp do you have and do you use the software they provided or did you let xp install the connection.

My ISP is telus.com (ADSL) & I have this broadband connection for a while. This problem just started recently, I dont know why. I never ever used my ISPs connection software, but always used XP's Local Area Connection settings.  My ISP uses DHCP.

How about a system restore. Did you do any windows updates.  Maybe an update messed it up.  Maybe restoring back before and/or uninstalling the update or hotfix might help.  I've had this problem before also but it eventually resolved itself.  I'll look somemore.  I was hoping you were on a router so that you could run a static ip, not sure how to approach it with a modem only connection.  Will  research, have to go for now.  Good Luck.  One of the links I posted earlier I think mention arp -c as the successful cache flush command.  Might check it out.  Not sure.

System Restore is not a resolution for me... I know system restore... If that is the solution, I wouldnot have asked this question in the forum... arp -c didn't work..  If you have any other normal troubleshooting process to rectify this issue other than SYS Restore then let me know... My arp is already showing flushed. But still getting the error msg. This is FYI.. Thanx.

This should fix your problem:

netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt

netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt has been tried long before. After restarting the pc, the problem starts again. ALL netsh, ipconfig & arp commands have been tried from windows database. My arp cache is showing cleared by arp -a command. Still the aboev error msg comes while renewing IP address & also IP repair operation is an obvious process afterthe pc is restarted. Otherwise I have no problem accessing the internet... Difficult problem... Neh ????

Hi timothyfryer, This seems to be a really good troubleshooting process. Atlast someone gave me something to work on. I will try this in the next few days & will get back in this forum with results. Thanx.

Hi, at last I got some time to perform the above R&D. STILL DIDN'T WORK. What I did : Uninstalled the current NIC driver, updated driver from Realtec website for the NIC, uninstalled TCP/IP Protocol driver, Recreated Local Area Connection again. Still same issue. One important info to reveal is that when I booted the pc in Safe mode with networking, the problem was gone. I didnot got arp flush problem. didnot have to rel/ren IP. just got onto the internet with a bang. I dont know what program is creating problem when the pc boots up in normal mode. Any more suggestions ????

At last I found the solution. This might be noted down by everyone. When ARP cache is not flushing even with all necessary "srp" related commands, then some services in XP is definitely creating problem. I disabled all windows based services at once (which are possible to disable without system instabilty) and then started "STARTING" the processes one by one. Thus found that "Routing & Remote Access" is the service that was responsible for the arp flushing problem. Now everything is working fine as the said service is stopped. I dont need the service , thus stopping that is not bothering me. If anyone needs the service... thats another troubleshooting process then. To achieve this solution, "timothyfryer" helped me a lot to get to the point. Though his solution was not direct, yet his insight & guidance helped me a lot to achieve the goal. So I will give him 300 points at least. Thanx, subhro_g.

Glad you were able to find the problem.  You may have noticed that your machine is faster without all the baggage.  I've never see a definitive guide on xp services.  Everything I've seen seems to be more speculation and experimentation than technical fact.  Microsoft just seems to love a good game of hide and seek.  Good Luck.  Tim.

Thanx Tim, so much. I have given you the full 500 points for your effort. Thanx again. Subhro.

And thank you for the points, you can never have to many.  Ha!

I have this problem, and i have not solved it.  I have disabled the routing and remote access, but it still exists.

other ideas?

I am having a similar problem with my ARP cache.  I am working on a LAN and when trying to renew my IP, I receive the failure to flush ARP cache.  I am running windows XP and am having troubles stopping the Remote Access as well.  I cannot just reset my computer as there is important data that needs to be saved, but cannot be saved due to the problem.

I also have this problem and have tried everything. changed ISP about 2 months ago, all ok. Recently changed a couple of switches on my small network about 2 months ago, all still ok. Then started getting no internet access and ARP Cache problem about a week ago, managed to fix it by uninstalling network driver and restarting, so reinstall, all worked ok until half way through today. Now I have no internet/email access, but can access other computers on my network ok. I've uninstalled and reinstalled drivers, stopped the Remote access and ARP Cache Flushing error message went away, but still no Internet/email access. I've tried running the solutions listed above including system restore, but nothing. Have couple of other computers on network and all work ok, problem is from a IBM laptop with win XP Pro SP1, with on board Intel Pro 100 VE network connection, then via a netgear switch into a firewall then ADSL modem. Also tried Microsoft & IBM support but no help there. A full system rebuild is also a no go. Any more idea's or does this appear to be an emerging problem in Win XP.
Any suggestions or help would be much appreciated, as I've torn out most of my hair trying to fix problem !

Stop looking I found the problem. Even though I started with the ARP Cache problem, I think in trying to fix that another problem occurred. One of the tests I run in trying to fix the problem must have done a port scan on my firewall, therefore the firewall blocked any future access from my computer. The solution was having the computer use a static IP adress, then enter that address in the Firewall. This results in the firewall not blocking the computer IP in future. This all assumes the firewall someone runs has port scan blocking in it. This might also apply to other issues. It also appears that some firewalls will lose the list of IP's to block from it's port scan monitoring, if they are rebooted/switched off, so doing this will fix the blocking issue. Therefore better option add IP address to firewall. Don't know about all the technical issues behind this, as it's not my field. But hope this might help any one else.

I had the same problem, are you running a VPN from windows XP? Try stopping/removing the "Incoming Connections". this worked for me.

try these steps, worked for me, bypass the router (if any), then try ipconfig /flushdns. after that netsh winsock reset. Restart the computer and check. It should fix the issue.