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Unable to share internet connection

I'm having trouble sharing my internet connection (Local Area Connection 2) with other computers over the wireless network connection I have made using a usb wifi device. It was working up until a few days ago, when I followed some advice on this site pertaining to removing unused network adapters that give the message "Failed to uninstall the device. The device may be required to boot up the computer." My computer reinstalls drivers for the usb wifi device when I plug it into a different usb port, and I was trying to get rid of the old adapters that won't be used again. One accepted solution suggested unintalling the adapter used to connect to the internet, prior to attempting to uninstall the spare adapters. This didn't work, and when I re-installed the ethernet adapter I no longer had the ability to share the active internet connection. When I run the Network Setup Wizard I get an error, and as the attached file shows, I can't share the connection manually. I would appreciate a rapid responce, as I plan to format my hard drive and start over again if I don't get the problem fixed by this weekend.
internet-sharing.doc

SOLUTION

TCB1

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gemstone06

ASKER

That checkbox is not on my internet connection, its on my wifi connection that I have been using to provide an internet connection for my ps3, wii, and some other devices up until a few days ago. When I have it checked, my computer loses its internet connection, and my other devices are, of corse, still unable to connect to the internet.

Darr247

> That checkbox is not on my internet connection, its on my wifi connection

What options are installed on the General tab of Local Area Connection 2 ?
What address is Local Area Connection 2 using? If it's 192.168.0.1 you need to change it, because as TCB1 pointed out, that's the address ICS want to assign to the adapter that will be providing a connection to the client[s].

Could you check the nsw.log in the windows folder of that machine and see what the results were of the last time you ran the network setup wizard, please?

Did you try the ICS troubleshooter? e.g. hcp://help/tshoot/tsics.htm
Choose the 'I need setup information for Internet Connection Sharing' option.

Darr247

I should have known that link wouldn't work... :-)

Look at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308021/ and click ''clicking here'' under Starting the Internet Connection Sharing Troubleshooter.

gemstone06

ASKER

My Local Area Connection is not using 192.168.0.1 as its address, and even when I set my wireless connection to that address the setup wizard still doesn't work. Both connections have the same options installed. I've posted the nsw log for you to look at. The link in your first post did open the help window when I copied it into the address bar of my browser, in case you're interested.
nsw.log

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Darr247

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gemstone06

ASKER

The ethernet adapter is showing up correctly under device manager. I have the latest drivers for both the ethernet adapter and the wifi dongle. Its a dell dimension 8300 desktop pc, not a laptop. The Wifi dongle is a Wifimax wich is made by code junkies. To clarify, this problem started after trying to removing old network adapters that windows thinks are needed to boot the computer. I followed several suggestions on this site, and nothing worked. One suggstion was to uninstall the working network adapters first, but when I reinstalled them, I started having this problem.

Darr247

Try reinstalling the chipset driver from the Drivers & Utilities CD. If you don't have the CD, you can download the chipset driver from http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?c=us&cs=04&s=bsd&SystemID=DIM_PNT_P4_8300&os=WW1&osl=en
(or http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&cs=04&s=bsd&releaseid=R58201&SystemID=DIM_PNT_P4_8300&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=3268&libid=27&fileid=70069).

There's also a an updated driver there for the Broadcom gigabit NIC and the Intel 10/100 NIC (whichever of those options you have), but I presume one of those is the same 'latest drivers' you said you already have.

gemstone06

ASKER

I re-installed the chipset driver from Dell, and have a newer version of the intel NIC driver than Dell provides on their website.

Darr247

> and have a newer version of the intel NIC driver than Dell provides on their website.

Did you try 'downgrading' to the version provided by Dell to see if it works like that?

gemstone06

ASKER

Even with the driver supplied on Dell's site, I can't get it to work. I have narrowed down the problem, though. While using a virtual machine program to test an XP SP3 slipstream cd I made, I noticed that I could share my ethernet with the OS in the virtual machine. This means the problem is that the ethernet adapter doesn't detect the WiFi adapter. I hope that helps you figure out what I should try next.

gemstone06

ASKER

I tried doing a repair install after making the slipstream cd, but the option to repar the installation didn't show up. While trying some fixes to get this option to appear, something went wrong and I ended up having to reformat my hard drive and re-install windows. After loading all of my files off of my external hard drive, and reinstalling all relevant software I was able to get the everything working again. Thanks for all of your help.

gemstone06

ASKER

I would like to thank both of you for doing your best to help me avoid completly reinstalling everything on my computer. Unfortunately we were not able to find the cause to help others that may encounter this problem. I learned some usefull things along the way, some of which helped speed up my reinstall time, for wich I am extremely greatfull.