Windows or is it Network Problem?

[deebee]

I had a problem recently with the Winsock/ network which fortunately you helped me fix.

I wanted to network my laptop running XP with my PC on 2000. Linking through a netgear ethernet switch there were problems and someone suggested having both on XP would be better.

I have two Hard drives on my PC and have now got one with 2000 and one with xp.

Now here's the nub, neither of the two drives will connect to the internet. I have tried direct, netgear switch and Broadband router. I completely wiped one disc and reinstalled 2000. I have run virus checks, spybot, adaware etc. I have tried all combinations of windows and trend micro firewall.

My laptop links through all of them, My pc finds the IP address, checked using IP config, but reports that it cannot find the site. I've linked through phone modem, which connects but won't load the site.

Trend micro firewall shows traffic but cannot connect to sites.

Any Ideas? My stepson, who is a network technician is as stumped as me .

[NHH]

Hi Again...

Well to start with, I would connect both PC's to the router and forget the the hub for now, then power them both on. Once they're on, disable any software firewalls on the PC's.

If the laptop connects to the internet... great.
Now check the other PC see if the same problem is there.
If it connects to a website then the problem was down to the firewall, if not read on...

Things to check on the problematic PC.....
As you have already done, goto to the command prompt and do an ipconfig/all.
Things to note are the IP address, the DHCP Server (which should be the router's IP address) and the DNS Server(s).
Compare these to the ipconfig results on the laptop.

Note these addresses when you reply back to me....

Try pinging a website by it's DNS address and it's IP address.
You can do this by going to the command prompt and typing the following;
ping www.bbc.co.uk, press enter and see if you get replies,
then...
ping 212.58.224.114, press enter and see if you get any replies.

Now if you got replies from the IP address but not the URL, then it's a DNS problem. You can usually get round this by manually assigning the DNS Server address in the TCP/IP properties on the PC, if this is the case then get back to me and I'll tell you how.

If you're not getting any replies on either ping attempt, then try to ping your router's IP address (see the DHCP server address).
If you're getting replies then the problem is the router configuration.
If you're not getting any replies but you've definately got an automatic IP address from the router, then I would suspect the network adapter driver. Try updating it.

Now let's see how you get on with that...

Later

[deebee]

Hi again
Connected up as suggested, turned off firewalls, no web site access on PC.

LAPTOP

ip 192.168.123.146
SUBNET MASK 255.255.255.0
dns servers 62.31.144.39
195.188.53.175

PC

ip 192.168.123.254
same subnet mask and dns servers

but extra info on pc about tunnel adaptor Teredo tunneling pseudo interface and tunnel adaptor automatic tunneling pseudo interface, which I don't really understand.

Pinged www.bbc.co.uk and Ip address and router 192.168.123.254 and got replies from all.

from this your reply suggests router configuration, but I can't connect from the pc even with direct link to broadband modem.

[NHH]

Ahh..

The presence of the Teredo tunnel adaptor means that IPv6 is installed on the PC which will be causing the problems.

In Windows 2000 goto Network & Dial-Up Connections in the Control Panel, right click on your Local Area Connection icon and select Properties.

Can you see Microsoft IPv6 or something similar?
Select it and press the Uninstall button.
Once uninstalled give the PC a reboot.

[deebee]

uninstalled it and no toledo shown in ipconfig now but problem persists, can ping sites as before but no connection.

Tried with firewalls on and off

[NHH]

What do you now have listed in your Dial-Up and Network Connections?

Do you have a VPN (Virtual Private Network) connection listed? If so delete it...

[deebee]

sorry, no vpn.

I have 2 network cards on my machine, either one of them will find the ip address, ping Urls or ip address.

it makes no difference if the other is enabled or disabled.

Again had a visit from networker stepson, and if cards, router and modem seem OK is it Internet explorer?

Sorry to be a pain!

[deebee]

update since last message!
After checking all items on XP hard drive, retried win 2000 hard drive. At first wouldn't ping so changed netword card driver. Pinged and then got on internet long enough to download latest trend micro and spybot updates. Sadly lost connection again but did full virus and spybot sweeps of both drives, some trojans but mainly spyware.
Got back online briefly, lost it, did spybot sweep and got
'DSOexploit data source object exploit(registry change nothing done)
HKEY_USERS\s-1-5-21-117609710-746137067-839522115-500\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\internetsettings\zones\0\1004!=W=3'
and a second identical entry but in default rather than s-1-5....
Spybot fixed, got back online, briefly then exactly the same.
Also trend kept reporting invasion by ADW-ELITEA (silent53.exe).

went back on to XP drive continued sweeps, followed trend website advice to switch off system restore and do full scan. Did this, restored sytem restore and got on line on xp drive as well, trend updated, but got same trend messages and spybot found dso exploit again.

just done a sweep with adaware found 40 entries maily elitum elite,vxz and alexa. spybot agin found dsoexploit same entry but in 5 folders this time, just 30 minutes after fixing.
Clearly problem is around this area, but my laptop connected through the same router running xphome is getting no infections.
Is there a nuclear powered spyware blaster I can buy and install that will block them at source?

[NHH]

Good to here that you got life out of the thing....

I thought you'd done a fresh install...? Never mind..

On the subject of blocking spyware, Spybot (which you've already got) has some features such the 'Inoculate', 'SDHelpder' & 'Teatimer' which are more than adequate for stopping spyware before installation.

As I always say, if you really want to avoid spyware, stop using IE for web browsing. Microsoft have done some security updates to IE in XP SP2 but this obviously leaves non-XP systems out in the cold.
Start using Mozilla Firefox or Opera for web browsing and you'll hardly need a spyware remover (unless you install some yourself via some dodgy software). More Info

Links;
Mozilla Firefox
Opera 7