XP 2, Den 1

[den]

Once again XP at work defeats me. The design PC was connecting to the internet yesterday, and today it doesn't. It can see my PC, and I can see it. Both PCs can print off each other's printers. My PC can see the internet and the router. The other PC can't see either, or send email.

The settings are the same. Turning off the firewall doesn't help.

I checked the filtering on the router, which what caught me last time.

I bang my head on the keyboard.

Nothing helps except for the banging of the head.

Comments

[chriswheeler.livejournal.com]

I've been having wierd internet problems as well. My fix is opening a dos command window and typing:
IPCONFIG /RELEASE

IPCONFIG /RENEW

If you don't use DHCP then make sure both PCs have the same DNS server set.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Time for some more interesting tests!

Start with: Get the IP of the broken machine. If it's static, make sure it's in the same netblock as the router. If it's dynamic, make sure it's in the DHCP range of the router. If is starts with 169.254, reboot and try again. Since it can see your other PC and connect to it, this is 99.9% likely not your problem, but we check anyway because it's super-simple to do.

Make sure the network cable runs directly from the machine into the router - and, if necessary, swap ports on the router and see if that makes any difference. Again, not likely the problem, since the PCs can see each other, but check it anyway.

Get the IP of the router. Ping the router from the broken machine. Try to reach the router's web interface. If none of this works, my bet is that the router is blocking the broken machine - which you say you've checked already, but routers sometimes have a lot of options hidden under there. Try *disabling* MAC filtering, internet access filtering, timed access, and all those other happy options on the router.

If you *can* ping the router and reach the router's web interface, but still can't reach websites, try pinging websites, then try pinging the IPs of websites. If you can reach them via IP but not by name, you've got a DNS problem. If you can't reach them either way but you CAN get to the router, you're back to the router being the problem.

Try this, see what you get. Then we'll see what else we need to do.

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

Ping: error code 65 (router, websites and my PC)
Can't access the router web interface, but I can from my PC.
Changing ports didn't fix it.
Disabling all filtering etc. didn't work. Hitting reset to restore factory defaults didn't work.

And yet it can see my HDD but not ping.

The really annoying thing is that the PC did connect to the net, and then it didn't. The only thing that happened between was an MS update, so it connected to collect the update then lost the connection. It's most likely a local problem, and maybe a router problem. Under "Network Connections" there is only the LAN showing, no Internet connection. I've tried to create one ("broadband always on") and XP tells me that I am already connected. But that's only the idiot Wizard.

This sort of shit was a doddle under 98, but XP just beats me.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

XP is much easier than 98. Really.

MS has a KB article on code 65. (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316414) Are you using Zone Alarm, and have you enabled ICS? If either of those is true, run, do not walk, and GET RID OF THAT SHIT. Or, at least, disable ICS (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;306126) and UNINSTALL Zone Alarm, and see if it fixes the problem. No, disabling Zone Alarm does not disable Zone Alarm. You *need* to uninstall it.


Apart from that, I'm going to summarise:
The broken machine cannot ping or reach the router's web interface.
It cannot ping your machine.
It *can* reach shared folders on your PC.
It *does* have a good IP.
It *cannot* reach the web via IP or name.

Is that correct?

Under network connections, there *should be* only the LAN. As far as your computer is concerned, the LAN is the internet, since it goes out to the router first before reaching the internet anyway.

More questions:
Static IP or DHCP?
What kind of connection on the far side of the router (cable, DSL, T1, other?)
Can you plug this computer into that connection directly and see what happens?
Are you using a firewall other than Windows Firewall? If so, what program?

At this point, I think the machine is the problem, specifically something in software. The trick is, now, to nail down WHAT that problem is.

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

ZoneAlarm! Dammit. It was installed but not run. I use ZoneAlarm at home and have never had a problem with it. It was installed but not running on the other PC, but not causing problems until yesterday. I've just uninstalled it and all the connections came back.

So now the only firewall I have on the office PCs is an Windows. What free firewall would you recommend, if not ZoneAlarm?

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

I used to use Sygate Personal Firewall, but it no longer exists.

These days, if I'm behind a router? I use Windows Firewall and be done with it. And I'm always behind a router.

I've heard good things about Zone Alarm from other people. I've just never seen them, ever. I don't like the product because it causes exactly this kind of problem, and has for most of the last decade.

[reynardo.livejournal.com]

I can't remember if you're with Optus for your DSL. If you are, you can download the new Security Suite for free.

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

BigPond. Optus didn't DSL out this way when I needed it.