Lost Dialup, Lost LAN

[Mat Brown]

I have been working on a small office LAN, it is set up as a workgroup,
not a domain, all of them running Windows XP, all with static IPs. Each
computer dials into the internet separately. The first thing that happened
was one of the computers started having problems with the dialup connection.
It would dialup and connect, but there would be no internet there, I could
not even ping a remote IP. At this point the LAN was still working, so I
tried setting up Internet Connection Sharing on one of the other computers
on the LAN. When I was not able to access the internet that way, I
discovered that I could not even ping the other computers on the LAN. At
this point I realized that the network also had IPX/SPX enabled, and when I
removed it, the computer could not see the rest of the network. It was after
this point that I realized that, while the computer could ping loopback and
its own IP, when I did, the display was corrupted. It did not show the IP
address at all, it showed:
"Pinging ? with 32 bytes of data:"
Then at the bottom, it showed:
"Ping statistics for 0ù?:"
I began suspecting that the TCP/IP had been corrupted. I tried the
"netsh int ip reset", but that didn't fix anything. By this time I am ready
to consider a reformat/reinstall, when I discover that the computer I had
set up the ICS on is now not able to access the internet either. It dials up
and connects to the internet just fine, but there was no internet out there,
just like the other one. I quickly checked, and I could still ping other
computers on the LAN, but I got the same garbage in the ping output. Since I
had fed this computer's IP address to the other one in attempting to get ICS
working, I began to suspect that there might be a virus of some kind
involved, moving across the network. The last time the computer had
successfully been connected to the internet, it had updated McAfee VirusScan
to that morning's DAT file, so I ran a full scan of the hard drive. Nothing.
So, I am at a loss. It looks like TCP/IP corruption, and so a
reformat/reinstall would do it. But if I've got something crawling around
the network, it will just come back. I can't find anything there, but if
there isn't something, why did the same corruption spread to another
computer on the network? And, is there an easier way to fix it without
having to wipe the drive? Has anyone out there seen this before? What is
going on?
Thank you for any and all help!

 

[Mat Brown]

"Pinging ? with 32 bytes of data:"

Lost the character. It is an arrow pointing to the right.

"Ping statistics for 0ù?:"

This one was a Spade, like from a deck of cards.

Yeah, they seen like random garbage, but the fact that it came up the
same on both computers makes me think it isn't quite so random.

 

[Fred Marshall]

First things first.
Remove all instances of TCP/IP and then add that protocol back.

If you ping a known IP address on the LAN then there should be no reason for
name resolution and the ping program should say:
Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data.

If the IP address is garbled, that suggests a problem with the ping program
(can't be sure)...

When you set up ICS, you have to set up the ethernet interface to have the
right IP address. Was this done? As I recall, it sets up a bridge and the
bridge takes over those functions..... If not, you may have taken the ICS
computer off the LAN for IP purposes at least... and then you'd not be able
to ping it, etc.....

Also, if you are really connecting the computers with NetBEUI then you may
not be getting a clear picture of the TCP/IP situation. You can find lots
of literature on the web suggesting that *only* TCP/IP is necessary.

You seem to be having problems with the dialup in general. So that would be
a separate investigation.

Fred

 

[Mat Brown]

First things first.
Remove all instances of TCP/IP and then add that protocol back.

Tried that. Couldn't remove it from the LAN, and couldn't just delete the
LAN from the list of connections either. Doesn't seem to be any way to
really restore TCP/IP when it gets damaged in XP. They say "netsh int ip
reset" is supposed to do it, but it doesn't seem to.

If you ping a known IP address on the LAN then there should be no reason for
name resolution and the ping program should say:
Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data.

That's what I had been trying, no such luck.

If the IP address is garbled, that suggests a problem with the ping program
(can't be sure)...

Is there a way to restore that in XP, or is it effectively part of TCP/IP?

When you set up ICS, you have to set up the ethernet interface to have the
right IP address. Was this done? As I recall, it sets up a bridge and the
bridge takes over those functions..... If not, you may have taken the ICS
computer off the LAN for IP purposes at least... and then you'd not be able
to ping it, etc.....

It actually automatically sets the LAN to the proper IP address. I did
double check it to make sure. But what I later realized was that the
computer with the problem had by then lost all communication with the LAN
anyway.

Also, if you are really connecting the computers with NetBEUI then you may
not be getting a clear picture of the TCP/IP situation. You can find lots
of literature on the web suggesting that *only* TCP/IP is necessary.

Yeah, I don't know why IPX/SPX and NetBEUI were enabled on the LAN, but I've
been removing them since I noticed they were there.

You seem to be having problems with the dialup in general. So that would be
a separate investigation.

Well, had both problems not started at the same time, I would be more
inclined to agree with your assessment, but it had all been working on all
the machines, then both stopped on that one, and then later same problems
started showing up on the other. All the machines in the office use not only
the same ISP, but the same phone line and dialup account. (They don't use
the internet a whole lot.) All the other machines have continued to be able
to dialup without problem. Finally, the machine where it first showed up, I
did a reformat reinstall on, and it now connects just fine again, so it
wasn't some kind of hardware problem. The second machine still connects to
LAN, but the Ping information is garbled, and while it will dialup and
connect to the internet, it doesn't communicate with it, I cannot ping
anything out there. Once again, it is looking to me like TCP/IP corruption,
but I still don't know of any way to fix that in Windows XP...

 

[Jeffrey Randow (MVP)]

To answer part of it - try running "sfc /scannow". This will restore
any corrupted system files...

Jeffrey Randow (Windows Networking & Smart Display MVP)
(e-mail address removed)

Please post all responses to the newsgroups for the benefit
of all USENET users. Messages sent via email may or may not
be answered depending on time availability....

Remote Networking Technology Support Site -
http://www.remotenetworktechnology.com
Windows XP Expert Zone - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone