Windows Firewall . . . ARRGGHH!

G

Guest

Sorry for the duplicate post.

I've been trying all day to setup a simple LAN at home (not my first, BTW)
with my desktop and laptop using WinXP Home Ed on both computers. On my
desktop, in Windows Firewall settings / Advanced / the following message
appears -

"The network connection settings have become corrupted. To fix this, click
Restore Defaults. This will delete all of you settings for Windows Firewall,
and it might cause some programs to stop working." The laptop does not
display that message.

"Restore Defaults" changes nothing. I reset TCP/IP, but that changed
nothing either.

Although both computers can access the Internet, (thru my LinkSys WRT54G
router), the two computers cannot "see" each other. My desktop can
successfully ping itself and the router, but not the laptop. The laptop can
only ping the router, not itself or the desktop.

Any clues on what might be the problem?

Thanks.
 
S

Steve Winograd [MVP]

Sorry for the duplicate post.

I've been trying all day to setup a simple LAN at home (not my first, BTW)
with my desktop and laptop using WinXP Home Ed on both computers. On my
desktop, in Windows Firewall settings / Advanced / the following message
appears -

"The network connection settings have become corrupted. To fix this, click
Restore Defaults. This will delete all of you settings for Windows Firewall,
and it might cause some programs to stop working." The laptop does not
display that message.

"Restore Defaults" changes nothing. I reset TCP/IP, but that changed
nothing either.

Although both computers can access the Internet, (thru my LinkSys WRT54G
router), the two computers cannot "see" each other. My desktop can
successfully ping itself and the router, but not the laptop. The laptop can
only ping the router, not itself or the desktop.

Any clues on what might be the problem?

Thanks.

One possible solution is to delete the existing network connection and
create a new one. To do that:

1. Go to Device Manager and un-install the network adapter that
connects to the LAN.

2. Reboot and let WinXP detect and install then network adapter.

If that doesn't solve the problem, repair the WinSock catalog:

1. If the desktop has WinXP Service Pack 2, type this line at a
command prompt and reboot:

netsh winsock reset catalog

2. If the computer has an earlier version of WinXP, download and run
WinSock XP Fixfrom this web site, then reboot:

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/winsockxpfix.html
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
 
G

Guest

Thanks for the suggestions, Steve. I tried both procedures, but neither of
them corrects the problem.

Dave
 
J

Jim

Dave said:
Sorry for the duplicate post.

I've been trying all day to setup a simple LAN at home (not my first, BTW)
with my desktop and laptop using WinXP Home Ed on both computers. On my
desktop, in Windows Firewall settings / Advanced / the following message
appears -

"The network connection settings have become corrupted. To fix this,
click
Restore Defaults. This will delete all of you settings for Windows
Firewall,
and it might cause some programs to stop working." The laptop does not
display that message.

"Restore Defaults" changes nothing. I reset TCP/IP, but that changed
nothing either.

Although both computers can access the Internet, (thru my LinkSys WRT54G
router), the two computers cannot "see" each other. My desktop can
successfully ping itself and the router, but not the laptop. The laptop
can
only ping the router, not itself or the desktop.
Every time that this has happened to me, the problem was that the firewall
was not allowing icmp packets to go through. I am using ZoneAlarm, but the
symptons are the same.
Jim
 
G

Guest

Sorry, I just saw your reply text. I disabled ZoneAlarm prior to trying to
set up my LAN, 'cause I didn't want to risk firewall conflicts. So, I'm
guessing that isn't the cause of my current problems.

Thanks, Dave.
 
C

Chuck

Sorry, I just saw your reply text. I disabled ZoneAlarm prior to trying to
set up my LAN, 'cause I didn't want to risk firewall conflicts. So, I'm
guessing that isn't the cause of my current problems.

Thanks, Dave.

Dave,

Disabling Zone Alarm, when ZA itself is a problem, doesn't always produce the
right results.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/your-personal-firewall-can-either-help.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/your-personal-firewall-can-either-help.html
 
G

Guest

Thanks to all who offered suggestions. Everything is up and running, now,
after taking the following actions:

Desktop -
Uninstalled ZoneAlarm
Disabled MS AntiSpyware
Disabled Norton Anti-Virus
Uninstalled XP SP2

Laptop -
Uninstalled Norton Internet Security
Diabled MS AntiSpyware
Uninstalled XP SP2

Re-enabled MS AntiSpyware on both machines, and Norton AV on the desktop.
Did not re-enable Norton IS on the laptop (got to come up with AV protection,
though).
Re-installed all XP Home security updates on both machines, but NOT SP2!

Now the laptop sees the desktop, the desktop sees the laptop (both wired and
wireless connections), and all is right with the world . . . for now.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top