All Messed Up!

[ScarletNGray]

Hello!

I don't think I'm the most computer savvy person, but I
do have an understanding to what goes on...I think.

Recently, the internet in my sorority decided to suddenly
go out. Another girl in the house and I have started to
unravel the problem, and have started to regain internet
in most the rooms. What is most perplexing to me - and
Dell associates - is why the internet in my room will
work for my roommate (who is hooked up thru my router),
but not for me. We think it's a virus, but McAfee isn't
identifying anything and I can't update DAT files if I
can't open the browser - oh, I did forget to mention that
my computer KNOWS it is hooked up, it's receiving and
sending information but somehow not getting a signal. We
pinged the IP address of my netcard...but nothing, not
even a System Restore to as early as Feb 8, 2004 has done
anything.

So, at this point, unless anyone has a suggestion, I
think (and I may be wrong) that formatting the c-drive
would be the best option and to reinstall Windows XP Pro.

Any ideas?! Help?!

Thanks

 

[Stephan]

I assume you have a router with an network switch?
Lots of things can be wrong, I doubt that a re-install will solve
in the most expeditious manner.

check that you still have still have TCP-IP installed

check to see if you router has a firewall, and what is the firewall set to

check to see if you can see each others systems in the "network
neighborhood"

If your system was hijacked by scumware, virus protection won't detect it.
you have to run something like ad-aware or spy-bot search and destroy to
eliminate it.

check to see what's running on your system, spammers hijack unprotected
systems
to serve as mass mail servers.

CHECK THE CABLES! lol lot's of problems are cause be hardware failures.
swap the cables between the working and non-working systems, if you can.

sometimes, turning EVERYTHING off (include router, modem, etc) wait a
minute,
then back on resolves this.

hope this helps

hmmmmm, ScarletNGray? sounds like a squirrel that didn't manage
to make it _all_ the way across the road.... lol

 

[Guest]

I wish it were all that simple!

I will give your suggestions a try, though!

I definitely tried switching the cords, unplugging,
restarting, EVERTHING. Luckily, I do have ad-aware, so
I'll run that after work today to see if it detects
anything new. I just wish I could find something that
prevents the garbage from somehow getting on my
computer...I can't figure out how to protect myself more -
I've got anti-virus, it detects spam and such and I have
ad-aware...Any more suggestions for protection?
-SNG

 

[Vagabond Software]

Let's start with something a little less drastic than a complete reinstall.

Open a command prompt on your machine and your roommate's machine, then type 'ipconfig /all' at the prompt on both machines. Cut-n-paste the results of your roommates into a response. Unfortunately, you'll have to type in the result from your machine.

Looking at your 'ipconfig' results, you'll want to check for the following:

DHCP = Yes (most common configuration)
IP Address = 192.168.X.X or 10.X.X.X
Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway = 192.168.X.1 or 10.X.X.1

Those are the minimums for a network connection.

- carl

 

[Stephan]

another suggestion:

unplug the network connection, then start the system
see if any errors pop up.
if the system was hijacked, a lack of a network connection could really mess
with it,
and this would give you evidence that something is wrong...

 

[Steve Nielsen]

In addition to the other advice, if you haven't already, power-cycle the
router and switch to force them to re-learn and rebuild their internal
address tables. Windows may still have cached addreses information, too,
so at the cmd prompt do:

ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /renew

Steve

 

[Plato]

Recently, the internet in my sorority decided to suddenly
go out. Another girl in the house and I have started to
unravel the problem, and have started to regain internet

Heck, call a number in the phonebook and have a geek guy come over.
You'll get hours of free service and get your problem fixed.