Freind lost internet connection, but 2 other PC's work

[PeterM]

A friend of mine just asked me if I could help him with a problem. He lost
his ability to get onto the internet with his so called main computer. He
has two other computers hooked up to the same network, and they have access.
I have no idea how to check this in Win 2000 Pro. He knows less then I do,
and is scared to even look anywhere. Could one of you please give me an idea
what I can check, better yet, how to check, to see how I can get him up and
running again. Also he asked me to check his msconfig, startup programs, and
I found out there is no such thing as a msconfig in win2000. I use winxp,
and of course I have it. Any help is appreciated................Peter

 

[serverguy]

Hi Peter, it would be helpful to know how all the computers connect to the
internet. In other words, do they all connect directly to a router? Wired
or wireless? Or do they use Internet Connection Sharing?
FYI, Windows 2000 is almost exactly the same as XP underneath all the colors
with the biggest exception being there is no firewall so you don't need to
check that.

First, if you suspect something wrong with the startup, check here:
How to troubleshoot startup problems in Windows 2000:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315396&Product=win2000

As for the internet connection issues:
1. Can the machine ping anything? (Click Start, run, type in cmd, click
OK. Type ping www.yahoo.com) If it times out, then try pinging by ip
address instead. (ping 216.109.118.68)
This is a sample ip address, you may need to try another one since they
often change. Better yet, try to ping one of the other machines on his
network.
2. If it can ping by ip but not by name, check the DNS settings. From the
same command prompt, type ipconfig /all. This should show a dns ip address.
Try pinging that also.
3. The ipconfig will also tell you if the machine itself has a valid ip
address, subnet mask, etc.. If the ip address is 0.0.0.0, it is not valid
and will not be able to connect to anything via tcp/ip.
4. Compare the tcp/ip properties with the other computers that can connect
to the internet. The settings should be identical except for the ip address
which MUST be different.
5. Check the event logs on the pc (control panel, administrative tools,
event log) to find any errors around the time the connectivity was lost.
This might be the best clue to what changed.
6. If the computers all go through a router with NAT, check the firewall
settings to make sure that computer's ip address is allowed

That should get you started. If none of this helps, there are probably a
dozen other things to check such as virus/spyware protection, hardware
settings, etc...

Good luck.

 

[PeterM]

I can't tell you how much I appreciate you for this generous help. Since all
the terminology is new to me, and I do want to learn and help this one
friend, I will try everything you told me to check. I will get back to you,
and you have a wonderful day...........Peter