Home network quit working

[Jud McCranie]

My home network quit working for one computer. Other computers can't
see it and it can't see other computers. It can't even see itself on
the network. I upgraded the network card driver on this computer a
few days ago, but I don't know if that caused the problem.

I've tried the network setup wizard four times, and it says that it
works, but the network isn't there. I've rebooted the computer. I've
rebooted the router two times and all lights are on.

Can anyone help me fix this problem?

 

[Jud McCranie]

I upgraded the network card driver on this computer a
few days ago, but I don't know if that caused the problem.

By the way, the driver update did NOT go smoothly.

 

[Jud McCranie]

My home network quit working for one computer.

BTW, Windows XP home, SP3, and the network has been working (most of
the time) for years.

 

[Jud McCranie]

My home network quit working for one computer.

If I boot in Safe Mode with networking, I can Map Network Drives
without a hitch, and then the network drives show up as they should.
When I booted normally after that, the network drives are gone and it
doesn't see any of them (not even itself).

 

[Lem]

If I boot in Safe Mode with networking, I can Map Network Drives
without a hitch, and then the network drives show up as they should.
When I booted normally after that, the network drives are gone and it
doesn't see any of them (not even itself).

Try rolling back the network driver. Safe mode uses its own default
drivers.

Also possibly a firewall issue. What firewall *and* antivirus
applications are installed? And you said you updated the "network card"
driver. That wouldn't by any chance happen to be an Nvidia network
adapter on your motherboard, would it (some Nvidia nForce mobos have a
built-in firewall)?

--
Lem -- MS-MVP

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm

 

[Jud McCranie]

Try rolling back the network driver. Safe mode uses its own default
drivers.

How do I roll back the network driver, other than a system restore? (I
don't mind doing that if that will fix it.)

Also possibly a firewall issue. What firewall *and* antivirus
applications are installed?

AVG firewall and antivirus. Windows firewall is off. (I double
checked tonight.)

And you said you updated the "network card"
driver. That wouldn't by any chance happen to be an Nvidia network
adapter on your motherboard, would it

Yes it is! What does that imply?

 

[Lem]

How do I roll back the network driver, other than a system restore? (I
don't mind doing that if that will fix it.)

To roll back drivers, open Device Manager, find your network adapter,
right-click on it and select "Properties." Click the "Driver" tab and
you'll see the "Roll Back Driver" button. Because you said that you had
a hard time updating the driver, before you roll back, see below.

AVG firewall and antivirus. Windows firewall is off. (I double
checked tonight.)

Did you make sure that AVG firewall is properly configured? Try turning
it off temporarily.

Yes it is! What does that imply?

Some Nvidia motherboards include their own hardware based firewall. See
http://tinyurl.com/5vxtdl

If you just updated Nvidia drivers, you may have installed it and turned
it on by default. I don't know anything more about it but see some of
these Google hits:
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=nvidia+network+access+manager&btnG=Google+Search&fp=1
particularly
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...ork_web/browse_thread/thread/47ccfdec52028db3

--
Lem -- MS-MVP

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm

 

[Jud McCranie]

To roll back drivers, open Device Manager, find your network adapter,
right-click on it and select "Properties." Click the "Driver" tab and
you'll see the "Roll Back Driver" button.

I tried that as you suggested, but it says that there are no drivers
backed up. Should I uninstall and reinstall the network adapter?

Did you make sure that AVG firewall is properly configured? Try turning
it off temporarily.

I think it is properly configured. I've been using it for several
months. I tried turning it off and it didn't make a difference with
the problem.

 

[Jud McCranie]

I think it is properly configured. I've been using it for several
months. I tried turning it off and it didn't make a difference with
the problem.

Scratch that. After having the firewall off for a while, the
networking started working again. Then I turned the AVG firewall back
on and the network is still working. So now it seems back to normal -
thanks!

 

[Lem]

Scratch that. After having the firewall off for a while, the
networking started working again. Then I turned the AVG firewall back
on and the network is still working. So now it seems back to normal -
thanks!

YW, and thanks for letting us know. With any luck, things will continue
to work.

--
Lem -- MS-MVP

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm

 

[Jim]

Scratch that. After having the firewall off for a while, the
networking started working again. Then I turned the AVG firewall back
on and the network is still working. So now it seems back to normal -
thanks!

This is an indication that your firewall was misconfigured. It wasn't
passing ICMP packets. A good test for this situation is to ping the other
computers.
This situation is easily corrected if you are running the Windows firewall.
Finding the right spot to configure ZA is more tedious.
I know nothing of other vendor's firewalls.
Jim

 

[Jud McCranie]

This is an indication that your firewall was misconfigured.

I believe you are correct because after I got it working for an hour
or two, then it quit seeing one of the other computers. I turned off
the AVG firewall (again) and it started working again. Then I went
through the AVG firewall configuration last night and turned it back
on, and it started working and is still working properly.