No Ping Response; everything else OK

[caseydoug3]

My Thinkpad XP Pro laptop has stopped responding to ping requests.
Network connections seem otherwise normal: I can ping other computers
on my network, I can see the laptop and its shared files from other
computers, etc.

I have tried everything I could think of. I disabled all firewalls. I
used msconfig to start with no non-microsoft services and no startup
programs. I took the computer off the network and connected directly
to a voip box, logged into the voip box, and tried to ping the laptop
from there. The laptop will just not respond.

The laptop does successfully ping itself (localhost or 127.0.0.1).
From any other device, a ping request just times out.

What could be causing this? What else can I try?

Thanks.

 

[Chuck [MVP]]

My Thinkpad XP Pro laptop has stopped responding to ping requests.
Network connections seem otherwise normal: I can ping other computers
on my network, I can see the laptop and its shared files from other
computers, etc.

I have tried everything I could think of. I disabled all firewalls. I
used msconfig to start with no non-microsoft services and no startup
programs. I took the computer off the network and connected directly
to a voip box, logged into the voip box, and tried to ping the laptop
from there. The laptop will just not respond.

The laptop does successfully ping itself (localhost or 127.0.0.1).
From any other device, a ping request just times out.

What could be causing this? What else can I try?

Thanks.

What anti-virus protection is in use? Look for anti-worm protection.
<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

If absolutely nothing there, look for LSP / Winsock / TCP/IP corruption.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/problems-with-lsp-winsock-layer-in.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/problems-with-lsp-winsock-layer-in.html

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP 2005-2007 [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.

 

[caseydoug3]

What anti-virus protection is in use?  Look for anti-worm protection.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/your-personal-firewall-can-eith...>http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/your-personal-firewall-can-eith...

If absolutely nothing there, look for LSP / Winsock / TCP/IP corruption.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/problems-with-lsp-winsock-layer...>http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/problems-with-lsp-winsock-layer...

I use McAfee antivirus, but this problem exists even when I don't use
it, for example when I disabled all startup programs and non-MS
services. I also tried booting the Thinkpad to its hidden IBM
"recovery" partition, which I believe doesn't even use a Windows OS,
and certainly doesn't have any antivirus programs (but does come with
an Opera browser). Still no ping response.

I'll take a look at these LSP solutions. Thanks.

 

[caseydoug3]

Just to report back:

I tried all of the suggested solutions, but none of them worked. Then,
just for the heck of it, I decided to remove my McAfee firewall
altogether, thinking that disabling it may not have been enough. I
also wanted to check the settings in Windows Firewall; I hadn't been
able to do so earlier because it wouldn't start, presumably because
McAfee was running. Anyway, after removing McAfee, I found that
Windows Firewall still wouldn't start. So I opened the Services tab,
and found that Windows Firewall service had somehow become disabled
for all profiles. I simply enabled Windows Firewall service, and lo
and behold, my computer started replying to pings again.

I had always thought that Windows Firewall might be blocking the ping
response. I never considered that Windows Firewall must be enabled to
permit a ping response.

 

[smlunatick]

Just to report back:

I tried all of the suggested solutions, but none of them worked. Then,
just for the heck of it, I decided to remove my McAfee firewall
altogether, thinking that disabling it may not have been enough. I
also wanted to check the settings in Windows Firewall; I hadn't been
able to do so earlier because it wouldn't start, presumably because
McAfee was running. Anyway, after removing McAfee, I found that
Windows Firewall still wouldn't start. So I opened the Services tab,
and found that Windows Firewall service had somehow become disabled
for all profiles. I simply enabled Windows Firewall service, and lo
and behold, my computer started replying to pings again.

I had always thought that Windows Firewall might be blocking the ping
response. I never considered that Windows Firewall must be enabled to
permit a ping response.

McAfee is known to still be active even when you turn it off. Most
firewalls will block ping responses with their default settings.
However, Windows SP2 firewall is set to allow pings.

 

[Chuck [MVP]]

Just to report back:

I tried all of the suggested solutions, but none of them worked. Then,
just for the heck of it, I decided to remove my McAfee firewall
altogether, thinking that disabling it may not have been enough. I
also wanted to check the settings in Windows Firewall; I hadn't been
able to do so earlier because it wouldn't start, presumably because
McAfee was running. Anyway, after removing McAfee, I found that
Windows Firewall still wouldn't start. So I opened the Services tab,
and found that Windows Firewall service had somehow become disabled
for all profiles. I simply enabled Windows Firewall service, and lo
and behold, my computer started replying to pings again.

I had always thought that Windows Firewall might be blocking the ping
response. I never considered that Windows Firewall must be enabled to
permit a ping response.

Windows Firewall is like a fuse. If you disable the service, it fails open and
blocks all traffic. Thanks for letting us know what you found.

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP 2005-2007 [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.

 

[caseydoug3]

Just to report back:

I tried all of the suggested solutions, but none of them worked. Then,
just for the heck of it, I decided to remove my McAfee firewall
altogether, thinking that disabling it may not have been enough. I
also wanted to check the settings in Windows Firewall; I hadn't been
able to do so earlier because it wouldn't start, presumably because
McAfee was running. Anyway, after removing McAfee, I found that
Windows Firewall still wouldn't start. So I opened the Services tab,
and found that Windows Firewall service had somehow become disabled
for all profiles. I simply enabled Windows Firewall service, and lo
and behold, my computer started replying to pings again.

I had always thought that Windows Firewall might be blocking the ping
response. I never considered that Windows Firewall must be enabled to
permit a ping response.

Windows Firewall is like a fuse.  If you disable the service, it fails open and
blocks all traffic.  Thanks for letting us know what you found.

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP 2005-2007 [Windows - Networking]http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My        email         is          AT         DOT
   actual       address    pchuck       mvps        org.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Interestingly, it didn't seem to block anything but the pings -- all
other traffic was normal, except from programs like tftp or tracert
that rely on pings. For example, I was able to browse the drive from
other computers on my network. As for McAfee, I don't believe it could
have been active. The Thinkpad has a hidden, bootable service
partition independent of the Windows OS. When I booted to that
partition, I doubt that any of my McAfee antivirus or firewall
programs and services could have been running, yet pings were still
blocked. What surprises me is that disabling Windows Firewall resulted
in blocked pings even when I had booted to this alternative partition.