XP Home/cable modem loses connectivity

[Lannie]

Hi,

XP Home Edition, Cable modem, 1.8 ghz processor, 512 RAM,
Symantec Internet Security Suite (Norton's AntiVirus).

I got my cable modem configured, and everything worked OK
for months. While building a second PC, I took the NIC
out of the first PC temporarily. When I reinstalled it
in the first PC, it lost all connectivity to the
Internet. I worked with Adelphia on it - the only fix
was to reinstall XP - and all my other applications.

Now, I've done it again. :^( Whenever I start XP, it
says my network cable is unplugged. It isn't, and I do
have a Link light on the modem. The receive light
flashes, and the IP address/DNS, etc. are correct. I
cannot ping any domain names.

Is there a registry hack or something I can do to prevent
having to reinstall everything ?

Thanks,

Lannie

 

[Malke]

Hi,

XP Home Edition, Cable modem, 1.8 ghz processor, 512 RAM,
Symantec Internet Security Suite (Norton's AntiVirus).

I got my cable modem configured, and everything worked OK
for months. While building a second PC, I took the NIC
out of the first PC temporarily. When I reinstalled it
in the first PC, it lost all connectivity to the
Internet. I worked with Adelphia on it - the only fix
was to reinstall XP - and all my other applications.

Now, I've done it again. :^( Whenever I start XP, it
says my network cable is unplugged. It isn't, and I do
have a Link light on the modem. The receive light
flashes, and the IP address/DNS, etc. are correct. I
cannot ping any domain names.

Is there a registry hack or something I can do to prevent
having to reinstall everything ?

Try a different nic, try a different cable. Uninstall the first one,
install the new one - nic's cost around $10usd. Power cycle your modem
after you install the new nic and see if that helps. If it doesn't, you
may need a new cable modem (but I actually think it may be the nic).
You should never have had to reinstall Windows in the first place. This
is just the typical helpdesk response so as not to have to spend hours
with you.

Malke

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the response - here are a few more details:

Just like the first failure, I've now installed XP into a
new directory (C:\windows2). I have absolutely no
connectivity problems if I boot into that installation.
Booting into the original installation still gives
the "Network cable unplugged" error.

That's great - but that means I have to install all my
applications all over again, using the new XP install.

So it's not a hardware issue. I'm guessing there's
something in XP that's corrupted, or some value that's
conflicting with what the cable modem is expecting. I've
reset the modem several times. It works 100% fine when I
boot from C:\windows2.

 

[Malke]

Thanks for the response - here are a few more details:

Just like the first failure, I've now installed XP into a
new directory (C:\windows2). I have absolutely no
connectivity problems if I boot into that installation.
Booting into the original installation still gives
the "Network cable unplugged" error.

That's great - but that means I have to install all my
applications all over again, using the new XP install.

So it's not a hardware issue. I'm guessing there's
something in XP that's corrupted, or some value that's
conflicting with what the cable modem is expecting. I've
reset the modem several times. It works 100% fine when I
boot from C:\windows2.

Well, then you've solved your problem, even though the answer isn't one
that you wanted. Format the drive, clean install Windows, reinstall
drivers and programs, restore data from backups.

Good luck,

Malke