tcp/ip crappiness

[PStarUno]

OK, I'm appealing to the masses on this one because of the generally high level of intelligence I've always noticed on these boards, and because of my almost total lack of experience re networking. I recently signed up for att broadband cable internet. Everything would go fine until I would leave the computer alone for an hour, at which time I had no more connection until I rebooted. This was annoying enough, but after screwing with network settings I probably had no right to be screwing with, and deleting and adding network adapters and protocols in the network control panel (WinME), I could no longer connect at all. Not to mention that I received a "Mobile Devices Properties" box on startup that read "TCP/IP network transport is not installed". Well, I was on the phone with att and they told me my previous problem was a wrong setting on their end that meant i had a 1 hour lease instead of a 4 day one. I then went over the other problems with them, to no avail. After checking my settings, they told me to contact microsoft. So, I removed and re-added the tcp protocol in the control panel, along with all the adapters, client for microsoft networks, everything, numerous times in many different combinations, rebooting each time, with no progress. I did find some mention of the problem on some websites stating that McAfee firewall and VirusScan had caused this problem, both of which I had installed. I quickly uninstalled these, along with ActiveSync (another suspect) and rebooted, to find that the warning box was gone, but the problem was the same, no internet. I have run scandisk too, but it did nothing. Also, I moved a couple months ago, and do not have my windows me cd with me, only a friend's win98 cd. I would be hugely grateful if anyone has any ideas what so ever about how I can get this damn tcp/ip to install properly (which I don't think it is, even though it shows up like normal) or what the hell I can do to connect to my isp? Any idea at all is appreciated...

 

[Oaf357]

Uninstall all firewall and virus checking software.

In your Network properties remove EVERYTHING.

In Device Manager remove your Network Adapters.

Reboot.

Make sure your Network Adapters appear back in Device Manager and then check your network properties and verify with AT&T that your settings are good.

If that doesn't work then you should force AT&T to fix it.

 

[ScottMac]

It sounds like you have "Allow this component to be shut down to conserve power" is enabled (it is enabled by default more often than not).

Right click on the screen, screen saver, energy management ....something like that.

The idea is to tell the computer to NOT power down the NIC to save energy .

It might be an advanced property on the NIC setup screen too (or instead) I don't remember, but the symptoms sound about right.


Good Luck

Scott

 

[DynaGlide]

Damn, Oaf357, you and I sure think alike!

"Uninstall all firewall and virus checking software.

In your Network properties remove EVERYTHING.

In Device Manager remove your Network Adapters.

Reboot.

Make sure your Network Adapters appear back in Device Manager and then check your network properties and verify with AT&T that your settings are good.."

Only thing I'd add is that after you've removed all of the logical (software) devices in Network Properties, you know, the adapters, the protocols, the services, everything, power down the machine and physically remove the network adapter card. Now, reboot the machine and let it start normally. Shut down the machine normally, re-install the NIC, boot the machine, and start re-installing all of the network drivers, protocols, services, etc.

Absolute speculation here, but are you by chance running a 3Com 3C905 series NIC? Seen these guys behave very weirdly in situations like this. Sometimes physical removal, followed by a restart, followed by a re-install and re-start is the only thing that gets them going again.

 

[PStarUno]

Yeah, I kinda figured that would be a good way to go. Well, I tried getting rid of everything in there, tcp/ip, all adapters, the client for microsoft, the netbeui, whatever. Turned it off, let it sit overnight, started it back up, and.... no change. One other thing though: when i readd all the adapters and protocols, they show up like normal, but when I run an old copy of pc checkup from mcafee office, it tells me i have a device conflict and that the tcp/ip protocal failed to load. Well, its solution is to run the networking troubleshooter, which I have done, down to editing the registry, with difference whatsoever. ANd I would LOVE to rip out the crappy NIC, but it's actually part of the motherboard, which I really have no idea how to handle. Anyone else? please?

 

[spidey07]

sounds like a corrupt IP stack. Those can really cause you to pull out your hair. There is a procedure for replacing all the .dlls and files needed for TCP/IP to work correctly.

Search microsoft knowledge base for "corrupt ip stack" or "repair ip stack"

 

[JackMDS]

Try this link: WinME NIC problems.

 

[tyanni]

You mention that you only have a Win98 CD... When it asks for a CD (if it does) when you go to reinstall TCP/IP and the other network protocols, are you inserting the 98 CD? Because I don't think ME likes it if its using a Win98 TCP/IP stack.

Tim