No home network or internet access

[Blackydog]

Have Dell Demension 8400 Win Xp Home Media SP3.
Have Broadcom Netextreme 57 gigabyte controller as my NIC card.
Have RCA Cable modem and Leviton 4 port gateway. These have always worked just fine until now.

Has work just fine for several years. Before, when I would get message could not display web page because not connect to internet, I was always able to reset Router and Gateway and it found the IP address and was able then to go onto network and internet. Now I get zeroes for IP address and when I repair it, I am told could not repair.

I called Comcast and the support person went thru software settings and said my software was correct. We flushed stuff and renewed stuff at command prompt. Double checked Broadcom properties. All seem ok. Except when I tried to ping, I get "Cannot find host" message." Also with Comcast I got a "Can not find RPC Server". That is when Comcast suggested I contact Dell.

I went to Broadcom web site and created bootable ISO cd with diagnostics. I booted and ran diagnostics and everything that went by on screen read "Passed". I was thinking the NIC card went bad, but this seems to indicate it is still ok. Yet something is preventing it from working. I do not use Hibernate.

Unfortunetly, I had Restore turned off as I had a file that Norton Antivirus would not shut up about (very low risk file) but to get rid of it, I had to turn Resore off so it would not get backed up and trigger alerts again.

I used to get the network icon in my taskbar that would blink indicating it was connected to internet. Now the icon is the same solid color, right click says connected, but repair always fails. Not at all sure where to start troubleshooting.

I do reguarly use antivirus, antispyware programs and keep system cleam. Looking to suggestions. Maybe a recent software update caused problem? For example, Adobe third party update. Anybody heard of conflicts with NIC's?

[SUpER CoP]

First of all, have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers for the network card? A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. You can view and request hotfix downloads from here.

[Blackydog]

I have gone to Device Manager and Disable/Enable. I also Uninstalled and let WinXP reinstall new hardware on reboot. I rebooted the router and gateway. I went to CMD window and typed "ping www.yahoo.com" and got "host not found" message. I ran Network Diagnostics for Xp and got "RPC Server unavailable" and in HTTP Diagnostic section "Server name or address can not be resolved" messages.

I also right clicked on IE on start menu and ran browser without addd-ons.

Keep in mind, I have another computer that is wired to the same router and gateway and it works. Problem just started a couple days ago. Have run diagnostics on NIC and it passes all tests. Comcast, my ISP, confirmed software settings are correct.

I submitted request for the mentioned hotfix, but need to see exactly what that handles before I use it as I am nervous about hosing the system.

I have no idea on what or why host not found or RPC server messages mean.

[Blackydog]

I can not find any knowledge base article associated with this hotfix. Where can I find that so I know what symptoms it is for and possibly why I have a problem all of a sudden.

[Zachary]

Did you make sure that your ip protocol is obtained? To obtain the ip follow the steps given below:

1. Right click the connection either it is lan or wireless
2. Choose properties
3. Then click one the internet protocol (TCP/IP)
4. Click properties
5. Check obtained for both

[Blackydog]

Thanks for the reply.

That was one of the things Comcast (my ISP) checked. Going to Wireless Network Connections and Selecting Internet Protocal (TCP/IP) both are checked: Obtain IP adress automatically, Obtain DNS server adress automatically.

[Spyrus]

Can you please check that whether the RJ45 receptacle in a PCI slot on the motherboard - sticks out the rear of the computer, where the E cord hooks up. If so, shut it down, pull the cord, discharge the current in the computer by pushing the start button in for 10 seconds. Open the case and pull the card out gently. Clean it up if needed and gently clean the contact surfaces.

[Blackydog]

I will remove and reseat this NIC card, but I will have to do it later this evening or tomorrow. I really appreciate the brainstorming and will not tire of doing anything asked of to diagnose this. I will post my results later.

[Blackydog]

I checked several things. Went to Administrative Tools->Services and tried to start TCP/IP NetBios Helper and TCP/IP (local machine) and got this error: "Could not start DHCP Client Service on local computer. Error: 1075 The dependency Service does not exist or has been marked for deletion. I looked at Dependencies and it lists AFD and TCP/IP Protocol/IPSec drivers. Looking on internet found some old posts with similar problems and seems pointing to Winsock and Winsock2 registry. Is it possible TCP/IP service are became corrupt? How can I refresh all of this without having to do a complete XP Restore and lose everything on computer, which seems to work correctly everywhere else?

[Steve123]

I am in a rather similar problem but I have not found an answer. Go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services. And I noticed that a number of services automatic is not started. When I start it by hand, there are no worries. But the same continues to refuse to start at boot. I found Timeout (30000 milliseconds) waiting for a connection of the DHCP Client service.