I'm connected to the internet, but not connected.

"Bronzegod" wrote in message news:115787b9-7534-4a4b-8278-02b871c55c9d...

Ok, I checked my IP and DNS settings and both are set to automatically obtain. I also ran IPCONFIG on both machines. Both had the exact same numbers with except for the IP address. The address was the same all the way up to the last digit which was a 4 instead of a 2. All the other numbers match under the subnet mask and default gateway. I double checked the programs I mentioned earlier and I’m still having the same problem. I’m thinking maybe I should just take it in to a shop somewhere. lol So far everyone is baffled by this problem. I appreciate you guys helping. One thing I did find strange is that when I changed the internet options back and forth to automatically detect settings. When I uncheck this box and try to run any of the programs I get and immediate cannot connect response. But when I go back and check the automatically detect settings box and try to reopen the program it begins to load, but then stops after 5 seconds and displays the cannot connect again.

Any other ideas?

The IP address for each machine on any network has to be unique - it's how the network identifies which machine is which - so  I imagine your settings were something like 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.4 (depending on the router make and model - and who set the thing up) This is controlled by the router, and may vary depending on a number of factors, so don't worry about it. The fact that all other settings, particularly DNS settings, are the same, helps eliminate a few possibilities.

That behaviour is normal - with autodetect on, Windows attempts to find a server to tell it what settings to use, and only then fails out. with autodetect off, the fail is immediate if the onboard settings don't work for some reason.

Please check your Device Manager - the Network Adapters. Can you positively ID every piece of hardware listed there? i.e. if there's two Ethernet devices, do you have two Ethernet sockets? What is the description for the adapter you're using?

Please do a Search on your machine for files named HOSTS - the one we're really interested in is in C:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc but there may be other ones around if malware has taken hold at some point.

If you look at the files in C:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc - are all the same date and time? Open the file named HOSTS in Notepad (there should only be one - if more, then let us know) and see what it says - there should be a number of lines beginning with a hash (#) and then a single line which says "127.0.0.1       localhost" (without the quotes).

If there's any more there, quote the first two or three, and the last two or three, lines in your response, and let us know what other anti-malware programs you are running.

--

Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC

Ok, I checked my IP and DNS settings and both are set to automatically obtain. I also ran IPCONFIG on both machines. Both had the exact same numbers with except for the IP address. The address was the same all the way up to the last digit which was a 4 instead of a 2. All the other numbers match under the subnet mask and default gateway. I double checked the programs I mentioned earlier and I’m still having the same problem. I’m thinking maybe I should just take it in to a shop somewhere. lol So far everyone is baffled by this problem. I appreciate you guys helping. One thing I did find strange is that when I changed the internet options back and forth to automatically detect settings. When I uncheck this box and try to run any of the programs I get and immediate cannot connect response. But when I go back and check the automatically detect settings box and try to reopen the program it begins to load, but then stops after 5 seconds and displays the cannot connect again.

Any other ideas?

I know how it works, but Bronzegod and lots of other people may not know how it works or how to run ipconfig or how to look at the settings and make any adjustments.  The advice is good, but sometimes results in additional and frustrating forum message cycles when if the advice had a few more details targeted at a novice user (but still work for more experienced users), they might get the problem solved in one message cycle.

I will add it to my copy/paste directions for the symptoms described so that hopefully even a novice can follow the instructions well enough to get their system running again for those situations.

I like to do as little typing as possible when it comes to fixing these routine issues. If I type it in once, I don't want to ever type it in again.  I use speech recognition to utter key phrases like "verify internet settings" and will be able to just copy and paste relevant/all instructions from a window instead of doing any actual typing.  This is why so many of my posts look exactly the same (sometimes with a little editing).

I was quite sure that Bronzegod was not going to get far and have the problem of not seeing the results of ipconfig and there was no advice for what to do when the results of ipconfig came in.  Additional message cycles are generated and time is spent waiting for further assistance, and the problem is still no further along towards resolution than it was 23 hours ago.  Not everybody knows what to do.

"JoseIbarra" wrote in message news:b4988cd4-e1d7-44c4-8152-f0d4276ccd0d...

So Bronzegod should do this?

 

Check your settings for the way your network adapter obtains it's IP and DNS settings.  On most home systems, these settings should be set so the system will obtain the settings automatically. 

If you have another system on your network that is working, you can compare those settings with the settings on the system that is not working.

Click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Network Connections and select your current network connection.

On the General tab, click Properties.

In the drop down list, highlight the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) selection and click Properties.

In the Internet Protocol Properties window, the usual selections are to obtain the IP and DNS settings automatically.  Enable the following two options:

 

Obtain an IP address automatically

Obtain DNS Server address automatically

 

The rest of the options in the screen should then be grayed out/unavailable.

Click OK, Close, Close etc. to save the settings, then restart your computer and test your connectivity.

That should work - providing the ISP uses DHCP rather than static IP, and the malware isn't hiding behind windows changing things before they get to the network adapter, which is why I said to compare the output of the IPCONFIG - because that goes to the hardware and queries it, rather than the registry.

--

Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC

So Bronzegod should do this?

Check your settings for the way your network adapter obtains it's IP and DNS settings.  On most home systems, these settings should be set so the system will obtain the settings automatically. 

If you have another system on your network that is working, you can compare those settings with the settings on the system that is not working.

Click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Network Connections and select your current network connection.

On the General tab, click Properties.

In the drop down list, highlight the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) selection and click Properties.

In the Internet Protocol Properties window, the usual selections are to obtain the IP and DNS settings automatically.  Enable the following two options:

Obtain an IP address automatically

Obtain DNS Server address automatically

The rest of the options in the screen should then be grayed out/unavailable.

Click OK, Close, Close etc. to save the settings, then restart your computer and test your connectivity.