Sudden death of my Vista internet connection

[MillCreek]

Yesterday, my HP Vista 64 bit desktop was working just fine. All of a sudden, my internet connection failed and I have been unable to resurrect it. I get a message that my connection is an unidentified network with local access only.

I have Verizon DSL using a Westell 6100 modem connected to a belkin b/g wireless router. Interestingly enough, I can connect just fine on my laptops via the wireless network. It is only the desktop, connected via the modem to the router to the computer via an ethernet cable, that does not connect.

I have run a diagnosis and repair with no luck, uninstalled and reinstalled the network adapter, done a couple of system restores rolling back the computer as far back as three weeks, replaced the ethernet cables, replaced the modem, all to no avail.

The suddeness of this, related to a windows update, makes me think that some updated file has killed my connection. But the rollback via system restore did not fix this.

Any brilliant ideas from the massed hive mind of APS?

PS: I also bypassed the router, running the ethernet cable directly from the modem to the desktop.  The modem, ethernet and DSL lights on the modem are all solid green.  No joy in terms of a connection.

[AZRedhawk44]

It is only the desktop, connected via the modem to the router to the computer via an ethernet cable, that does not connect.

Computers don't connect to routers via modems.

Make sure you're using the ethernet RJ-45 jack and not the telco RJ-11 jack.  One has 8 strands of copper while the other only has 4.

local access only?

Run the following command from the afflicted computer:

ipconfig

Does the IP Address start with the numbers 169.254?  This would indicate that you are not getting a DHCP address from your Router/DHCP Server for some reason or other.

[MillCreek]

I misspoke:  the computer is connected to the belkin wireless router.  The router is connected to the DSL modem.

When I ran IP Config, the autoconfig IPv4 address is 169.254.26.132.

[Brad Johnson]

Did you try reseating the cables?

If so, and that didn't work, try power cycling the router.

Brad

[lee n. field]

Any brilliant ideas from the massed hive mind of APS?

Upwards of severity:

Basic troubleshooting.   What changed?  Roll off that, if possible.

Backup, wipe and reinstall.

Ubuntu.

[MillCreek]

Did you try reseating the cables?

If so, and that didn't work, try power cycling the router.

Brad

I did both of these, too

[Brad Johnson]

Still sounds like an addressing issue.  In your network settings is the DHCP addressing set to auto?

Brad

[AZRedhawk44]

169.254 is something windows uses called APIPA:  Automatic Private IP Addressing.  Means you can't find a DHCP server, but you have link state still.  Supposedly.

Safe to assume all your wireless clients are getting DHCP addresses from the router still?

Change switch ports the computer is plugged into in the router.  If that doesn't work, replace the Cat5 cable. 

[MillCreek]

169.254 is something windows uses called APIPA:  Automatic Private IP Addressing.  Means you can't find a DHCP server, but you have link state still.  Supposedly.

Safe to assume all your wireless clients are getting DHCP addresses from the router still?

Change switch ports the computer is plugged into in the router.  If that doesn't work, replace the Cat5 cable. 

This has been done to no avail, and my wireless laptops still connect with no problem.   I have read some posts suggesting a relationship between this and uninstalling Norton security.  I did do that just recently because it was interfering with my Avira updates.   I am doing an earlier system restore right now to see if Norton comes back, and what this has to do with anything.

[robear]

Try an "ipconfig /release"
then an "ipconfig /renew"

[AJ Dual]

If you have a link light on the router and on the PC where the cable goes in, and it's flashing with activity at all the cable is 99.99% sure to be fine.

Have you restarted the router? Just pull power to it, wait 30 seconds, and repower it, then reboot the PC. They get "stuck" and won't give your PC an address.

Your network adaptor (and all network adaptors) has something called it's "MAC address" it's kind of like a car's unique VIN number. If the router or your broadband modem (they're stingy, and takes several tries usualy to get it to recognize a new MAC if you plug in your pc directly) does not like that MAC for whatever reason, rebooting & rolling back the PC until you're blue in the face won't change a thing because the MAC is the same.

Rebooting the router should fix it assuming everything else with your PC's network and TCP/IP settings are right. Since it didn't you may just need to reset the router to it's factory defaults. You will have to put all your wireless settings back in though.

If you can log into the router from the wireless laptops, you could just set a fixed IP address for the PC on the router, and plug that IP into the PC's TCP/IP settings and try bypassing the DHCP automatic addressing problem that way.

[gunsmith]

sorry to hear about your loss

[AZRedhawk44]

Your IP stack could be all hosed up.

If you have a driver disk handy for your NIC, try uninstalling the NIC from the computer.  Right click on My Computer, go to manage.  Click on device manager, find your NIC and right click - uninstall.  Reboot.  Let windows re-detect the NIC.  This will also re-install the TCP/IP stack and DHCP client connectivity for that connection.

[roo_ster]

Freakin' gremlins brought back after dubya dubya too.

[MillCreek]

Problem solved! It was Norton. I downloaded the Norton removal tool onto a flash drive and ran it off the desktop.  Once Norton had been nuked, my connection reappeared.

[Physics]

Problem solved! It was Norton. I downloaded the Norton removal tool onto a flash drive and ran it off the desktop.  Once Norton had been nuked, my connection reappeared.

I have been clean for over a year now!  Norton is horrible in my experience, and that's not even including the customer service. 

[MillCreek]

The funny thing was that I don't even use Norton.  It is part of the bloatware that HP puts on all their computers.  I use Avira.  I had not realized that Norton was updating itself in the background and that is what killed my connection. 

[RocketMan]

Had a client with two identical laptops running Vista do this awhile back.  Killed Norton, problem went away.  I do not recommend Norton anything to any of my clients.

[Physics]

Had a client with two identical laptops running Vista do this awhile back.  Killed Norton, problem went away.  I do not recommend Norton anything to any of my clients.

Yeah, when I finally realized that Norton was causing most of my BSOD's, I got rid of it, despite the ~170 days left in my contract.  Haven't looked back since.  I absolutely HATED calling their tech support.  It was always people in India who couldn't speak English very well, and on multiple occasions screwed up my gaming rig.    

[red headed stranger]

The funny thing was that I don't even use Norton.  It is part of the bloatware that HP puts on all their computers.  I use Avira.  I had not realized that Norton was updating itself in the background and that is what killed my connection. 

PC decrapifier is great for getting rid of all that bloatware when you get a new computer. 

http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/

[Phyphor]

I have been clean for over a year now!  Norton is horrible in my experience, and that's not even including the customer service. 

What sucks is that Norton wasn't always the bloated POS it is now.  Back in the day, it was a good suite of tools.

Ah well, *expletive deleted*it happens.