Vista not connecting to the internet.

**Imisnew2** · 05-27-10, 10:12 PM

Ok, a friend of mine is having some computer issues, and it's diving me insane.
There are two networks we can connect to-
1- Hardline
2- Wireless

These are different networks; the wireless is separate from the hard line. Note, they are not the same network!

Ok, so I can get internet. I run the cable to my laptop, boom internet. Plug it into his, and no internet.
The Wireless is iffy, find the sweet spot and I can get internet, but his doesn't no matter what. We're working with the hard line.

We've tried:
Resetting the network connection (disable/enable).
Forcing the network connection to get a new IP (ipconfig /release -> ipconfig /renew)
Different cables.
Plugging directly into the modem.
Various restarts.
Ancient Voodoo.

I haven't done anything to his computer since I don't know the guy very well, and don't wanna screw something up without the chance to fix it. However, he is running McAffee and I cannot figure out how to disable it for the life of me.
I went into msconfig and turned off basically everything except drivers (sound manager, pointing device, etc) and McAffee still came up - It was unchecked when I looked at it again.

I looked into killing it through task manager but wasn't sure what process it was, so I didn't touch anything.

Any help, whatsoever, is appreciated.
This is a Dell laptop, and I can't give you any more specs until I see him again over the weekend.

**WileECyte** · 05-28-10, 11:26 AM

Try booting the PC with the wire connected. A lot of times, laptops will disable the ethernet port if it's not plugged in at boot time.

**thepalerider** · 05-28-10, 12:23 PM

What firewall is he using? You or him could try deleting his "firewall rules", then make new ones. Are you sure the wired network isn't password protected? Have you booted his PC while it's plugged in to Ethernet? Have you run the diagnose and repair app?( right click on network icon in system tray lower right side) If the router is setup for DHCP, the resetting the card option in diagnose and repair should get a new ip address for the laptop.

**Imisnew2** · 05-28-10, 04:57 PM

I've tried all the things suggested above, and no dice.

However, I said he was running McAffee and I could not figure out how to disable it.

**GReYVee** · 05-28-10, 05:21 PM

Originally Posted by Imisnew2

I've tried all the things suggested above, and no dice.

However, I said he was running McAffee and I could not figure out how to disable it.

McAfee runs as a service. Under msconfig you need to find it under the services tab (not startup). I know some of these setups prevent themselves from being disabled for more protection. In this case, you can always boot up in safe-mode with networking and go from there. This will surely tell you if it is a software driven problem. Or if it relates to drivers/settings/hardware.

Few things:

It is recommended you find your friends drivers/utilities disc before proceeding, or at least get the ethernet adapter drivers from the OEMs website.
1) Go into device manager, uninstall the ethernet adapter (with right click uninstall). Once uninstalled goto action->scan for hardware changes. If it is a WHQL certified driver it will install automatically with backup cache.
This will blow out any previous settings that were on the adapter, and do a much better 'reset' than simply disabling the LAN interface.
2) Shut the PC down after reinstallation is completed.
3) Connect the ethernet cable.
4) Reboot the modem and wait for it to sync
5) Start up PC.

If this is still failing.
1) Click Start, and Run or Search for command (you know good 'ol command prompt)
2) type in IPCONFIG/ALL, press enter
3) type in netsh dump, press enter
4) type in PING 174.143.45.101 -n 10, press enter
5) type in nslookup www.teamplayergaming.com, press enter
6) type in ping www.teamplayergaming.com, press enter
6) Right click the command prompt and select all. (Should all turn white)
7) Press enter (this will place all of that info on the clipboard)
8) Paste that text to a txt file, save it to a thumb drive and post it here.

**iamjohnnyrico** · 05-29-10, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by Imisnew2

Ok, a friend of mine is having some computer issues, and it's diving me insane.
There are two networks we can connect to-
1- Hardline
2- Wireless

These are different networks; the wireless is separate from the hard line. Note, they are not the same network!

Ok, so I can get internet. I run the cable to my laptop, boom internet. Plug it into his, and no internet.
The Wireless is iffy, find the sweet spot and I can get internet, but his doesn't no matter what. We're working with the hard line.

We've tried:
Resetting the network connection (disable/enable).
Forcing the network connection to get a new IP (ipconfig /release -> ipconfig /renew)
Different cables.
Plugging directly into the modem.
Various restarts.
Ancient Voodoo.

I haven't done anything to his computer since I don't know the guy very well, and don't wanna screw something up without the chance to fix it. However, he is running McAffee and I cannot figure out how to disable it for the life of me.
I went into msconfig and turned off basically everything except drivers (sound manager, pointing device, etc) and McAffee still came up - It was unchecked when I looked at it again.

I looked into killing it through task manager but wasn't sure what process it was, so I didn't touch anything.

Any help, whatsoever, is appreciated.
This is a Dell laptop, and I can't give you any more specs until I see him again over the weekend.

What is his/her ISP? Just simply make sure the computer is on, uplug the modem power cord from the electrical socket, wait thirty seconds, then reconnect the power cord to the electrical socket. That should fix the problem.

I recommend however that you use the wireless network solely, unless they need it for gaming. When he/she wants to use the wireless make sure the antenna is active (turned on). Then when they want to use the hardline, turn off the antenna before plugging it into the hardline.

After all this is said, search for networks. If Vista is still not able to find a network, make sure you download the correct network drivers for the laptop at Dell's website.

**Imisnew2** · 05-29-10, 08:15 PM

He's not techincal at all (poor poor soul) but he's smart.
Not sure how "intimate" he will let me be with his computer (if it were up to me, there'd be wipe + reload involved) but the ISP is comcast.

I'm pretty sure this isn't a simple fix... because I've tried everything simple... Other than turning off McAffee

**GReYVee** · 05-30-10, 11:29 AM

the above layout i have is more on the side of diagnosis than fix. have to find out where the point of failure is. Not obtaining valid IP address? ICMP traffic failing? DNS resolution failing? bad configuration on stack? etc. There is no fix until you know where the problem is. Unless you like to shotgun troubleshoot.

**Madmax (Grape)** · 05-30-10, 01:13 PM

When I removed and uninstalled my old pci wireless card from my computer and tried to use ethernet again, it wouldn't even recognize that I had an onboard ethernet card, so I had to find the motherboard drivers for my computer. I reinstalled them and it worked.

Something about installing then uninstalling my pci wireless card apparently uninstalled the ethernet card drivers. So try what I did.

**Imisnew2** · 05-31-10, 09:53 AM

Originally Posted by GReYVee

the above layout i have is more on the side of diagnosis than fix. have to find out where the point of failure is. Not obtaining valid IP address? ICMP traffic failing? DNS resolution failing? bad configuration on stack? etc. There is no fix until you know where the problem is. Unless you like to shotgun troubleshoot.

Well, in my opinion, diagnosis is the hard part. Usually the fix is just like "reinstall this/enable this/change this". So they're one in the same to me :P
But I understand what you mean. I should see the guy today, so I'll try what was mentioned in this thread.

Originally Posted by Madmax (Grape)

When I removed and uninstalled my old pci wireless card from my computer and tried to use ethernet again, it wouldn't even recognize that I had an onboard ethernet card, so I had to find the motherboard drivers for my computer. I reinstalled them and it worked.

Something about installing then uninstalling my pci wireless card apparently uninstalled the ethernet card drivers. So try what I did.

Thanks, I'll try that if it comes to it.