Cannot Connect To Internet

[r32chaos]

Friends,

 

Have a notebook with XP Pro. It had a ton of adware which I successfully removed, however, no matter what I do, I cannot connect to the internet.

 

I have tried checking the network settings, everything seems normal...I have done everything I knew how including checking the IP settings but nothing can make it work.

 

I went into internet options also and nothing seemed abnormal, checked LAN settings, all is on auto yet no connection.

 

The last option would be to reformat...any suggestions please?

 

This loss of internet access occured before I cleaned the adware and before I uninstalled Service Pack 2. Service Pack 1 does not seem to be on this notebook.

 

Any ideas or suggestions will be very much appreciated.

 

Thank you!

 

Martin

[stevevan]

Maybe reinstall SP2? You can remove much of the adware without having to remove any service packs.

[cajunman4life]

I would agree with Steve on this and recommend you re-install SP2. Then we'll go from there.

[nortk]

You might also at least check ipconfig and to a tracert to see if it tells you anything. Go to the start menu and choose "Run...". Type "cmd". Then, type ipconfig. It should indicate whether you even have an IP address assigned. If so, try a tracert to some website, and see if you can see where it's getting hung up. Try something like:

 

tracert yahoo.com

 

It should tell you the ip addresses along the route to your requested site. If the first few show up, and then it gets hung up, you'll at least some idea of where the problem might be happening.

[Madmanmcp]

Internet connection could be any number of things. Windows Firewall blocking access comes to mind first. Without knowing your setup, ISP, if you are cable or dialup or if you have a router ... makes it difficult for anyone here to troubleshoot.

 

More info might help.

[TCH-Rob]

Going with Bob on this one. How you connect is important to determine what steps might be needed.

[r32chaos]

Thank you!

 

What I ended up doing is to simply re-install Windows XP Pro without changing directory to install to and without reformating. This allows fresh registry and windows subdirectory but keeps all previous data files intact.

 

I then realized that I had internet access, both via wireless and LAN. But going to Dell's website and downloading all necessary drivers was not a positive experience. They list several drives for each category despite having indicated the TAG# and model #. Upon attempting to install additional drivers for sound cards etc, internet access again dissapeared. I had to restore the laptop 3 times to bring it to where it finally worked find. There still remained a couple of exclamation marks under Device Manager but I had to leave it alone.

 

I must say, anytime I have had to work with Dell Laptops/PCs, I have been utterly dissapointed. Is it just me or do they try and use the most unusual components which end up causing conflict and their drivers are not always available in Windows XP Pro by default?

 

Any way gentlemen, thank you very much for your input...It is all resolved now.

 

Martin

[Madmanmcp]

I then realized that I had internet access, both via wireless and LAN.

Not exactly sure what you mean here...you can only have "internet access" from one source at a time on a computer...as far as I know. If you are trying to set up multiple sources this may be the root of your problem...conflicts between the two.

 

This allows fresh registry and windows subdirectory but keeps all previous data files intact.

 

Sorry but I believe this is partially incorrect. Reinstalling in the same directory does not replace the registry, it replaces most of the Windows files but leaves the registry intact along with leaving the data files. Your computer will look exactly as it did before the reinstall. If your registry was corrupt before, it will probably still be corrupt after this type of reinstall.

[TCH-Don]

On XP home

a non destructive re-install

saves the registry first and then reloads all the original files and restores the registry.

 

So I think you still have the old registry.

[stevevan]

I must say, anytime I have had to work with Dell Laptops/PCs, I have been utterly dissapointed. Is it just me or do they try and use the most unusual components which end up causing conflict and their drivers are not always available in Windows XP Pro by default?

I have used many different Dells over the past few years and haven't had any major issues with them. (With the users, YES, but not with the computers themselves.)

[Madmanmcp]

/madman left the Dell bashing question alone on purpose

[TCH-Bruce]

/madman left the Dell bashing question alone on purpose

My experience with Dell has been 2 laptops. The first one had problems. The second one seems just fine.