Vista - this is a weird one...maybe someone can help...

Hi all,

first time poster ... anyway,

a friend brought over his vista machine (home premium 64 sp1) and it cannot connect to the net. not through ie7 (for him preferred), firefox, or this other one he has called wyzo. there also seem to be multiple copies of ie on the box (ie and an ie 64).

i started researching the problem on the 'net, and found, well, all kinds of info. a little background...i have a wrt54g, a compaq desktop/xp sp2, powerbook g4 osx10.4, old ass compaq latop running fedora9, acer aspire one xp hsdpa, and a ps2, and xbox through a hub to a network bridge. all wirelessly connected. to slow ass at&t. and it all works and it's working as i post this. (itunes radio alternative/live105) so i know its not my network.

so with all the info thats readily (abeit you have to sift) available, i tried a few things. the wireless portion of the laptop seems to be working. hardware wise it lights up and switches. it connected to my network fine. start ie7 and nothing. i installed firefox. nothing. "cannot find page" and all that. same with that wyzo. i even plugged it in physically to the router with some cat5. i let it try to diagnose itself and it of course cant find the problem.

so i dig into google and come up with the dhcp flag thing. checked it, its already set at 1. but its called DhcpConnForceBroadcastFlag and thats for both devices. i also found info about an update that is messing people up. but the only MS updates on the machine are MSXML 4.0 SP2 (KB941833 and KB954430). nothing is checked in lan settings for automatic ip configuring.

this is so odd to me. and i seem to be at my technical limit on this one so any help, pointers, questions for clarification or any thing please

thanks everyone \m/

:{)>~~~~

turbovf1s

sounds like something else on another thread.

Since you have an ethernet cable, it is best to plug the machine in questions directly into your router, since this eliminates all wireless security and compatibility issues. After you get it working wired, then shoot for wireless.

If I am hearing that you have two machines connected, "yours" can connect both to your router and to the WAN (internet), and "YOUR FRIEND'S" can connect to your router, but NOT to the internet?


If you answer "I DON'T KNOW" then:

1) open your router configuration with both machines on and look up "DHCP TABLE" or "CONNECTED DEVICES" and see if both machines are listed.

2) try to access your router (192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.100.1 usually unless you have changed it) using YOUR FRIENDS machine


from here on out, we assume you can connect to the router with both machines.

on your firen'ds machine, try clearing static routes:

1) open a command prompt (START-->ALL PROGRAMS-->ACCESSORIES-->COMMAND PROMPT) and type:

ROUTE -f

(wait for a new command prompt, then type:

IPCONFIG /release

(wait for a new command prompt, then type):

IPCONFIG /renew

2) double check that the router's DHCP server is set to ON
3) double check that the machine's IE LAN settings are reset:
START-->CONTROL

Okay -- scratch my last post -- hit some funky button and screwed it up. Try this:

(almost) complete LAN/WAN reset procedure:
· Always do this with an Ethernet cable plugged into your machine (wired) to eliminate wireless security and compatibility issues; once you get it working wired, go for wireless.
Instructions for “opening a command prompt”:
1) STARTàALL PROGRAMSàACCESSORIESàCOMMAND PROMPT

Now, do the following:
1) CONTROL PANEL à INTERNET OPTIONS à Connections tab

a. Make sure nothing is in the “Dial-up and Virtual Private Networking Settings” box. If it is, then remove it (unless you know what it is and that it applies);
b. Click the “LAN Settings” tab;

i. Make sure “Automatically detect settings is the only box checked.
ii. Click okay to close

c. Click OK to close
d. Click NETWORK AND SHARING CENTER
e. Click MANAGE NETWORK CONNECTIONS

i. Select the first connection in the list, right click, and select properties;
ii. Click on Internet Protocol Version 4 to highlight
iii. Click Properties
iv. Make sure Obtain IP ADDRESS AUTOMATICALLY is selected;
v. Make sure Obtain DNS SERVER ADDRESS AUTOMATICALLY is selected;
vi. Click OK to close
vii. Click Close

f. Repeat this step for every connection in the list;

2) Close all windows back to the desktop;
3) Open a command prompt window (see above for instructions); At the command prompt, type:

a. ROUTE –f (then hit enter)
b. Ipconfig /release (then hit enter)
c. Ipconfig /renew (then hit enter)

4) Perform a COMPLETE LAN/WAN SHUTDOWN:

a. Shut down any machine on the network;
b. Turn off your modem;
c. Turn off your router (if applicable);
d. Turn your modem on, wait for all lights on front to turn green and stop blinking (wait at least 20 seconds to a minute or more if you have some cable);
e. Turn on your router if you have one. Waith about 20 deconds for all lights to stop blinking and turn green;
f. Turn on your computer;
5) When reboot is complete, attempt to connect to the internet using IE (32 bit if you have a 64 bit machine);

6) If it works, you are done!!
7) If nothing happens, open a command prompt and type:

a. PING google.com
b. PING 209.85.171.100
c. If you get “no response” from a but “response received” from b, then it is an issue with your DNS server settings, call your ISP for help;
d. If you get “no response” from both a and b then y7ou still have a problem. Keep going.
e. If you get “response received” from both a and b then you have an issue with IE:

i. CONTROL PANELàINTERNET OPTIONSà”Advanced” tab:

1. Click on the RESET button near the bottom of the window.
ii. Click OK to close;
iii. Close everything to the desktop;
iv. Shutdown like #4;
v. Restart and try #7 again.

8) If nothing happens in #7, and you have a router:

a. Shut down your machine, turn off both router and modem;
b. Plug modem directly into computer (bypass the router);
c. Reboot;

i. If it works, then it is a router issue. Either:

1. Reset your router and try again;
2. Use the machine without the router;
3. Try to get support for your router settings;

ii. If it doesn’t work, you are SOL as far as I can help.

9) If nothing happens and you do NOT have a router:

a. Verify the modem is plugged into the phone/cable line and the proper NIC receptacle in the back of your computer;
b. Call your ISP for assistance;
c. You are SOL as far as I can help.

If any of this results in a working connection with the cable plugged in and you want it wireless, then try it wireless and troubleshoot that once you have a stable wired connection. If you are wireless only and having problems, I may suggest resetting your wireless router. You will have to re-do all your security stuff, but it is a very simple way of eliminating security issues as a concern.

tried all that except for the lan/wan reset. i do not believe that has anything to do with my problem, because it wasn't working on my friends network as well. i have the machine plugged in to the router and the little amber light on the port does not light up. cant even get to the router (192.168.1.1) this is a straight 'machine is being finicky and there is no good reason for it' kinda problem. i think it could be sw related. so im going to dl ie8 and see if that helps...

that didnt do it either...crapola...

updated the driver for the atheros ar5007eg...no dice...

the machine is back in the owners hands. i told him to take it back to walmart and see if they would exchange it. he's only had it for something like 4 months so its a possible. if they don't i told him to buy a copy of xp on ebay for cheap and we'll kill the damn vista. ****ty os.