TCP/IP network problems

Hi all

I help run LAN Party's for disabled children. But last night 1 of our PC's could not be seen in the games atall.
It also couldnt be seen in network neighbourhood but when we search for a pc it could be seen(Start, Find, Computer then search for ident name)
Weve tried everything reinstalling NIC card, TCP/IP settings, different NIC card etc etc
One thing we have noticed is that if the game uses IPX/SPX it works fine.
Weve come to the conclusion that the problem is probably registry based.
Can anybody help please ?

 

Remove all your NIC, clients, services, and protocols settings from your LAN settings, reboot. Reinstall.

Cheers

Dagga

 

hi dagga

weve tried all this and it didnt solve the problem

thx

 

Hmm a stab in the dark here...

This may or may not work!

If your using Windows 9x/ME try this. Remove all the networking stuff like i said before. ***DO NOT REBOOT YET***. Then do a search for ping.exe arp.exe tcpip.sys and rename these files to filename.bak.

Reboot.

Install NIC and all the rest. This should now reload your TCP/IP stuff for real this time. I've had this problem once before, this is how i fixed it when it looked to be installing TCP/IP but wasn't.

Get the latest drivers for your NIC as well, if you haven't already got them.

Use winipcfg.exe if your using a DHCP server see your IP settings.

Like i said stab in the dark...

Cheers

Dagga

 

no this didnt work m8

 

Dam...

Tried another pci slot? Try moving the LAN NIC to the first pci slot.

reboot into DOS then run scanreg to see if there are any registry problems.

Also regclean might be useful
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,4666,00.asp

Running out of ideas here!

Reinstall....

Cheers

Dagga

 

Chance your NIC is just going bad.

Try opening a DOS window and doing

Ping -t -l 1024 127.0.0.1

It will test the card with larger-than-default packets until you do a CTRL-C

Should be no errors, timeouts, or anything else. Letting it run for 4-5 hundred reps should be plenty.

Also, if you haven't already, try a different cable if the above test comes back clean.

If none of that helps, and if the card is set for "auto" on speed and duplexing, try setting it for specific speed/duplexing values. Start slow at 10mbs half duplex (and if you have a hub, that will be the maximum speed that will work.

If all that fails, post some details about the LAN you set up. OS, NICs, hub/switch/whatever.

 

thx all so far

The NIC is new and we've tried it in another PC. The problem must be Registry based.
What if i remove all connections to TCP/IP in the bios.
The games using IPX/SPX work find but TCP/IP ones won't !

All PC's using win98se, all cables are tested and ok, HUB is Netgear.

 

Have you tried changing the computer's name? If not try that....stranger things have happened?

***This could trash you machine****

I have never tried this next part so i do not know if this will work or what effect this may have on your computer.

TCP/IP registry settings

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q158474

Remove all networking protocols NIC's services etc. Don't reboot yet

Then try deleting the above keys (Web link) so that they are reinstalled with tcp/ip and the other networking stuff on reboot.
Reboot now that you have done the above, you might have a totally stuffed computer now or one that does what it's told .

***end of trash part***

2nd last effort
Have your network card in your machine and do a reinstall of windows over the top of your current copy eg c:\windows not c:\windows.000 as it may recommend

LAST
If all else fails time to wave the white flag give up format reinstall.

Cheers

Dagga

 

One more option for you!

So we know the NIC is good because it works in another computer? And you have tried a different slot?

Barring a really far out hardware problem, the problem should be a driver/registry issue!

I have had similar problems before and had sucesss doing the folowing.

Do the following in safe mode

First remove all network protocols and services then go to add/remove and remove dialup networking.

Then remove the device from device manager!

Search registry for and remove all references to the NIC (example 3com or realtek) etc.

Search the disk for same and delete.

Reboot to normal mode with nothing, to let windows do its little cleanup.

At this point most times just replacing the NIC with a defferent brand will do it!

Or continue with the following

Download from 3com a utility that comes with all their driver software. The utility is call preinstal.exe.

Run the utility to clear out any remaining dregs of the other nic driver or registry entries. This clears the path for a clean NIC install even if your NIC is not a 3com. It will tell you to reboot and install your NIC.

So do it!

It would be best to download the latest driver for your NIC and the DUN 1.4 upgrage from Microsoft!

Reinstall all other needed protcols and services.

Mike

 

preinstal.exe. I've looked everywhere for this file m8 and can't find it. Help

KDC

 

KDC

Just download the any driver for say a 3c905xx. It will be in one of the setup folders or send me an email to my personal not private! And I will send it to you by attachment!

http://www.3com.com/products/en_US/result.jsp?selected=5&sort=effdt&sku=3C905C-TX-M&order=desc

mike

 

Give us an update KDC.

Mike