Internet connection mystery

[royw]

My OS is Win 7 Professional 32 bit with SP1 and all updates installed.

I use IE9.

A few days ago I suddenly lost my internet connection and could not access Windows Live Mail or the internet. Windows Network Diagnostics, as I expected, suggested I switch off my modem and router for a while and then restart them. I did this several times but it didn't solve the problem. I then tried changing connection cables and bypassing the router to connect directly to the internet, but it made no difference, yet according to my ISP my internet connection was working.

While this was going on my friend's desktop and laptop, which share my internet connection over our LAN, were switched on, and on impulse I tried to connect to the internet from my friend's desktop, never expecting it to work, but to my surprise it did, and I had no problem with WLM on that machine either. How could this be?

Subseqently after many further attempts I managed to re-establish the connection on my machine, so my question is somewhat academic, but if anyone can explain how my friend's machine could connect while mine couldn't I would be grateful.

Thanks and regards,Roy

[Tinto Tech]

Sorry Roy, but you're going to have to give us more to go on than

My machine couldn't reach the internet, while another machine on the same network could.

All that does is rule out the dsl, router and network port to your colleagues machine. By inference the problem was on your machine, but it could have been any number of things.

The first port of call I would look at is the event viewer. You know the time this occurred, so search just before that time and see if any services or applications failed, or if any hardware went offline.

At a guess, I would be thinking about you network adapter or TCP/IP settings changed possibly due to a firewall issue?.....but that really is a guess without any more detail.

[chowur]

When you,turn off the modem,router.You need to shut down your computer as well.Wait @ least 2 mins.Then turn on the modem wait till all the lights are stable.Then turn on your router again wait till the lights are stable.Then turn on your computer.Also check to see if their is an update for your ethernet card,@ the manufactures site.
Just curious as to how you managed to re-connect.Reboot the computer or?

[royw]

Hi Tinto Tech and chowur,

I found the following in Event Viewer:

Log Name: Microsoft-Windows-Dhcp-Client/Admin
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Dhcp-Client
Date: 30-Oct-11 1:32:15 PM
Event ID: 1001
Task Category: Address Configuration State Event
Level: Error
Keywords:
User: LOCAL SERVICE
Computer: Roy-PC
Description:
Your computer was not assigned an address from the network (by the DHCP Server) for the Network Card with network address 0x001966440459. The following error occurred: 0x79. Your computer will continue to try and obtain an address on its own from the network address (DHCP) server.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Dhcp-Client" Guid="{15A7A4F8-0072-4EAB-ABAD-F98A4D666AED}" />
<EventID>1001</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>3</Task>
<Opcode>75</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x4000000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2011-10-30T12:32:15.809570300Z" />
<EventRecordID>23</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="1052" ThreadID="5076" />
<Channel>Microsoft-Windows-Dhcp-Client/Admin</Channel>
<Computer>Roy-PC</Computer>
<Security UserID="S-1-5-19" />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data Name="HWLength">6</Data>
<Data Name="HWAddress">001966440459</Data>
<Data Name="StatusCode">121</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

There were no references to hardware problems.

I can't remember for sure now but I think the problem may have been caused by a change in TCT/IP settings, and that I managed to reconnect after changing them back to what they were originally, and after rebooting.

I installed an update for the ethernet card, which I downloaded from the manufacturer's site, about 10 days before the problem occurred, and had no problem until about 10 days after the update.

I have no internet problem currently, but I am still puzzled as to how my friend could connect when I couldn't.

Best regards,Roy

[swatbat2142]

I agree with Tinto and chowur, need more details. I have seen the settings change on two machines I have with no help from me. How and why is a mystery, but it is a known Microsoft issue that the whole networking inner workings has never been stable.

Look for these next time if it happens, Microsoft updates can adjust these so always check these services after updating and their settings should be "Automatic" except for the one indicated

Computer Browser
DHCP Client
DNS Client
Network Location Awareness (Startup Type 'Manual')
Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
Server
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
Workstation

Also do this now, open the command prompt and then type ipconfig /all

See what your Node Type is, it should be at the top of the screen. Check your friends systems as well. You should all be the same. There are 5 types

Broadcast
Hybrid
Mixed
Peer to Peer
Unknown

Better to be all on Hybrid. These are just things I check over the years with networking issues. The Node Type has always been my killer. Since setting my 9 systems all to Hybrid, I do not have connection issues anymore, only when the modem goes down or the ISP. Router is solid. Hope this helps.

[royw]

Hello swatbat2142,

Thanks for your advice.

All the services you referred to are set as you described.

With regard to the Node Type, the following show the results of the ipconfig /all command on all three computers:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Roy>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Roy-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
System Quarantine State . . . . . : Not Restricted


Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-19-66-44-04-59
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::f878:3a80:6257:ed53%10(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.103(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, November 10, 2011 12:16:19 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, January 19, 2038 4:14:07 AM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 234887526
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-15-D5-1F-EA-00-19-66-44-04-59

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 74.118.212.1
74.118.212.2
194.158.37.211
156.154.71.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.{DB40C8E6-E750-4FA7-B8DD-59FEDE09F959}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 11:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:5ef5:79fb:2c9d:2c8:b17a:ca87(Prefe
rred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::2c9d:2c8:b17a:ca87%12(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

C:\Users\Roy>

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Maria>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : LAPTOP
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 802.11g Network Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-14-A5-C2-8D-F9
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.105
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 194.158.37.196
194.158.37.211
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Friday, November 11, 2011 8:05:15 AM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, September 28, 1905 1:36:59
AM

C:\Documents and Settings\Maria>

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Maria Borg>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : MARIA
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Ralink Turbo Wireless LAN Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-08-A1-C0-B0-5F
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.100
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 194.158.37.196
194.158.37.211
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, November 10, 2011 14:20:30
PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, September 27, 1905 7:52:1
4 AM

C:\Documents and Settings\Maria Borg>

I would greatly appreciate your advice as to what settings I need to change for any of the 3 machines, and as to how to change them, particularly the Node Type.

Thanks and best regards,Roy

[swatbat2142]

So two things pop out. First, I see you have Realtek Gb as your LAN. One thing I have had 4 different motherboards from different manufacturers that have the Realtek LAN and they all have had some issue (still to this day) when connecting. They will run and then just drop out the connection, a pain to fix too because rebooting does not help. Seems to be Realtek 81XX series issue. I try to stay away from boards that have Realtek. I try to stay with boards that have Marvell or Intel so just for future reference.

Second, I see the other two are using Windows XP. KB310570 addressed this issue and here is the way to alter the Node Type from Microsoft.

Make sure when you get down to the registry that you write down what is there for each computer. If it does not work, then revert back to that number. I am on the side of caution with registry alterations so please work with one computer at a time. Make the change on one, run it for a day along with yours BEFORE working on the next one. Keep the information of the original entries for at least 1 month. Make sure that during that month you are running and checking from time to time.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310570

Hopefully this will solve your issue, it did with me. I have 9 computers at home, some XP, Vista and 7. When 7 came around, I had the same problem you had. I made my adjustments to my XP machines and I have no issues other than one Realtek board. The other 3 are with other family members and have experienced unstable connections too, but they are all Window 7 with no XP machine in their homes.

Try this out and let us know.

[royw]

Hello again swatbat2142,

I read the Microsoft support article and on the XP desktop computer navigated to the registry key concerned. However, there was no reference to 'Enable Proxy Value' and I don't understand Microsoft's reference to "the preceding Registry Key". What Registry Key do they mean?

Further advice would be appreciated.

Thanks and regards,Roy

[swatbat2142]

Okay, then do this. Go here;

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Netbt\Parameters

Now on the right side pane window, right mouse click in an empty area, select "New" and then select "DWORD Value"

Now name it exactly like this (without the quotes) "DhcpNodeType"

Now that the entry is there, double click on it and then change the value to 1. Now close everything and reboot.

Now open the command prompt and type (without quotes) "ipconfig /all" and now see what it says. If it is still wrong, go back to the string and change the value to 8 and do all the steps again, reboot, etc.

Try that out, it should do it. That is how all my XP machines are set up, they are all now Hybrid. If this still does not work, then I would lean to the Realtek LAN. You can then leave these entries in the XP machines or delete them. No harm leaving there.

[royw]

Thanks swatbat2142, first method didn't work but changing the value to 8 did. The Node Type for Maria's desktop is now Hybrid, and I will check from time to time to make sure it stays that way. (I will carry out the same procedure on Maria's laptop tomorrow-it is after midnight now in Malta and her laptop is switched off).

The only other internet problem I have is regarding sharing folders between her XP SP3 desktop and my Win 7 SP1 desktop. She is sharing 3 folders with me. When I open two of them on my machine the number of items tallies with the number on the XP machine. The other folder is called Maria's CDs and has 499 sub-folders, but only 419 show up on mine. The sharing options for the master folder are set up exactly the same as the other two folders she shares with me, so I don't understand why all the sub-folders of Maria's CDs do not show up on my machine.

Do you have any suggestions to solve this problem?

If this sharing question should be posted as a new thread in the Networking forum please tell me and I will repost it there.

Thanks and regards, Roy

[swatbat2142]

Some information;

Is the Maria XP machine using the Windows Firewall?
Which version of Windows, Home or Professional?

You can try this, find one of the 80 folders that you cannot see. On Maria's computer, go to that one folder and right mouse click on it and select "Sharing and Security". At the new window you should be at the "Sharing" tab. Look at the first area and see if there is a check mark in the box called "Make the folder private"

Sometimes the folder setting get out of whack. Respond back and try the last part out, see if that works.

[royw]

Hello again swatbat2142,

The Windows Firewall on the Maria XP Home machine is disabled, as she uses the Firewall built in to the avast! internet security app.With regard to the discrepancy between the number of folders shown on the Maria XP machine for her audio files and the number shown on my Win 7 Pro machine, I discovered that she had mistakenly moved some sub-folders into other sub-folders. I corrected that and the number of folders shown on both machines is now almost,but not quite,identical.

On the XP machine I checked the Sharing Tab on the master folder and some of the sub-folders and they are set to share on the network and to allow users to change the files.

I also checked the properties of the master folder on my Win 7 machine and it is shown as shared. I tried to remove the read only attribute for the master folder and all sub-folders on both machines, and it seemed to work. The read only attribute was no longer filled in after I clicked apply and ok. However, when I closed and reopened the properties window on both machines the read only attribute was back.

I also tried to change the security permissions for the master folder and subfolders on my Win 7 machine ,but got the access denied message. I couldn't find anywhere to try to change them on the XP machine.

Your further comments would be appreciated.
Thanks and regards,Roy

[swatbat2142]

That's okay about the read only, it means nothing. To make sure you are sharing, two things though. Do you want her to access your folder and do you want her to delete files and what not in your folder. To do for Windows 7
Right click on folder, hover over "Share with" and then select "Specific people"
New screen, here use the drop down menu and select "Everyone" and then click add.
Notice the bottom portion. It should now have "Everyone", but look to the right of it. Those are the permissions. Here is where you can say;
Read - she can have access to the files, but she cannot delete them
Read/Write - She can have access to the files and she can delete them
Remove - well, removes the "Everyone"

Once you are done there, now you have to make sure she can have permission to do all this
Right click on master folder, select properties.
At the top, click the "Security" tab and now you will see two split sections. The upper one are the people who have permission, find "Everyone"
Now highlight it and now the bottom portion will show you what they can do. It is up to you how much you want to give her.
If you want to alter the security, then (with the Everyone highlighted) click on the "Edit" button.

New screen, you will now be able to hand over the rights the way you see fit. For me, I just tick Full Control. It's just easier, in my situation I want any computer in my network to access my movies

On the Firewall thing. Microsoft's infinite wisdom made a dumb error. First, if you go and "Turn Off" Windows Firewall, it is really not off. Before I go on, I need to know if Maria's system (the XP machine correct?) is Service Pack 2 or 3. There are different ways to cover this. Let me know and then I can show you how to take care of this part.

Glad to see you can access the folders.

[swatbat2142]

Ahh, hell. You do not want to wait. Here is the deal

Service Pack 2 - Do this ONLY IF SHE HAS SERVICE PACK 2 and follow these directions using her XP machine. Here there is a Microsoft problem and they knew about it, but kept this secret. If you go and disable the Firewall in the services, for whatever God sake reason, it turned off the networking service. Why? I do not know, but they screwed up. But in order to do this, you have to download their patch that fixes this and you will not find it at the Microsoft Download Center. But here is how you do it. Before turning off the Firewall Service go here

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/889320

You will see under the bold title in small letters "Hotfix Download Available" and then under that a line to request for the patch. Click on that line
Screen will go to the Agreement page, click "I Accept"
Next screen will show you how to request for it. Go to the section where you will see Windows XP and to the left of it, tick the box. Below that enter your e-mail address you want the file to go to, enter your e-mail again in the confirmation window and then enter those weird lettering and then click the button "request hotfix"

It will be sent to your e-mail address, download it to your desktop and then install it. The patch kills that connection to the networking if you turn off the Firewall service. Once the patch is installed, reboot. Now you can go to Start-Control Panel-Administrative Tools-Services, look for Windows Firewall in the list, double click it and then on the new screen, just below the middle section there are 4 buttons. Click the one that says "Stop". A small window appears and then goes away. Just above that button it should now say Stopped. Now above all that, you will see "Startup Type". To the right of that there is a drop down menu, click on that and NOW select "Disabled", click "Apply" and then click "OK" and viola, the Windows Firewall is truly OFF.

Or if she has Service Pack 3 - Then you can go straight to the services and do what I mentioned above. Service Pack 3 included this fix so just in to the services, stop the service then disable it and done

[swatbat2142]

For future reference, any time you have network issues, make sure to look at that Node Type, but also look in the services and make sure that the Startup Type on the machine are set to 'Automatic' except for the one indicated.

Computer Browser
DHCP Client
DNS Client
Network Location Awareness (Startup Type 'Manual')
Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
Server
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
Workstation

I have seen Windows Update actually turn one of these off so always check their status. And of course, check you LAN cable.

Also, in Windows 7, if you are using a firewall other than Windows, then the same thing applies. You need to turn the Windows Firewall off and then go in to the services and turn it off in there as well. You do not need a patch for the Win7 to do this.