Can not connect to the internet

We just recovered from an icky trojan on a 7 year old Dell Dimension that broke our internet link. I fixed it with the repair function in super antispyware and all was well. Decided to get a new firewall, since we had Sygate (unloaded it when all this happened thinking it might "help"). Downloaded Outpost which just would not work (error messages about drivers) and I couldn't figure out how to use it either.

Unloaded that. Ever since, we have been unable to access the internet, email, nothing. A call to our ISP confirmed we no longer have an IP address. I have cycled power on and off to our modem. I've tried to reset in control panel>network connections to no avail.

Is it possible the internal modem is bad? We use an external for our DSL, but it has to connect to something. Bad plug? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

If you are connected to DSL you do not have an internal modem but have an ethernet connection to your DSL modem from your pc.

On your PC go to START > RUN and type CMD and say OK. When the black command window appears type "ipconfig /all" without the quotes and post the results here.

 

I'm doing my best to recreate this here as my husband is at the home computer and trying to tell me what it did over the phone. In a nutshell, nothing.

windows config c:/documentsandsettings/(myname)

Then a cursor.

when I did this with ISP tech this week, she had me type at the c: prompt "ping 192.888.0.1" or whatever their IP address is. It came back 4 sent and none received. She is the one that told me we had no IP address and tried to help me set things up in Control Panel/System and /network connection Once in System, she would ask me to click on properties for things like the IP config etc. but that button was not highlighted. It was nothing I could select. And sometimes, there was no option to click at all.

 

First line read Windows IP Configuration. It immediately went to C:\documents and settings (name).

modem works as I have hooked up a lap top and can get online. It must be something internal.

 

Thanks. We have XP SP3. Will this fix still work? I found the internet connection boot disc that came with the computer all those years ago. Maybe I need to reload? If I do that, do I unload/reload? Not even sure how to unload something like that.

We had a Winsock LSP error ealier that I fixed with Super Anti-spyware's fix program, but that is not the problem this time. When you say ICS do you mean the internet connection software? maybe that is the boot disc I have?

 

I'm sorry. I am kind of an idiot with computers. Never in my lifetime have I been able to save something to a CD or DVD. I'm going to have to wait until Monday when my husband can help me from an office computer to do this. I tried to save to both a CD-RW and DVD-RW disc and just keep getting "write protected".

Did try another cable and that is not the problem so it seems it might really be one of the fixes you suggest. There is just no way right now for me to get the download to the broken computer. I'll let you know what I get later. Thanks!

Oh, and when we pull up our task manager, there is no "services" tab. Only applications and processes.

 

OK...how do I run the Winsock fix from the command prompt? If that is possible, I would love to give it a shot. I was able to do the TCP/IP one, but it did not fix the problem.

Thanks!

 

Windows fw is turned off. Now that I think about it, AVG is running. Since it is now bloatware, I will probably unload it, but is it okay just to turn off the resident shield for these fixes? Will run that command line. I assume I have to be logged in as Admin.

I have shut off the fw in an attempt to connect with no change in response. I have not tried it without AVG. Actually, I was scared to try it after all these problems. Super antispyware is running in the system tray, but I have the free version so I don't think that has any realtime capability. Still, I could turn it off.

 

OK. I turned off the fw, avg and sas. Then I checked for ICS and it is NOT on the list of services. Then I did the netsh winsock reset catalog as the admin on cmd prompt and actually got a different response that said something like "winsock reset successful" but after reboot, I still cannot connect. One difference this time is when I look at the LAN connection it still has a red "X" on it, but now it says the cable is unplugged. Cable is plugged in and the light on the back is still orange (maybe it has always been that way?). I can use the same cable to connect to this laptop through the same external, DSL modem. So it's not the cable.

Still, no ICS. Tried to rerun the TCP/IP thing, but that didn't fix it.

I'm encouraged though...a few things look different!

Any idea what to do now?

 

I would suggest you reinstall TCP/IP. Windows will probably reinstall the network drivers for you, but just in case be sure you have the drivers for your network card available.

Go to CONTROL PANEL > SYSTEM. Click on DEVICE MANAGER and delete the NETWORK entry and reboot. Windows should find the network card reload the driver and set up TCP/IP.

 

I have the original driver disc from Dell. Tried to run it last night, but had no idea what I was doing and it never really did anything. But I have it.

I went to Control Panel-system-then had to select hardware to bring up device manager. There is no "network" in the menu that comes up. There is "network adapter" and then three entries under that heading: Broadcom 440x 10/100 integrated controller, Broadcom 440x 10/100 integrated controller - agnitum firewall miniport, and WAN Miniport (IP) - Agnitum firewall miniport. Of those three entries, the last two have a yellow and black exclamation point icon on them. If I right click on these I have 5 options: update driver..., disable, uninstall, scan for hardware changes, and Properties.

That update driver... is hard to resist clicking

Is this the right place to be looking?

 

Yes, NETWORK ADAPTER is correct. You can delete that entry and when you reboot your machine Windows will find the network adapters and reinstall them and load drivers.

 

jconstan and DL, I give up. I cannot unload that adapter. It says "WAN controller-Agnitum firewall (something or other)". I've tried to disable it. I reloaded and uninstalled Outpost (Agnitum). I have pulled the drivers from Dell on another machine and tried to load them. I've tried to pull the drivers to restore from the install disc. I've uninstalled the adapters that I can and disabled the "WAN" since it won't uninstall. Then I reboot. The system finds the "new hardware", but it still has that yellow exclamation in front of it. Then I tell it to update the drivers from the disc (I've tried both the automatic and the manual-advanced) methods. I've checked the driver install disc to ensure those drivers are REALLY on there and loaded them onto the C:/Dell/Driver folder. Nothing. I've gotten nowhere in days. It just keeps giving me one of two messages: The current file is the best option (or something like that) or "The system failed to find the file".

When I go to network connections, there is not even a "LAN" with a red X through it anymore. The menu is just blank.

I give up and plan to wipe the hard drive and start over. Bought a back up drive and have the original installation disc that is SP1, but then hopefully, I can get back on the net and download the other updates.

I appreciate all your help, but I am feeling completely defeated on this and have now talked to some people online and two people who run computer services for businesses who have seen this trojan and had to wipe the hard drive in every case to restore function. Many of these folks running Firefox, but not all. Three different firewalls this thing has gotten around. Just about every virus software I've ever heard of. One tech said he's had SIX of these show up in the last two weeks and he's had to wipe all but one.

If I reload the OS and still have troubles, I'll be back. Then I'll buy a MAC. :-D

 

Sorry about your difficulties and frustrations. Wiping the hard drive and reloading the system is not a bad way to go and sometimes less frustrating than trying to repair the remnants of a virus.

Come back if you have any issues. Good luck.

 

Thanks again for your help DL and jconstan. I did end up wiping the drive (tedious but effective) and now everything seems to be working fine. I'm in the process of doing all the "protecting yourself from malware" steps in an effort to avoid this problem in the future.

However, I am glad I tried all the stuff you suggested. I really learned a lot about my computer!

Thanks again!

 

Good job!!