Problem with internet connectivity

WinXP Pro SP3 - this laptop has built-in wifi, but for some unknown reason, the owner of the PC decided to install not one, but TWO other different wifi adapters; one USB and one PCMCIA in addition to the built-in wifi. I'm assuming the on-board wifi wasn't working so he figured he'd try some other things. So I have uninstalled all the software associated with these extras, and there is indeed an issue with the XP networking components. If I go to the Control Panel > Network Connections, then right click on either the wifi or the LAN, and try to go to "Properties", I get a small "An unexpected error has occurred" window. I have tried the built-in XP "repair" feature for the network connections and that did nothing. If I plug an ethernet cable into the on-board LAN port, Windows does not recognize it and the icon in the system tray remains marked with a red X. The wifi connection will search for but not find any wireless connections and the router is about 8 feet from the laptop, so there's definitely something wrong with the networking component. The owner of this laptop is FAMOUS for really screwing things up (and he's somewhat proud of it) and I work on his laptop on average twice monthly. I'm thinking a repair install will probably solve the problem, but I'd like to fix it w/o the repair installation.... any ideas?
Thanks!

[dlb]

 

UPDATE: I was able to get the right-click > Properties to start working again for the network connections, but still cannot get either the wifi or LAN to recognize any networks. The ethernet port seems to be totally dead; it doesn't light up green or orange when an active cable is plugged in. There are 2 errors in the Event Viewer for "Netlogon" that may be related (screen shots below). I have checked the Windows Wireless Zero Config service and it is active. I'm running an SFC right now, but I have doubts....

 

did you try to reinstall the ethernet/lan drivers ?
it don't take much for em to get kinda funky

 

That was one of the first things I did, but it didn't work at the time.... They had to be reinstalled after a clean TCP/IP stack had been created...

Problems solved! I manually rebuilt the Winsock registry keys and rewrote a new TCP/IP stack, and also uninstalled/reinstalled the network drivers. This worked for the wireless drivers, but the ethernet port still seems to be DOA. It does not recognize when a live cable is plugged in. I think the PCs owner may have damaged it somehow.... anyway, he mainly needed the wifi working and it is indeed working again!
:celebrate

 

Check for WinUpdateMan.exe in system32 directory.
I Googled this and found nothing. It says Google is the authur on the file. The Original name is Project1. I renamed this file and my connections tray has been working for 3 days so far. I have four computers and this file was only on the one with the trouble.

Hope this helps.

 

another suggestion (i know this problem was solved, but... )

try installing the connection software that comes with either the wireless adapter, or the pc manufacturer. In some cases it works better than xp's wireless connection software.

I believe vista and win7's are better tho.