Network connections not appearing in network list in Win 7

So I have this problem that all of a sudden my broadband connections are not appearing in the network list in the taskbar. They used to before, but suddenly they're not. Im using a laptop running Win 7 Ultimate edition.
To connect to the Internet, I have to connect to a wireless modem first, then using a PPPoE connection that requires a username and password. The wireless modem connection icon is appearing, but the PPPoE icon isn't.

Here's some screencaps.

^The connections used to appear here. Now only my wireless modem connection appears here.

^The connections list.

If anyone wants to know, I recently installed Avast antivirus. Dunno if its related in any way. Please help me get those icons back.

 

Greetings, supersonic_ht, and welcome aboard.

A few quick questions:

Have you tried uninstalling avast! and seeing if your symptoms change?

Do your symptoms change if you boot into Safe Mode with Networking?

And, what device is used for your ethernet connection? Are there any flags for that hardware in Device Manager?

 

Didn't try uninstalling avast, Safe Mode with Networking showed the same problem. And here's another pic.

If I'm not wrong, the network map used to appear in the marked spot. I tried running the Network Adapter troubleshooter, it said that the Diagnostics Policy service was not running, but it was unable to fix the problem.

P.S.- Network adapter is a "Realtek RTL8191SE wireless LAN 802.11n PCI-E NIC"

 

Go to Control Panel > Admin Tools > Services, try to start the Diagnostics Policy service (it should be set for 'Automatic'). While you're there, check the Network-related services - Connections, List Service, Location Awareness, and Store Interface Service should all be up and running.

 

The following are not running:
Network List Service (Error 1068: The dependency service or group failed to start)
Network Location Awareness(unable to start)
Diagnostics Policy Service(Error 5: Access is denied)

 

The Network List Service has quite a few dependencies. Scroll down to the Dependencies section
http://www.blackviper.com/wiki/Network_List_Service

and check on the status of all of those.

 

The following dependency refuses to run:
Network Location Awareness(Error code 1073741288)

Checked its dependencies too, all are working properly.

 

Could you tell or show us your network adapter's protocols, please?

(Note: mine are pretty extreme - no sharing and running the minimum (I think) currently needed for Internet access)

 

before going to a repair install, try the following from a command prompt.

sfc /scannow

Then try again.

 

Sorry for the late reply..
@Satrow:
@motc7: Done, but it did no good, just found some corrupt files and created a log file.

 

Is there a reason for not trying this? avast! is a great free antivirus program (I use it myself on multiple machines), but it has been known to present funky connection issues in some configurations, especially involving Win 7.

You might also try booting to a live Linux distro (Mint is nice and easy) and using the included Firefox, see if your access symptoms change.

 

Also, while you're digging around, make sure you're not hiding behind a proxy server.

Control Panel > Internet Options > Connections > LAN settings.

 

I'll do it in a while. Actually, my avast is pretty much up to date, but if I uninstall and reinstall, I'll have to do the updates again, and that's a headache on this very slow network connection of mine.

Besides, I don't think you understand my symptoms. I'm not having problems connecting to the Net or anything, its just that the connections don't appear in the taskbar list where they should, but they're appearing fine in Control Panel>Network and Sharing Centre>Change adapter settings. That is probably caused by the 'Network Location Awareness' service not running. I just need help to get it started.

 

My bad - I may be overthinking this thing. :-o

You might try a winsock reset:

From an elevated command prompt, type netsh winsock reset, ok out ignoring any errors, and reboot.

 

I see that AVG is still listed by your networking screenshot, even though it's not active, it may still exist and be causing some issues, I'd run the AVG uninstaller, it's linked directly from this AVG FAQ.

 

@Caliban: Already done before. No dice.
@satrow: Yea, I noticed that, so I uninstalled both AVG and avast yesterday and rebooted twice. It made no difference.

 

More problems. I'm unable to enable sharing for any broadband connection. When I try to, it gives me a "The dependency failed to start" error.

 

I think I just had the same problem, I was getting an error stating the diagnostic policies were not started. I tried starting manual and they would stop right after. So after looking in my network location I noticed that I had no port and no connection. So I checked the device manager and sure enough I had a yellow triangle, it was saying it didnt have enough resources to run my port so I opened up the drivers menu of my port, went to update driver, went to manually search my computer --> c:\windows\system32\drivers, I then checked the box to select the one I wanted and switched it, after that I restarted my computer and whala! it works again.. hope this helped if it is not clear then I will type it again

 

Ok, so I went ahead and did a repair install and that fixed it. I tried replacing the nlasvc.dll file from the setup DVD but that didn't cut it. Finally I found that the system32 folder had its owner set to the current user instead of TrustedInstaller. Finding myself unable to change ownership of the folder and all its subfolders to TrustedInstaller, I ran Win7 setup and repair installed. Now everything is back to normal, I have all my old settings back and stuff. Thanks everyone for your help. +thanks given to all who helped.

 

Well, at least you found that it was a Windows problem and not an issue with some 3rd-party program.

Glad you got it sorted, and thanks for the feedback. :major