Windows Could Not Automatically Detect This Network's Proxy Settings

Hey all. I'm have an issue with a Acer Aspire Desktop computer running Windows 7. It was working fine, then it got shut down at the end of the day, and in the morning upon restart it had a network connection, but no internet. It's connected via Ethernet, and it has no WiFi capability. I subbed in another computer, and the connection was fine. I ran the troubleshooter in Network and Internet, and got the message "Windows could not automatically detect this network's proxy settings". Here's what I've tried:

Uninstalling/reinstalling the network adapter driver
Resetting the IP at the command prompt
Resetting the BIOS to default settings
sfc /scannow (no issues found)
Different network (same result)
Checked to make sure the proxy box was unchecked in LAN setting and that everything else was set to auto

Where can I go from here? Would there be any services that need to be running which mightnot be that could cause this? Thanks.

 

If you are sure it isn't just your ISP service that's down (check the router status lights) then run the Network repairs in Tweaking.com Windows Repair

 

Have you tried to ping a site from a command prompt?

Have you tried setting a manual / fixed LAN IP address on that pc?

 

Running Tweaking.com now... When I ping www.google.com I get "Ping request could not find the host www.google.com. Please check the name and try again". What's weirder, is that when I ping 192.168.1.1 which is my router, I get "PING: Transmit Failure. General Failure". I'm sending this post from the same network/router, so I know it's good.

 

That sounds like a cable problem. Check it for possible physical damage, especially the connectors, and try it in different ports both on router and PC.

 

Nah I’ve tried it on two different networks, and got the same on both. I also directly replaced it with another computer (same cable/router/port) and it worked.

 

A USB wireless dongle would solve the immediate problem and make it easier to look into other possibilities. I've had to do that on an old PC with no wireless adapter while we redecorate the 'office' and it's working so well I probably won't revert to cable.

 

True. I’d like to get to the root of the issue though. What about services?

 

Tweaking.com should deal with or at least highlight any wireless config issues.

 

Is it an onboard NIC that you are using or an add-on? If onboard double check that it is enabled in the BIOS.

Is the NIC correctly detected in Device Manager ie no yellow ! or ?

If you boot with a Linux Live CD and the internet works you could then rule out NIC HW failure.

 

The NIC is onboard. I reset the BIOS to defaults, but even so, it's not disabled because it's recognizing the NIC, it just can't connect to the internet. Device manager is good, shows it as working. I haven't booted to Linux, but I have an Ubuntu distro I can try out.

 

You stated previously that you can't ping the gateway which may suggest some possible hw failure hence me suggesting trying a Linux distro.

Also if you have any AV or FW running [you have not mentioned that you have any running], I would try to disable both of those and try to ping the gateway again

 

Tweaking.com fixed it. Not sure what it did as there were dozens of test/repairs and I just left it running. But it finished and restarted, and problem solved. Thanks for all your help folks. Much appreciated.

 

Sweet little piece of software...

 

You can select just the tests you want to save time. It's also best to run it in safe mode but it's a brilliant bit of software.