One of my PC's wont connect to my network or the internet!

[thefed]

So, I have 3 PCs (2 desktop and a laptop) running on a network thu a D-link wireless router.

Well, my oldest pc says "network Cable unplugged" and it wont go away. I cant access the net, or the other computers thru this it. I checked the cable,switched em, even bypassed the wireless router to no avail.

I had a power outage the other day, and it often acts this way when that happe ns...but usually because the date gets messed up, which it didnt


Any ideas what i should do? I need to access files on the computer thru my ohter one so i can print, fax, etc

Thanks

 

[twaddle]

I assume the laptop connects via WiFi and the two desktops are wired, right?

If you've already verified the cable is good, and the router port is good, then it's pretty clear the problem is on the "oldest pc."

When you say "the date gets messed up," that tells me that your CMOS memory backup battery is near death, and your BIOS config might be hosed. Go through your BIOS settings and ensure your ethernet port is enabled on the old box. And get a new battery (or a new PC since it sounds pretty old).

 

[thefed]

thats the odd thing....normally the date does goe wierd on me bc of the battery/lack thereof....but this time it didnt happen at all...not even sure its the problem


it just keeps saying the lan has limited/no connectivity and the cable is unplugged. ethernet is enable and a nic check shows everything to be working well

when i ping googler, only 1/4 packets get thru

i restarted winsock and something else per earthlink tech support...nothing still

they are stumped as am i

 

[twaddle]

Winsock? Man, how old is that box?

No packets should get through if the box isn't connecting. That's odd that you're getting a few. Could mean an IP address conflict on your network.

I would still go through the BIOS settings even though the date looked OK this time.

If your NIC checks out, then the router light should be on for that port. Is it? You should also be able to view the router setup info (probably via web browser) to see if the router shows the MAC address for that box.

In any case, try cycling power on the router, wait for it to come back up, and then issue:
IPCONFIG/RENEW
from a DOS box on your old PC.

If that doesn't work, keep bugging Earthlink.

 

[thefed]

yeah, we did the ipconfig thing 2 times , another command i never heard of , etc

the pc is maybe 4 yrs old, amd 2.0 ghz, 80 gb hd, windows p, usb 1.0 ports, etc

yes, the router lights light up when connected, and as soon as i power down the modem, it alerts me on screen!


im gonna buy a 10 dollar usb > ethernet adapter to see if maybe its just a wierd glitch in my integrated ethernet

as far as bios... i have no idea what 2 look for there

 

[Goonie]

I had that happen several years ago. There was a power outage, and when the power came back on, I re-fired the PCs and one of them wouldn't reconnect to the network. Same message...'network cable unplugged'. I messed around with it for a while rechecked all of the settings. It still couldn't see the network...the other PCs couldn't see it. I grabbed a new Linksys NIC off the pile, and switched the old one out.

Restarted the PC and BINGO! The old NIC had died. Never quite figured out how or why....but it did. All of the PCs, peripherals, everything had been plugged into surge protectors, including phone and DSL lines. It was just one of those things.

Exact same thing happen at w*rk a few years ago, too.

 

[donheff]

I had that happen several years ago. I grabbed a new Linksys NIC off the pile, and switched the old one out. Restarted the PC and BINGO! The old NIC had died. Never quite figured out how or why....

+1 to the NIC. Years back, when I used to make my family web servers out of old hand me down PCs, several NICs failed at one time or another. I even had new, cheapo, out-of-the-box NICs fail.

But Winsock Fed? I haven't heard that term since Win95 came out? Did MS keep a winsock.exe as part of their tcp/ip stack during and after 95?

 

[thefed]

as far as winsock goes, i was just doing what my isp's tech support said to do


HOWEVER, im proud to announce that a board member who may wish to remain anonymous helped me fix it!!!! he can explain WHY it works....but unplugging the computer for a minute did the trick. reset and power off never did the trick

THANKS!!!

 

[Sam]

....but unplugging the computer for a minute did the trick.

Interesting. One thing for sure is that your computer clock battery is dead.

 

[thefed]

Interesting. One thing for sure is that your computer clock battery is dead.

i agree!


where are they located? on the motherboard? i will go get a new one and hope that it helps in power outages!!

i will also be removing my dvd burner and firewire card for transfer to a new dell pc i got

 

[Sam]

Most of the time on the motherboard. Sometimes not, but still attached to the motherboard.

 

[thefed]

I had that happen several years ago. There was a power outage, and when the power came back on, I re-fired the PCs and one of them wouldn't reconnect to the network. Same message...'network cable unplugged'. I messed around with it for a while rechecked all of the settings. It still couldn't see the network...the other PCs couldn't see it. I grabbed a new Linksys NIC off the pile, and switched the old one out.

Restarted the PC and BINGO! The old NIC had died. Never quite figured out how or why....but it did. All of the PCs, peripherals, everything had been plugged into surge protectors, including phone and DSL lines. It was just one of those things.

Exact same thing happen at w*rk a few years ago, too.

did you, by chance, unplug the unit while you replaced NIC's? Maybe it was just the power off/on cycle that did it??

 

[Goonie]

did you, by chance, unplug the unit while you replaced NIC's? Maybe it was just the power off/on cycle that did it??

Yep. Unplugged.....poked around.....plugged back in...Nada! Repeat.....Nada.

I popped that same NIC into a machine I had been overhauling.....still nada.

Popped in new NIC into the first machine.... BINGO!

Definitely NIC, in that case.