Boy, I asked for some help with this and you folks came through with flying colors. Thanks again for all of the great feedback!

Bret writes:

Hi Matt,

I have had similar in the past but recall it was a 98 box.
Sorry I cant help but I could provide a tip.

Take your mum a usb/ethernet adapter, that way you wont have to take a screwdriver! Since it’s a freeby you might as well not wear yourself out :)

Steve writes:

I had a burp in my registry that created a similar issue on my home-built PC. I tried this little (free) tool out of desperation and it did the trick.
 http://www.snapfiles.com/get/winsockxpfi…

I think I first learned about it on Lockergnome?

Mark writes:

Hi Matt,
You might try checking the NIC’s duplex and speed settings to make sure they match that of the router if you haven’t already done so. Auto usually works but sometimes switching between Full and Half duplex can fix these type of problems. As for speed, you might try switching between 10 and 100 to see if it does anything.

Nice of you to help out your mom like this. Best of luck!

Radd writes:

Matt,
I used to have the same problem when I worked on certain models of Compaqs. (Weren’t they purchased by somebody?) I was able to avoid using a new NIC by just popping it into a different PCI slot. (A different NIC in the same slot did fix things, though.) I always figured it was some problem the MoBo had with sharing interrupts, but never was able to actually confirm the theory. (And it didn’t fully explain it why this decided to happen when there were no changes made to the machine, except a reboot.)

Some Boards Are Best Used For Target Practice…

David writes:

I did not read that you checked / repaired the winsock settings. I have had several instances where a piece of spyware will ‘slip’ through and corrupt those settings. Run Winsock fix and it will probably come back on line.

Brandon writes:

It might be the power supply. The exact same thing would happen on some older models of Dell computers when the NIC stopped working it was almost always the result of a power supply going bad. Once the PS was switched out all was well.

Matt S. writes:

Hello Matt,

I have run into a similar problem on two separate systems. It ended up being a winsock problem. Check out this MS KB article:

811259

P.S. As you probably already know, just because the symptoms aren’t the same doesn’t mean the solution won’t work. ;-)

Basil writes:

I have had the same problem before on a windows box and the only way short of changing the NIC that I could find was, as dumb as it sounds is to install the NW IPX/SPX protocols on the box after I did that I had no more problems.
( Why it works with the Netware protocols I have no ideal.)

psering writes:

I have a Pavillion 8650C and tried to install a Belkin NIC and couldn’t get it to work. I ended up using a USB connection to get connectivity.

Howard writes:

Matt,
I read your story Re: your Mom’s computer issue and the internet connection. I just lived through the same basic problem – checking IP address, router and modem (DSL in my case). I turned off the Lan connection on my Intel MOBO and installed a PCI slot NIC to no avail. Pinging the router, modem, trying to ping the ISP, looking for DNS issues, etc, still no luck.

Just for kicks I turned off my ZoneAlarm firewall that I have been using for the past couple of years and the problem went away. I have no clue as to what changed. I installed a trial copy of Sunbelt’s Kerio firewall and all is well again.

I know of one other person that was having the same symptoms (he has the same MOBO and Intel P4 processor and Rambus memory I are running) but he is on a cable modem (Cox) and, I believe, he was using a Trend Micro firewall/AV app. Once he removed the TM app his internet connection problem went away.
I have no idea if this makes any sense with regards to your troubleshooting or the Pavilion but thought I would send it along – one never knows.

Good luck.

[tags]usb,registry,ethernet,hp pavilions,winsock xp fix[/tags]