WinXP obtaining IP but not DNS?

  • Thread starter Thread starter PSUFAN
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PSUFAN

I have multiple PCs hooked up wirelessly to my cable modem. All of them can
access the internet - except for one. I tried reinstalling my Belkin card
and spent numerous hours trying to figure this out.

I'm running SP2 - it worked fine for a year, then I got a pop-up virus and
maybe messed up some settings when trying to clean my PC ?

When I click on the Belkin utility, it shows that I have an IP address, but
no "gateway" "DNS" or "WINS". I thought XP obtains its IP address via DHCP?
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
 
I have multiple PCs hooked up wirelessly to my cable modem. All of them can
access the internet - except for one. I tried reinstalling my Belkin card
and spent numerous hours trying to figure this out.

I'm running SP2 - it worked fine for a year, then I got a pop-up virus and
maybe messed up some settings when trying to clean my PC ?

When I click on the Belkin utility, it shows that I have an IP address, but
no "gateway" "DNS" or "WINS". I thought XP obtains its IP address via DHCP?
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
Click to expand...

Check for LSP / Winsock /TCP/IP corruption.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/04/netbios-over-tcpip.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/04/netbios-over-tcpip.html

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP 2005-2007 [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.
 
Set your IP parameters manually, and verify that the computer in question
properly accesses the internet. This will eliminate unseen and unexpected
problems beyond what you immediately suspect. Don't forget to suspect
hardware, wiring, etc.

Then work backwards to get your automatic processes functioning again.

IOW, always troubleshoot a problem from a "position of success," and work
backwards to find the fracture point(s). God help the people that must t/s
from a position of failure; it's a mess.

Perhaps you have already adopted this strategy...but your posting creates
the impression that you did not.

You have other computers to inspect, for viable parameters. That in itself
is a position of success.

Examine your DHCP server for the range of addresses that it uses when
assigning leased IP addresses. You should likely cut this range way down,
if you have a small collection of computers. Default ranges are generally
excessively large for SOHO installations. I use a range of 16 (decimal).
When using static addresses, always pick addresses that are OUTSIDE the DHCP
range, so no conflict can occur.

Use ipconfig /all from a CMD line in your XP computer, to inspect IP
parameters. Use ipconfig /? to see all the ways to use this useful command
line function.

I apologize if this advice seems too elementary.

I frequently assign IP parameters statically, regardless... I even do this
for the "WAN" side (uplink side) of secondary routers I might employ. There
are all sorts of reasons outside the scope of this discussion to justify
static addressing. The catch is that the administrator needs to keep track
of such addresses; looking up addresses in the "DHCP table" of your router
is not a reliable method of inspection; the designer of that equipment could
have employed a variety of architectures; there is no standard governing
their choices.

Using a label gun or even adhesive paper and a marking pen can help. Just
put the IP addresses on labels where you will likely look for them.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I spent some time on your site trying to
troubleshoot. I ran the LSPfix tool, and reset the Winsock registry by using
a couple of the utilities you suggested. I manually set the IP address, but
still couldn't access the internet.

One other interesting note - the IP address assigned to this PC is outside
the range of my other computers (they are typically 192.168.1.X). As shown
below, this one is 169.254.182.23. Any other suggestions ? Here is my
ipconfig result:

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name - Gateway
Primary DNS suffix -
Node Type - Unknown
IP Routing Enabled - No
WINS Proxy Enabled - No

Ethernet Adapter Local Area Connection

Media State - Media Disconnected
Description - NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
Physical Address - 00-40-CA-9B-20-07

Ethernet Adapter Wireless Network Connection 3:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix -
Description - Belkin Wireless G Desktop Card
Physical Address - 00-11-50-D5-25-BA
Dhcp Enable - Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled - Yes
Autoconfiguration IP Address - 169.254.182.23
Subnet Mask - 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway -

Thanks again guys.

PSUFAN
====================

Chuck said:
I have multiple PCs hooked up wirelessly to my cable modem. All of them can
access the internet - except for one. I tried reinstalling my Belkin card
and spent numerous hours trying to figure this out.

I'm running SP2 - it worked fine for a year, then I got a pop-up virus and
maybe messed up some settings when trying to clean my PC ?

When I click on the Belkin utility, it shows that I have an IP address, but
no "gateway" "DNS" or "WINS". I thought XP obtains its IP address via DHCP?
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
Click to expand...

Check for LSP / Winsock /TCP/IP corruption.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/04/netbios-over-tcpip.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/04/netbios-over-tcpip.html

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP 2005-2007 [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.
Click to expand...
 
Couple of other notes. I ran the winsockfix application and the "netsh"
utility to reset TCP/IP settings. I'm still acquiring a TCP/IP address, but
no network connectivity. This is frustrating !

Thanks

PSUFAN

PSUFAN said:
Thanks for the suggestions. I spent some time on your site trying to
troubleshoot. I ran the LSPfix tool, and reset the Winsock registry by using
a couple of the utilities you suggested. I manually set the IP address, but
still couldn't access the internet.

One other interesting note - the IP address assigned to this PC is outside
the range of my other computers (they are typically 192.168.1.X). As shown
below, this one is 169.254.182.23. Any other suggestions ? Here is my
ipconfig result:

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name - Gateway
Primary DNS suffix -
Node Type - Unknown
IP Routing Enabled - No
WINS Proxy Enabled - No

Ethernet Adapter Local Area Connection

Media State - Media Disconnected
Description - NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
Physical Address - 00-40-CA-9B-20-07

Ethernet Adapter Wireless Network Connection 3:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix -
Description - Belkin Wireless G Desktop Card
Physical Address - 00-11-50-D5-25-BA
Dhcp Enable - Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled - Yes
Autoconfiguration IP Address - 169.254.182.23
Subnet Mask - 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway -

Thanks again guys.

PSUFAN
====================

Chuck said:
I have multiple PCs hooked up wirelessly to my cable modem. All of them can
access the internet - except for one. I tried reinstalling my Belkin card
and spent numerous hours trying to figure this out.

I'm running SP2 - it worked fine for a year, then I got a pop-up virus and
maybe messed up some settings when trying to clean my PC ?

When I click on the Belkin utility, it shows that I have an IP address, but
no "gateway" "DNS" or "WINS". I thought XP obtains its IP address via DHCP?
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
Click to expand...

Check for LSP / Winsock /TCP/IP corruption.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/04/netbios-over-tcpip.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/04/netbios-over-tcpip.html

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP 2005-2007 [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
168.254.182.23? This looks like the self-generated IP address of a computer
that is incapable of communicating with your DHCP server.

Perhaps there is some hardware fault, or driver mistake?

BTW... Your equipment must employ a common ip net for successful
communication. Manually set the IP address in the errant computer to
192.168.1.92, subnet 255.255.255.0, gateway 192.168.1.1, and see what
happens. Go to a successful computer and read command line report for
"ipconfig /all" to verify that the subnet mask is the same, the gateway is
the same, and the ip address is DIFFERENT...but on the same NETWORK. That
is, both computers must share 192.168.1.x, thanks to your subnet mask, which
sets the architectural boundary between host addresses and network address.


You can assign DNS addresses manually. 207.217.120.83 and 207.217.77.82.

You've got a lot of things going on here, and I'd eliminate the fancy things
like automatic addressing assignments for the time being, so that you might
t/s more fundamental problems like hardware.

Have you tried WIRED connectivity?
 
Thanks -

I've tried a few things in the interim. First, the manual IP assignment. I
used IP 192.168.1.9 and valid IP addresses for the default gateway and DNS.
When I run the Belkin diagnostic tool, I "Pass" the loopback test, the IP
test, the DNS test, and the Gateway test, but "Fail" the WAN test. Belkin
and MS Network still tell me I have no connectivity (and I still can't access
the internet). The "WINS" field is still blank - but it appears to be blank
on my working PCs as well.

Here's the kicker - I am connected to the wireless LAN (I needed to input my
WEP keys and everything). This is why I ruled out a potential hardware
problem. So the router doesn't seem to be assigning this device an IP
address.

Maybe I'll try the wired approach later today...

Thanks again.

PSUFAN
 
This is too complicated.
I don't know much about encryption, but I'd ditch the encryption until the
thing works in clear transmission.
Again, I'd ditch DHCP until the thing works otherwise.
I don't think WINS matters, but I cannot recall that from years ago.
Moreover, I'd ping the router. Can you ping it from the bad computer, at
192.168.1.1?
Obviously, the computer can be pinged at 192.168.1.9....or can it? Seems it
should, given your comment about successful loopback.
IF SUCCESSFUL WITH PING ROUTER, THEN PING A DNS SERVER.

Get to a position of success, which likely means you need to be WIRED for
the time being. Then work towards fault.
 
Okay, when manually configured, my (bad) PC can be pinged at 192.168.1.9.
However, when I try to ping the router from my bad PC, I get Transmit Error
65. So the bad PC can be pinged but can't ping other PCs.
 
I presume you're still operating in a wireless configuration. But you've
hit a hard, simple fault now, which is "good."... from the t/s standpoint,
anyway.
Can you install (or just enable) a WIRED NIC in your bad PC now? Try THAT
for pinging the router from the bad PC.

That's what I would do.
 
Couple of other notes. I ran the winsockfix application and the "netsh"
utility to reset TCP/IP settings. I'm still acquiring a TCP/IP address, but
no network connectivity. This is frustrating !

Thanks

PSUFAN
Click to expand...

If you're acquiring a "169.254" subnet IP address, then your computer is now on
the "169.254" subnet. So you won't have connectivity with anything NOT on the
"169.254" subnet.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/07/limited-or-no-connectivity.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/07/limited-or-no-connectivity.html

If you're getting the "169.254" address because of a problem with the DHCP
server, then using a manually assigned address will work around that. If the
problem is with the computer, then manually assigning the address is not going
to help. The "169.254" address is a symptom, not the problem.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/08/solving-network-problems-tutorial.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/08/solving-network-problems-tutorial.html

I see "nVidia" in your ipconfig log.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/02/hidden-personal-firewall-nvidia-nforce.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/02/hidden-personal-firewall-nvidia-nforce.html

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP 2005-2007 [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.
 
Hmmm, I investigated the nVIDIA issue, and removed all of the NVIDIA drivers,
then reinstalled (to remove the potential hidden firewall issue). No luck,
same result. (Plus now I have a couple of device drivers missing, but
hopefully I can restore that once I get connectivity up and running). When I
force an IP address, I can connect to the LAN, but not the internet. Plus, I
can ping the "bad" PC from a good PC, but can't ping anything except
127.0.0.1 from the bad PC (not even the forced IP address 192.168.1.9).

Is there a way (outside of netsh?) to just reinstall the TCP/IP stack? I
read a Microsoft article that mentioned the routing table may be correct.
Well, that's well and good, but how would I go about fixing the routing
table?

Well, I'm taking some time off to celebrate the New Year. Thanks again to
any and all responders.

PSUFAN

Chuck said:
Couple of other notes. I ran the winsockfix application and the "netsh"
utility to reset TCP/IP settings. I'm still acquiring a TCP/IP address, but
no network connectivity. This is frustrating !

Thanks

PSUFAN
Click to expand...

If you're acquiring a "169.254" subnet IP address, then your computer is now on
the "169.254" subnet. So you won't have connectivity with anything NOT on the
"169.254" subnet.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/07/limited-or-no-connectivity.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/07/limited-or-no-connectivity.html

If you're getting the "169.254" address because of a problem with the DHCP
server, then using a manually assigned address will work around that. If the
problem is with the computer, then manually assigning the address is not going
to help. The "169.254" address is a symptom, not the problem.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/08/solving-network-problems-tutorial.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/08/solving-network-problems-tutorial.html

I see "nVidia" in your ipconfig log.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/02/hidden-personal-firewall-nvidia-nforce.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/02/hidden-personal-firewall-nvidia-nforce.html

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP 2005-2007 [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.
Click to expand...
 
Hmmm, I investigated the nVIDIA issue, and removed all of the NVIDIA drivers,
then reinstalled (to remove the potential hidden firewall issue). No luck,
same result. (Plus now I have a couple of device drivers missing, but
hopefully I can restore that once I get connectivity up and running). When I
force an IP address, I can connect to the LAN, but not the internet. Plus, I
can ping the "bad" PC from a good PC, but can't ping anything except
127.0.0.1 from the bad PC (not even the forced IP address 192.168.1.9).

Is there a way (outside of netsh?) to just reinstall the TCP/IP stack? I
read a Microsoft article that mentioned the routing table may be correct.
Well, that's well and good, but how would I go about fixing the routing
table?

Well, I'm taking some time off to celebrate the New Year. Thanks again to
any and all responders.
Click to expand...

If you had a virus, cleaned it up, and now have a problem with DHCP, or
connectivity problems, then LSP / Winsock / TCP/IP corruption is most likely.
Did you run each of the suggested tools? None of the tools is known to be self
sufficient - each tool is necessary in some cases reported here. Go through the
list, one at a time.

It's vaguely possible that your routing table is borked. Try posting that here,
for each computer.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/11/static-route-table.html
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/11/static-route-table.html

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP 2005-2007 [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.
 
Thanks for the input, Chuck. Rather than devote countless hours to technical
troubleshooting, I decided to reinstall XP - backup files retrieved, and
PROBLEM SOLVED.

Thx

PSUFAN

Chuck said:
Hmmm, I investigated the nVIDIA issue, and removed all of the NVIDIA drivers,
then reinstalled (to remove the potential hidden firewall issue). No luck,
same result. (Plus now I have a couple of device drivers missing, but
hopefully I can restore that once I get connectivity up and running). When I
force an IP address, I can connect to the LAN, but not the internet. Plus, I
can ping the "bad" PC from a good PC, but can't ping anything except
127.0.0.1 from the bad PC (not even the forced IP address 192.168.1.9).

Is there a way (outside of netsh?) to just reinstall the TCP/IP stack? I
read a Microsoft article that mentioned the routing table may be correct.
Well, that's well and good, but how would I go about fixing the routing
table?

Well, I'm taking some time off to celebrate the New Year. Thanks again to
any and all responders.
Click to expand...

If you had a virus, cleaned it up, and now have a problem with DHCP, or
connectivity problems, then LSP / Winsock / TCP/IP corruption is most likely.
Did you run each of the suggested tools? None of the tools is known to be self
sufficient - each tool is necessary in some cases reported here. Go through the
list, one at a time.

It's vaguely possible that your routing table is borked. Try posting that here,
for each computer.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/11/static-route-table.html
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/11/static-route-table.html

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP 2005-2007 [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.
Click to expand...
 
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