Can't access internet

[BCNZ]

I'm posting this here because until I can get a better understanding of what's going on, I don't know if it's a networking, hardware, software or OS problem!

Here's the deal:

An HP Pavilion - probably 10 years old. Needs a bit of an upgrade but otherwise works Ok.
The owner has just had ADSL broadband hooked on, and asked me to connect it all up and make it work.
I hooked the modem up and it all locked into place.

The HP is showing that the network connection is connected. It's showing full connectivity (i.e. not limited or no connectivity etc).

The IP of the modem is 192.168.1.254

If I command prompt and ping the modem (192.168.1.254) it times out with 100% loss, yet I can http into the modem and check everything in there, and also change parameters etc.

If I hook my laptop onto the modem, no worries - internet perfect - so the modem is working fine and there's fast internet there.

The HP however just refuses to talk. I have tried using Firefox and IE.

I've checked all the usual network access settings in IE and in Firefox, proxy settings, security settings, firewall settings etc etc.

I have tried pinging external IP addresses and same problem, 100% loss.

I googled this issue earlier, and downloaded a utility that resets Winsock and a few other things - but it had no effect.
I did a command prompt ipconfig /all and everything looked pretty much ok there.

TCP/IP is set to acquire IP and DNS automatically.

When I send a command from the HP, it goes out - the LAN light on the modem flashes to acknowledge it, but nothing comes back.

I downloaded updated NIC drivers, and an update patch, but neither of these cured it.

I'm starting to think the NIC is faulty. But if that was the case, surely I wouldn't be able to see the modem setup page?

Anyone got any bright ideas?

[cwispy]

Sounds like the dns changer virus or a root kit.

[fromaron]

Hi Studio1,
I had a very simillar problem with HP notebook in about 2003 .
It happened after windows updated drivers for the laptop NIC. I couldn't do anything to revoke it after that. Only system restore brought it back to life. I did the restore as I didn't have much time to play around with the system (I needed it for work urgently).
Maybe you can try to completely uninstall the NIC drivers ticking remove it from hard drive (very important) and then let the system to find it again.

[leginau]

hi mate,
I had same problem as fromaron but i went about it a differnt way.
start
control lpanel
programs and features
View installed updates
uninstall recent updates

restart and off you go

regards leginau

[BCNZ]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and input.

It's only an old clunker, but a problem that I haven't really struck before so I need to sort it for my own sanity, in case I come across it again.

I'm going to swap the box out for a known good one (a bit later model) and bring the offending box back to home base where I can work on it at my leisure until I crack the problem.

I'll post back here with my findings.

[baseel]

check the hosts file located in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc

open it with notepad:

it should looks like some thing like this "# Copyright (c) 1993-2009 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

# localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost"

any thing that is extra (numbers) try to delete that line.
or replace it with another hosts file from your computer.
baseel

[bqwpdshgda]

I think virus attack your pc.

[BCNZ]

Thanks everyone but unfortunately I didn't get the opportunity to find out.

The customer went out the next day and bought a brand new Compaq laptop and told me they were selling the HP along with the desk it was on to whoever they could find (and indeed, it was sold a few days later).

Comments and suggestions have been noted however so if I happen to get another case like this I'll be able to refer back to them.