Windows XP TCP Stack Corruption on Dell Preloaded Machines

From: Eric Hill (eric_at_ijack.net)
Date: 09/14/04 

Date: 14 Sep 2004 08:53:44 -0700

I have now seen this same problem on two different Dell machines. It
seems the Windows networking stack is somehow corrupting data as it
flows through the network layers. The symptoms include:

1) Spotty DHCP assignment. Sometimes the machine gets an IP, most of
the time it doesn't.

2) Ping works with a statically assigned IP address to the router and
out to the internet. The name however (pinging xxx with 64 bytes of
data) is garbled with high-word ascii characters.

3) Establishing a TCP socket fails, as well as all DNS-related
queries, i.e. UDP traffic.

I have tried removing and reinstalling network adapter drivers, moving
network cards into different slots, and tried three distinct network
cards. (One onboard 10/100, one NetGear wireless card, and one
Linksys 10/100 PCI card) Both machines were running Windows XP (one
Home, one Pro) with Service Pack 1. I tried installing SP2 on the
Windows XP Home machine. It installed fine, but the problem
persisted.

Since TCP/IP is integral to the OS, I cannot deinstall-reinstall it,
so I'm now at a wall. What can I do next? Level the machine back to
the OEM load? The odd thing is that this problem occurred on two Dell
machines with the OEM preload. Other than that, they have *nothing*
in common. (Different locations/networks/users/purposes etc) Could
this be a problem with the Dell OEM load, or a deeper issue with some
part of the Windows OS network stack?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Eric

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