Re: Can't connect to Internet and e-mail.

PVR wrote:
Lem, many thanks for your answer and further suggestions. Because the other two PCs have access to the 'Net and e-mail I concluded that the modem/wireless router were working OK. The problem has to be with the XP PC which cannot access the 'Net and e-mail.

"What actually happens when you attempt to connect to the internet?" Answer. The Start bar Wireless icon has a small yellow dot moving back and forth and I do not obtain access to the 'Net. I receive a message "No connection to the Internet is currently available." When I access the list of available wireless networks I find that the default is "Acquiring network address" but this never succeeds.

"What was the wrong choice you made?" Answer. I did choose (in error) to have Windows install a driver from Windows Update. As far as I can tell this is when things went wrong. I did try the Windows "roll back driver" feature but this did not correct the problem.

"What drivers were you told to install?" Answer. Here I list a series of suggestions obtained from another forum.

Things to try:

1. Delete the current wireless network on the problem computer. Create it
again and test. Result, Done with no improvement.

2. If that didn't work, check the settings on the wireless network adapter
to make sure it is set to get an IP address/DNS automatically and that
there is no Alternate setting. Result, IP address is set to automatic.

3. Also check the security on the problem computer. What antivirus/security
software do you have? I've seen cases where McAfee security handled access
to the outside world separately for wired and wireless connections. Perhaps
an update to this software messed things up. Result, I temporarily removed
security software. No improvement.

4. What happens when you connect to the router with an Ethernet cable?
Result, no change.

5. Perhaps you updated the wireless network adapter drivers, either on
purpose or by mistakenly accepting this from Windows Update. Try installing
the latest drivers for this adapter. Get them from the OEM's website if you
have that sort of computer (Dell, HP, etc.) or from the wireless network
adapter's mftr. if you installed it yourself. What is the wireless network
adapter hardware? Result, Have not yet tried to update the driver(s). The
wireless adapter was built-in to the HP Pavilion laptop as bought.>>

As indicated I checked all of these without success.

Also, would a System Restore help here? I haven't done this as yet.

I hope this was not too long.

Peter.





"Lem" <lemp40@unknownhost> wrote in message news:e5NZ1RX1JHA.5728@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
PVR wrote:
I have three PCs on a home wireless network, 2 XPs and a Vista. One of the XPs cannot access the 'Net or e-mail. No problem with the other two PCs.

This problem developed very recently during a Windows update. It is likely I made the wrong selection during the update. I have been advised to obtain the current driver(s) from HP.

How do I do this if connection to the 'Net is not possible on the HP machine? Is it possible to download the driver(s) to an external drive using another PC and then install the new driver(s) from this drive?

Many thanks.

Peter.
The answer to your asked question is yes. Download the driver and copy it to a USB "thumb" drive.

But unless you are very confident of the advice you have already received, you might do well to post back here with some additional information. For example,

- what actually happens when you attempt to connect to the Internet? Do you get any error message?
- what was the "wrong choice" you made?
- if the wrong choice was to install a driver from Windows Update, have you tried the "roll back driver" button (never install drivers from Windows Update)?
- what drivers were you told to install?

--
Lem -- MS-MVP

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm



The most troubling item in your list is #4. If you can't connect through an Ethernet connection then whether or not you installed a bad driver for your wireless adapter is irrelevant (that may be an *additional* problem).

The "acquiring network address" message usually appears on *wireless* connections if there is a security mismatch between the router and the computer. The first step in diagnosing this is to (temporarily) disable all security on the router's wireless configuration page (i.e., no encryption, no MAC filter, no other "security" configuration).

However, wireless security has no effect whatsoever on the ability to connect to the router with an Ethernet cable. If that also doesn't work for you (any error message?), then you have a deeper problem

You need to do some methodical diagnostic work. The two sites below offer help on how to do that. Chuck's site is more hands-on. Hans-Georg Michna's site should pinpoint the problem(s) if you answer the questions accurately.

http://networking.nitecruzr.net/2005/05/troubleshooting-internet-service.html
http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm



--
Lem -- MS-MVP

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm
.