DHCP screwed (after ZA upgrade?)

[Digdis]

Hi folks,
Got this very weird problem I hope you can help me with:

Got a PC (running WinXP SP2) connected to an Alcatel ADSL router. I Also use the ZoneAlarm Firewall. The other day I upgraded ZA's version (something I do all the time), and suddenly my PC wouldn't receive an IP address from the modem (via DHCP) any more. The network connection icon showed the limited connection sign (telling me there was a problem renewing my IP address). This repeated also after shutting down ZA, and even after uninstalling it!
I can tell this is not the modem's problem, as besides the timing of the problem, I connected a laptop to the modem, and it got the IP address ok and connected to the internet.
The weirdest thing happened when I tried setting up a fixed address to this port: The modem responded to my ping, but I still couldn't see the modem's HTML home page in my browser, and still couldn't connect to the internet as well. Furthermore, the ping command to the modem (done in the command prompt) showed "pinging _o ..." (or some other gibberish) instead of "pinging <ip-address>".

I checked all the details in the Local Area Network properties dialog, and everything seemed in order. Does anyone here have any idea WTF is going on there? What else should I check?

D.

 

[American Zombie]

Have you tried rebooting the router?

 

[Digdis]

Yes - a couple of times.
D.

 

[hansrijf]

wireless or cabled network?

 

[Digdis]

wireless or cabled network?

Sorry forgot to mention: The ADSL router is connected to the Ethernet port in the PC. All the problems I mentioned were on the Ethernet connection ("Local Area Network").

 

[hansrijf]

ZoneAlarm in not in "stop all internet activity" mode?

Oh, just read it happened after uninstalling too. Maybe reinstall and check anyway?

 

[Digdis]

ZoneAlarm in not in "stop all internet activity" mode?

Oh, just read it happened after uninstalling too. Maybe reinstall and check anyway?

Yeah did that too...

 

[hansrijf]

Did you check if all necessary services are still running?

 

[Digdis]

Did you check if all necessary services are still running?

Well the DHCP service was running (also restarted it). What other services are relevant here?

 

[kcnychief]

Well from all your troubleshooting it limits to a software problem on the PC. I would try to do what is called a "repair" on the connection. This can be performed by clicking Start - > Control Panel - > Network Connections. Once in that area, right-click on your Ethernet Connection, and then select "Repair". This resets a whole bunch of settings related to your connection, and may do the trick.

Also, are you getting an IP at all? Do a ipconfig /all and post a screenie please

 

[Digdis]

Well from all your troubleshooting it limits to a software problem on the PC. I would try to do what is called a "repair" on the connection. This can be performed by clicking Start - > Control Panel - > Network Connections. Once in that area, right-click on your Ethernet Connection, and then select "Repair". This resets a whole bunch of settings related to your connection, and may do the trick.

Also, are you getting an IP at all? Do a ipconfig /all and post a screenie please

Also tried "repairing". In fact the repairing fails with the message it can't renew the IP address. I'm not in front of my PC right now, so I can't post the ipconfig screenie - will do when I get back home.

In the meantime I also browsed the ZA forum, and it seemed that their newest version (6.1.737) had caused many problems to many other users (some of the problems resemble mine). They advised a clean uninstall (including some dll deleting in safe mode ). I'll try this and post. In the meantime I can only advise you not to upgrade to the latest ZA version.
D.

 

[kcnychief]

If you are hot and heavy for a clean uninstall, run regcleaner to get out all crap left behind deleted. I love this tool, works awesome!

 

[Digdis]

Just posting my ipconfig output:
Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : *****
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 3Com EtherLink XL 10/100 PCI TX NIC
(3C905B-TX)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : *******
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.249.90
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

Uninstalling ZA the way they recommended didn't work. Getting desparate here.
D.

 

[kcnychief]

169.x.x.x is an APIPA address, which pretty much indicates that the hardware/software is fine, just can't contact the DHCP server which you already knew

Try running WinsockXPFix

 

[Digdis]

169.x.x.x is an APIPA address, which pretty much indicates that the hardware/software is fine, just can't contact the DHCP server which you already knew

Try running WinsockXPFix

Thanks - I'll try it and report.
D.

 

[Digdis]

169.x.x.x is an APIPA address, which pretty much indicates Try running WinsockXPFix

KCNYCHIEF YOU ARE THE MAN! :rambo:

This indeed was the problem. The funny thing about it was that right before I tried it, my AntiVirus app tried an update and failed with the message it couldn't open the socket...

Cheers to this great community as well.
D.

 

[kcnychief]

Cool man, glad you got it worked out