Must Always "Repair Connection" to Stay Online

[JDSSC]

Good Day All:

Running Windows XP Pro SP2 Intel 3.4G 2 Gigs of RAM
Netgear NETGEAR FA311 Fast Ethernet Adapter with most recent Driver
Surfboard SB3100 Cable Modem Direct to Ethernet Adapter

Connected my laptop, no problems. Ruled out the Modem, the network card, net card Driver, all is working fine. XP System restore useless as always. DHCP lease begins at every "Repair Connection" length 24 hours. Ruled out Virus software & ad/malware. Ruled out ISP.

Everything was working fine up until the moment I did a "Compress Old Files" in the System Tools/Disk Cleanup.

My connection stays alive about 15 to 30 seconds, then I have to do a Repair Connection. That gets me another 15 seconds of internet before I have to Repair Connection again.

My Cable service always had been dynamic IP, however now, my IP address isn't changing for anything. The IP will change, however when I connect my laptop, and I have full internet with no problems. I connect my modem back to my desktop I get the same IP as before, and the same need to Repair Connection every few seconds.

Is someone willing offer any ideas I could work before I do a new install?

Thank you for your help.
JD

 

[Admiral Michael]

Well the same IP is because your MAC address has a lease for that IP. WHen you connect your laptop it's a different MAC address and you get a different IP.

Have you tried reinstalling the drivers to your network card?

 

[Mainframeguy]

Hmmmmm just from my recent experience - wondering to myself if a system restore will undo your compress old files or not? If you have that option enabled and want to fix this enough you could give it a shot and then come back to the files compression anyway....

I would not normally go down this road - but I had a problem with a wifi driver and this resolved it for me so it was in my mind anyway.

 

[JDSSC]

Thank you for your replies.

Yes, reinstalling/updating the network card was the first thing I did. Upon attempting an XP system restore, I was greeted with a message similar to: "Cannot Restore", even though I had system restore active for the past 6 months.

 

[kcnychief]

I would recommend doing a WinsockXPfix. That should cure your PC of any software-related issues pertaining to network connectivity. What you may also want to do is perform a reset on your modem. Follow these steps, in order:

Download WinsockXPfix to your desktop (or other easy to remember location).
Reset Modem - this is done by turning modem off entirely for about 45-60 seconds.
Run WinsockXPfix while modem is resetting, when it's complete, reboot PC.
Turn modem back on - see what happens related to your IP and functionality.

 

[JDSSC]

I would recommend doing a WinsockXPfix. That should cure your PC of any software-related issues pertaining to network connectivity. What you may also want to do is perform a reset on your modem. Follow these steps, in order:

Download WinsockXPfix to your desktop (or other easy to remember location).
Reset Modem - this is done by turning modem off entirely for about 45-60 seconds.
Run WinsockXPfix while modem is resetting, when it's complete, reboot PC.
Turn modem back on - see what happens related to your IP and functionality.

I don't know what or how it happened, but that did the trick!! I think turning off the modem while the program did the repairs was the key. Thank you very much! I'm back in business.

 

[kcnychief]

Turning off the modem and running WinsockXPfix are two VERY different approaches. It could have been done with the modem on and had the same affect. However, I figured I would have you do both just to save you the time/hassle.

Glad it worked out

 

[j79zlr]

If repairing the winsock fixed your problem, I would be suspicious of some form of malware, adware, etc. I would do full virus and spyware scans.