Issue with my moms PC

[CDN_Merlin]

So my mom's pc was having issues. So she thought. My sister brought it up. I plugged it in and powered it on. I had the network cable plugged into the NIC. When i finally booted up, it would show the 1384 network connect and the LAN one not. There was no traffic on the 1384 and the RJ45 was marked as disconnected. It's a Compaq Presario XP Multimedia edition.

I've tried everything I could think of. I've made sure the NIC was enabled in the BIOS, in Windows and made sure no firewalls were stopping it etc.

I'm kinda stumped as to why it's not working. Funny thing was it was working yesterday at my moms. She lives 2 hours away so it's not easy to visit.

Any ideas why it shows disconnected and yet the same cable works on my PC?

[Krom]

Does it say "Disconnected" or does it say "Cable unplugged"? If the PC works fine at your place on the same cable then it is probably whatever device is at the other end of the cable (router/switch/modem/etc) that is having a problem.

Do you both use the same ISP, or at least the same type of ISP (cable/DSL/satellite?). If its DSL, do either of your ISPs use PPPoE?

[CDN_Merlin]

What I did is use my RJ45 that works on my PC and connected to hers. When I'm in her PC, it says Cable unplugged. But the Firewire says it's connected but shows no data being sent or received.

I believe she's using cable just like me. I checked to make sure all settings were correct for DHCP etc and they are. I can surf using my PC but when I connect it to hers, no go. It's a weird one.

[Krom]

"Cable unplugged" generally spells a mechanical connection failure and doesn't leave a lot of alternative causes... No bent pins in the LAN port? Cable clicked all the way in without any significant resistance? No sharp bends/damage on the cable that might cause intermittent disconnects?

The Firewire is irrelevant, they always say "connected" even if nothing is plugged in to them.

[Thenior]

Pretty easy just to grab a PCI NIC and test it that way...

[CDN_Merlin]

It's not the cable since it's what I'm using now on my PC to surf. It clicks fine in her RJ45 plug. My mom was surfing when it was at her place. My sister brought it up and I could never get it to go. All else fails I will send it back tomorrow and if it doesn't work, then she has my sisters PC to use until I can "restore" to factory defaults and try again.

[Krom]

In the network adapter settings, are the speed and duplex set to auto-negotiate?

[CDN_Merlin]

I'd try another NIC but sadly don't have any. The NIC is onboard and everything is set to auto.

[BUBBALOU]

General rule in desktop migration, plug in cable check for 'mr blinky blink' if not its lighting off it's hardware related with the machine or cable/cross connect
(You've already identified it's not the cable per-say)

If the NIC is lighting off --- Then for SG&G.Plug-in the client NIC and power cycle the router or use reboot from the routers admin page if available(not reset)


Also check MAC address restrictions in the router


When the cable is plugged in regardless and is receiving any sort of power signal the connection light on the client NIC should be lit


Last issue could be a tcp/ip stack malware 'google sg tcp optimizer' works for tcp/ip stack & winsock fix and tweeks too

Ro just run adn elevated cmd prompt

"netsh int ip reset"
"netsh winsock reset"


[edited my lazy iPhone post]

[CDN_Merlin]

General rule in desktop migration, plug in cable check for 'mr blinky blink' if not its lighting off it's hardware related with the machine or cable/cross connect
(You've already identified it's not the cable per-say)

If the NIC is lighting off --- Then for SG&G.Plug-in the client NIC and power cycle the router or use reboot from the routers admin page if available(not reset)


Also check MAC address restrictions in the router


When the cable is plugged in regardless and is receiving any sort of power signal the connection light on the client NIC should be lit


Last issue could be a tcp/ip stack malware 'google sg tcp optimizer' works for tcp/ip stack & winsock fix and tweeks too

Ro just run adn elevated cmd prompt

"netsh int ip reset"
"netsh winsock reset"


[edited my lazy iPhone post]

Tried everything but the TCP malware. The NIC doesn't have a blinky on it.