Vista is...

[Ashmore]

....driving me nuts. It can't get me onto the internet even though it used to and nothing's changed!? I spent 7 hours trying to figure it out last night, fiddling about with IP addresses, registry edits, you name it and got..... nowhere. Crap. :eyebrows:

I know this is the wrong forum, but some of you guys know your stuff - so if anyone's got any bright ideas I'm all ears (and would be grateful for any advice).

[slate]

Any difference if it is connected by cable/wireless?
Have you restarted you router?

Does other PCs/gadgets work? ... Can your Touch see your server? and stream radio?

Maybe some details about your setup...

[Ashmore]

Thanks Jim. All other machines work fine (xp, vortex, touch, android etc). Done all the rebooting. Tried LAN and wireless. LAN says unidentified network. Fiddled with manually entering ip in ivp4 and switching off ivp6 and can get onto homehub network now Via wireless but mostly no internet - it comes on randomly (is that even possible?) but is mostly off. I've switched off Windows firewall, did some registry edit thingy (didn't work). Prior to setting ivp4 manually I was getting 'identifying network' message and no customize button...

[Mark Grant]

Have you checked if the hosts file is OK ?

Some malware/viruses on websites full of dodgy adverts will change the hosts file or it could just have been corrupted so is worth checking what it contains.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/972034

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/78266-hosts-file-use-windows-7-vista.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-N9cryU_fQ

[Ashmore]

Thanks mark - i'll have a go when I can face booting (up!) the machine later...

[Rare Bird]

Hope you get it sorted Simon, i never did, had some of the same issues, i wouldnt entertain Vista anyway & had XP installed in it's place.

[Alex_UK]

Assuming you have it switched on, have you tried restoring to a previous back up point where you knew it was working ok?

[Ashmore]

Thanks guys, no joy. I'm back to Vista trying to identify the network even though it's connected the the homehub. I can't figure it.

[Stratmangler]

Click Start/Control Panel/Internet Options.
Click on the tab marked "connections".
What does it say in that screen?

[Ashmore]

Hi Chris.

Thanks for trying to help. Do you mean in the box under dial-up and vpn? It doesn't say anything there. When I click the setup button it shows me that I am connected to the homehub already and doesn't allow any options other than to disconnect.

In network and sharing it starts by saying it is identifying for an age then it changes to 'unidentified network'. All the while it is connected to the homehub.

Currently I have LAN switched off. I've reinstalled the wireless driver. I've disabled ivp6:smoking: and set the ip and subnet and dns manually. the default gateway and dns are the ip for the router Just as they are for my xp machine which works flawlessly.

sometimes computers make me want to cry.

[WOStantonCS100]

That really sounds like a virus/malware/spyware...........

Just today, I had to once again deal with a Rootkit.ZeroAccess infected machine. It messes with ipsec, tcp/ip stack and is a real pain. If it's just one machine acting strange and your Device Manager is saying everything is good, I'd check into that. Also, if you have a "live OS" CD, Ubuntu for example, and you can boot off it (trial mode) and surf without issue, I would again lay odds on that particular machine being compromised. It's hard to tell not being there, though.

[Stratmangler]

Do you mean in the box under dial-up and vpn? It doesn't say anything there.

That's the kiddie.
You shouldn't have anything in there, so that's normal.

It does sound as though you've possibly picked up a malware infection :(

[The Grand Wazoo]

I've had malware a couple of times - you should download & run McAfee Stinger (http://www.mcafee.com/us/downloads/free-tools/index.aspx).

It's free & designed to be used just for the purpose of finding & getting rid of this shite. I don't normally use McAfee products, but for this purpose it's helped me & friends & family out of a hole a few times. It's for one-off use & works a treat.

Cheers

[Mark Grant]

Something else free to try is spy bot search and destroy
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

and malware bytes free version:
http://www.malwarebytes.org/

download them on a working PC to a memory stick and if you cant get them to run because of a clever virus on the damaged PC , rename the executable/installer to some random name that the virus wont recognise.:eyebrows:

[Ashmore]

Thank you all. I'm really very grateful for your support. I'll investigate the malware protection though a scan on my virus software has revealed nothing and reading the various forums it looks like vista has a reputation for being shite at networking (as Andre will atest, by the sound of it).

I did a winsock reset (whatever that is) and currently have access, but that's no guaruntee it'll continue to work - and it still doesn't know what my network is, so I can only see my music server as some sort of media player, rather than a computer that I can add files to.

One day computers will just work won't they...?

[The Grand Wazoo]

My anti virus software didn't spot my malware attacks either. Stinger smunched 'em though, good & proper!

[Alex_UK]

Professionally, I use the McAfee Stinger and would endorse Chris's recommendation - and it will often pick up infections that are missed by regular anti-virus software, so worth a go.

[Ashmore]

Did stinger. No malware.

I've had tantalising glimpses of a working machine by uninstalling network devices and resetting the winsock. Windows finds the stuff again and he presto.... but then I reboot and I'm back to square one. I regard this as an example of Vista's extraordinary cruelty.

If I bought windows 7 upgrade do you think the problem go away?

[The Grand Wazoo]

Simon,
Before you go spending money, please try Stinger - there really is nothing to lose from this.

[WOStantonCS100]

Did stinger. No malware.

I've had tantalising glimpses of a working machine by uninstalling network devices and resetting the winsock. Windows finds the stuff again and he presto.... but then I reboot and I'm back to square one. I regard this as an example of Vista's extraordinary cruelty.

If I bought windows 7 upgrade do you think the problem go away?

Not necessarily Vista cruelty, though I have NO love for Vista. But, the nature of a "stealth" virus and/or rootkit is to not go away. It will regenerate/propagate and hide itself in places where it can come back again and again (ie. system restore files). If this is the type of infection you have, this would still be the case with Windows 7. Switching OS would wipe it out only so much as you would have most likely repartitioned and/or reformatted the hard drive and thus blown everything away. Stingers and other such programs that specifically look for infections that hide from most anti-virus and spyware programs (if not disable them altogether) are what you need. That's good advice given. Just be careful of rogue "anti-virus" programs and registry fixers/boosters that are actually viruses. There are many of them out there.

To be honest, at our shop, we have a 16 to 17 step process for obliterating such threats. Perhaps it's a little overkill; but, it's absolutely necessary since we guarantee our work. Only if the OS is totally fubar do we ever resort to a full system wipe with or without data recovery; it does happen. I have not seen a Windows operating system yet (including Win7 32 & 64) that is inpenetrable.

[goraman]

Some viruses will become part of your browser restore and will flood your computer with spy bots in the DAT files every time you launch your browser it will multiply the problem and with out removing the whole browser it will relaunch it's self.
Opera is very susceptible to this kind of virus,your security may find it but can't remove it.
Most of these come with love from Russia.

[MartinT]

If Stinger doesn't find anything, try the AVG Rescue download, which is also very good. You will need to burn the CD or USB image on another machine, then boot into it on the suspect machine.

http://www.avg.com/gb-en/download.prd-arl

Vista is, to be honest, a dog of an OS but you should be able to get it working. If you really want to move to Windows 7, your machine will undoubtedly run better but don't even think about upgrading as you will preserve all the mess. Wipe all partitions and fresh install is the only way.

[goraman]

Try removing all your browsers then loading a disk with a browser from another pc. after you have cleared all the old browsers,clear all your cookies with CC cleaner then install the fresh browser from a disk or flash drive. Bet it works.
Get rid of Vista man,Martin said it best,pile o dog doo.

[Smoker]

what internet security software is being used? Ive already had 2 pc's that I was asked to fix because of connection issues, both times the firewall was messed up. put simply neither person never changed a thing (both were running vista) only to find slow page loading times resulting in the no connection message. its not your own doing when theres an update eg mcafee which once installed, reboots then fails to apply the changes correctly.

offline I unintalled the security software and ran the removal tools to clean up the dregs. installed microsoft security essentials and malware bytes free then hooked back up to the router and all was good in the world again.

+1000 vista is one sick puppy

[Ashmore]

Thanks all. This may seem naive but I don't think it's an infection. Stinger didn't find anything and I gather from other forum posts that Vista sometimes does this. Nevertheless I will try avg.

Next steps is security - removing netprotect (mcafree) and looking at wpa2.

[Ashmore]

Chaps, I do realise that this thread is utterly tedious (of my doing), but just to conclude things.... I have resolved the issue, well two issues in fact. Issue 1: Vista on my machine can't handle WAP2, and Issue 2: my router was schizophrenic (and has been replaced).

Also Orient are winning against Charlton, so all in all a good day (so far).

Thanks once more to all those who offered assistance.

Simon

[MartinT]

Nice one, Simon. Glad it's sorted.