Connection Problems.....aaaaaarrrrrggghhhh!!!!

[MadDad]

Hello all.
Put together a pooter for my daughter to use at college. Was always a little flaky whenever she would go online thru the school's T1 connection with Internet Explorer (it would freeze on her intermittenly, that kinda stuff). Then, it just stopped connecting to the net altogether.
So I brought it back home, and have done all this, without any success:
A)Flashed mb bios
B)Installed latest 4-1 Via drivers
C)Installed latest NIC drivers from 3com
D)Followed knowledge base articles from Microsoft
1)Remove and reinstall Dial Up Networking and TCP/IP files
(Q181599)
2)This Page Cannot Be Displayed
(Q241344)
3)Troubleshoot Basic TCP/IP Problems
(Q169790)
4)Cannot Log On to Network or Gain Access to Network Resources
(Q191291)
E)Moved NIC card to 2 different slots, always uninstalling before move and then reinstalling
F)Did have Zonealarm on here at one time, went to their website and found an article about uninstalling. Checked the registry keys that they mentioned and removed the ones I found that were still referencing Zonealarm
G)Run 3com's diagnostics, card passed. Can ping IP address 227.0.0.1 (or whatever that standard one is) just fine. Can't ping anything outside its own little world.
H)Ran System File Checker. All ok. Ran Rebuild (repair, maybe?) Internet Explorer under File Checker. Got message about it being unable to continue becaues of missing ranph.dll file. Have version 6.0.2600 of IE, ranph seems to be related to IE 5 according to what I could find, so have been ignoring.
I) Can't connect to internet thru any other programs (AIM, Morpheus, etc)
J)I'm pretty confident all the network settings are ok, with proper protocols and bindings and all that jazz.

That's about it. I'm resigned to having to reformat and perform a clean install of everything, but thought I'd try here first.

Anyone have any ideas? Is there anything I need to be doing special with this setup:

Epox 8kta3
AMD Duron 800mhz
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live Value
Creative Labs Modem Blaster PCI
3com 3C905C-TX-M nic
Win 98SE
Jaton 3DForce GeForce 2mx 64meg
Pioneer DVD
Diamond Max Plus 60

Thanks for help!!:disgust:
Hope it is something stupidly simple that I've overlooked, so you all can laugh at me.

 

[JackMDS]

It does not sound good. I would try two things before the ?Reformatting?

1. Check the StartUp could be a TSR loaded that does some blocking (try to disable any startup program that you don?t know what it is doing).

Download the following proggie, and run it. Very easy and flexible startup Control tool, and it is free.

StartUp Standalone EXE Version.

2. Put the original Win98se CD and do an install on top of the current system, it usually refreshes missing files without changing the current installation.

 

[MadDad]

Thanks, Jack!

Ill try both things and see what happens

 

[Tallgeese]

Did AOL (any other ISP's cr@pware) get loaded on this computer? Seriously.

 

[MadDad]

AOL was on here at one time, but it has been gone (at least it was uninstalled) fer awhile.
I did copy the rnaph.dll file from this puter to the "bad" one, but it didnt help, although the Internet Explorer repair tool found no errors after having done so.

 

[spidey07]

Sometimes NICs just go flaky, alot more often than you would think. Try replacing the network card.

 

[Tallgeese]

<< AOL was on here at one time, but it has been gone (at least it was uninstalled) fer awhile. >>

I've seen installations of AOL absolutely FUBAR a machine's TCP/IP stack so bad, it couldn't do anything, and uninstalling AOl did nothing to help:

* No DHCP info recognized/processed
* Trying to configure File & Print Sharing would lock the machine.
* IE simply crashing when opened.

Eventual fix?

* Remove all networking components completely.
* Remove all NICs.
* Remove any INFs referencing the NICS.
* Use a validated source for .CAB files when reinstalling.
* Install any and all available service packs and security patches.


You might check your motherboard's info to verify the PCI slot you installed the NIC in.
Not all slots support bus-mastering, which is mighty important to the NIC you are using.

HTH

 

[MadDad]

Good morning all.
I've pretty much tried all that stuff you suggest, TG.
I can't locate any info on the PCI slots on the MB as far as which ones are or aren't bus mastering.
The nic worked in the slot I originally placed it in, I have tried moving it without any luck, so now its back where it started.
I have a hunch this is all software related. My daughter wasn't real careful about what she downloaded and installed. She had 3 or 4 spyware programs on it, which I have tried to remove, but nothing has helped.
I think I'm staring at a clean reformat and install right square in the headlights.
Any reason why I might change MB's while doing this? I built another pooter shortly after with a ECS K7s5a mb and it has been rock solid. I'd only be out 56 bucks or so, as long as the memory is compatible.
Thanks again.