HELP with WinXP Pro Home network

[Condor Beedee]

I'm running a home network off WinXP pro on my home computer and my laptop. My home computer connects to the internet through DirectTV DSL with two NIC cards, one for the DSL and one for the home network. I also have a Sound Blaster Audigy 1394 network installed, although it is never used. The network was configured using the Network Wizard initially without a glitch (included a network bridge to include both the LAN NIC and the 1394).

Recently I went to synch files from my laptop and it couldn't access the network. I tried rerunning the wizard and it persistently fails. Something about not being able to release the IP address or obtain a new one.

If I try to repair the connection, I get the same error. How can I flush all this out and start with a new network settings? I even reinstalled WinXP to repair it, and it still functions in the same manner. Please help! I'm going nuts over this stupid thing!

Thanks!
Condor Beedee

 

[cipher00]

Hmmm. Sounds a bit like a release/renew problem. Perhaps if you look here it might help you sort out your problem.

 

[3141592653]

you reinstalled winxp on the computer with the 2 nics right? not your laptop?

 

[JackMDS]

If you want to make sure that the installation is right, install it manualy.

Leave the wizard alone, there is no Magic in it.

The following link contains info about WinXP home installation.

Windows XP Home Networking Guide

 

[Condor Beedee]

Well, I tried the advice listed (both the netsh refresh and configuring manually), and unfortunately it still does not work properly. I ended up making such a mess of things that none of my connections in the "Network Connections" area would even show. Ended up reinstalling WinXP (again!). Anyhow, now I can at least see all of my network connections, however when I try to start the built-in firewall, I get a pop-up box which says:

An error occurred...
A dependancy service or group failed to start.

Well, when I looked up the dependencies for Internet Firewall, it listed for different dependancies. Two were running, and when I tried to run the other two (through computer management in the Control panel) it said access denied. I tried it on my usual account (which is an administrator account), and on the system default admin account. No luck. Any idea what is going on wrong now? This problem is driving me crazy! I want to get my ICS and firewall back on line.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Sincerely,

Condor Beedee

 

[Condor Beedee]

Well, I found out the answer through Microsoft's tech web site. Apparently if you install SP1 and then restore to a point prior to the SP1 it locks out your network. If curious, check out the knowledge base article #Q329441.