I'm hoping someone can help me out. I volunteered to help my neighbor fix their computer. They told me that they "couldn't get online and thought they had a virus". I can fix most computers pretty easily so I told them I'd fix it no problem. I should note that it is a Compaq box running Windows ME (I know, ME sucks but its BIOS is not upgradable to XP/2000).
I installed AVG and did a virus scan. Sure enough, I found a virus called "dialer". I was able to remove it and then disabled system restore and removed the virus from the restore partition. I noticed they had Kazaa and some other junk on there so I ran some common utilities, Ad-Aware, Spybot, and Trojan Hunter. After getting things cleaned up a little, I plugged the ethernet cable in and to my surprise was not able to connect to the internet.
I installed new drivers for the Ethernet card and it still didn't work. I am going through a router at home, so I tried plugging in the ethernet directly from the cable modem. The lights on the Ethernet card came on, but still not internet access. After several hours of fiddling with lots of things, I wondered if maybe the computer had just been hosed be the neighbors somehow. I decided to back up the existing hard drive and use their system restore disc to start with a clean slate. So, I wipe the compaq machine clean with the restore and expect to be able to connect pronto. Again, once I plug in the ethernet, I still can connect via a browser. So, I decide to take extreme measures and take the amputation approach: I removed the network card and replaced it with a brand new one. I installed the new drivers and attempt to connect and STILL, no go. So, at this point I have a clean install of the machine, with a brand new NIC. Does anyone here have any ideas of what I should try next?
FYI, the problem most definitely does NOT reside on my network. I am constantly plugging other computers and new machines into my network and can connect immediately. Granted, i've tried to forget everything I know about Windows ME, so I am short of idea. Help is appreciated!
I installed AVG and did a virus scan. Sure enough, I found a virus called "dialer". I was able to remove it and then disabled system restore and removed the virus from the restore partition. I noticed they had Kazaa and some other junk on there so I ran some common utilities, Ad-Aware, Spybot, and Trojan Hunter. After getting things cleaned up a little, I plugged the ethernet cable in and to my surprise was not able to connect to the internet.
I installed new drivers for the Ethernet card and it still didn't work. I am going through a router at home, so I tried plugging in the ethernet directly from the cable modem. The lights on the Ethernet card came on, but still not internet access. After several hours of fiddling with lots of things, I wondered if maybe the computer had just been hosed be the neighbors somehow. I decided to back up the existing hard drive and use their system restore disc to start with a clean slate. So, I wipe the compaq machine clean with the restore and expect to be able to connect pronto. Again, once I plug in the ethernet, I still can connect via a browser. So, I decide to take extreme measures and take the amputation approach: I removed the network card and replaced it with a brand new one. I installed the new drivers and attempt to connect and STILL, no go. So, at this point I have a clean install of the machine, with a brand new NIC. Does anyone here have any ideas of what I should try next?
FYI, the problem most definitely does NOT reside on my network. I am constantly plugging other computers and new machines into my network and can connect immediately. Granted, i've tried to forget everything I know about Windows ME, so I am short of idea. Help is appreciated!
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