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Network Connections -not

S

Sumotku

Member


I'm usually fairly adept at this stuff but need help with this one. No internet on one of three computers. The other two are online and working normally. The computer in question shows two Network Connection icons in the control panel. Has no operable connection to the internet. It's IP address has changed to 169... ... ... from the typical 198... ... ... I seem to recall this being indicative of something nefarious, can't recall what though! Both NC's show the same abberant IP address, i.e. not mine. Running Norton and will run Spybot and hijack this next. Data was 99% backed up and I'm hoping for the best. Please advise
 
the 169.. ip address means that computer failed to get an ip from the ISP/router whatever not something nefarious. Check physical connections, and reboot 0r try repair after jiggling the cables.
 
The 169xxx IP address means that the computer isn't receiving an IP address from your router.

First thing to do is check the cabling. Unplug a "working" PC's Ethernet cable and plug it into the "non-working" PC. Reboot the computer and see what happens. Bad cables and failed single router or switch ports are common. It's also possible the Ethernet card (or built-in interface) has failed. But this is not that common.

There's also the question of why you have two Network Device icons. Normally, you'll see one Ethernet NIC and, maybe, a 1394 (Firewire) device. Or it maybe second network card. Or maybe a WiFi device? You can check which Network device is the one you care about by disconnecting your Ethernet cable. When you do so, you'll see a "Cable has been disconnected" message from that Network interface.

The next step in networking repair is to check the TCP/IP properties of your Ethernet networking interface and make sure that it will accept automatic assignment of IP address and Default Gateway.

If these steps don't fix the problem, then post back. The fixes get a bit more complicated from here....
 
I tried so many things but not a different port until you mentioned it, that was it. Thanks so much. Now about the identical Network Connections icons in the control panel??? I reviewed all the settings for comparison, they are in fact identical, and no, one of them is not a shortcut. If one is disabled, they both show disabled, there is no wireless card installed, but there was a wireless pci card in use at one time (it's an inspiron 8200). This idiosyncracy is a recent development, less than a week old. No new software or hardware installed. hmm....
 
Don't know for sure what would cause the double image. I've seen it happen with old DOS network cards.....

I suggest DELETING the Network card from the Device Manager. That will make ALL of its Network Connection icons go away.
(Actually, I don't recall if you need to delete it from the Device Manager, or from the Network Connections control panel. Or both. Do whatever it takes to make ALL SIGNS of that network card disappear. I'm running in non-Administrator mode on my PC, so I can't test it right now. I'm not allowed to delete devices with my current (self-limited) powers).

When you reboot the PC, it will "find" the network card and automatically re-install it with the right drivers. Hopefully, it will only find one card this time....
 
Uninstalled the Network card in Device Manager and rebooted, found new hardware and reinstalled as you'd expect. Still two control panel entries for Net Con. ??
I've had worse problems. I'm thinking now to let it go and let the next reformat make it right. Thanks for all the help, I truly appreciate it.
 
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