Well, the topic summary expresses my primary suspicion.
Due to a motherboard that is faulty (the reason I was trying to replace the motherboard and ended up with what seems like a defect--see this thread), I have experienced some issues when this particular motherboard hangs and everything on the tower flashes and goes nuts after resetting (or, rarely, during normal operation). I know that this is from when we moved, that the motherboard overheated due to an unseated heatsink, and that it needs to be replaced. 😛
Unfortunately, it has probably created this new problem. HERE IT IS:
The 'Network Connections,' among other things, was messing up due to random software screw-ups--probably resulting from the mobo hanging and short-circuiting in the middle of Windows. So, I ran a Windows Repair from the CD. Everything was going great--aside from some 'Entry Point not found' error box that I just hit OK on 500 times to make it go away.
Well, all was going well, until we returned to the 'Network Connections' area. Our modem connection had completely vanished! In attempting to make a new one, I saw the 'Using a dial-up modem' and 'Using a VPN' option were grayed out. So, I could not do this.
In paying a visit to the Services, I saw that 'Internet Connection Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICF/ICS)' was not started. I tried to start it manually, and it popped up a box saying that it simply failed to start. Now, knowing that, among other things, a Windows XP SP-1 update changes the name and perhaps the function of this process...could it be related to my trouble? Out of curiosity, is there a way to get SP-1 on the computer while it is offline? I'm open to any suggestions and experience with this issue.
Honestly, I've only come on here to avoid having to do the 'reformat & start over' solution, since this is my parents' comp and not my own and putting everything back the way THEY want it is not even something I really know how to do. (Or perhaps, it's just not something I want to do. 😱)
Due to a motherboard that is faulty (the reason I was trying to replace the motherboard and ended up with what seems like a defect--see this thread), I have experienced some issues when this particular motherboard hangs and everything on the tower flashes and goes nuts after resetting (or, rarely, during normal operation). I know that this is from when we moved, that the motherboard overheated due to an unseated heatsink, and that it needs to be replaced. 😛
Unfortunately, it has probably created this new problem. HERE IT IS:
The 'Network Connections,' among other things, was messing up due to random software screw-ups--probably resulting from the mobo hanging and short-circuiting in the middle of Windows. So, I ran a Windows Repair from the CD. Everything was going great--aside from some 'Entry Point not found' error box that I just hit OK on 500 times to make it go away.
Well, all was going well, until we returned to the 'Network Connections' area. Our modem connection had completely vanished! In attempting to make a new one, I saw the 'Using a dial-up modem' and 'Using a VPN' option were grayed out. So, I could not do this.
In paying a visit to the Services, I saw that 'Internet Connection Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICF/ICS)' was not started. I tried to start it manually, and it popped up a box saying that it simply failed to start. Now, knowing that, among other things, a Windows XP SP-1 update changes the name and perhaps the function of this process...could it be related to my trouble? Out of curiosity, is there a way to get SP-1 on the computer while it is offline? I'm open to any suggestions and experience with this issue.
Honestly, I've only come on here to avoid having to do the 'reformat & start over' solution, since this is my parents' comp and not my own and putting everything back the way THEY want it is not even something I really know how to do. (Or perhaps, it's just not something I want to do. 😱)
