really odd problem

[dyn2nvu]

I have a windows xp sp2 intel p4 computer. The odd thing was that I noticed a few days ago that the lan connection didn't show up in the network connections folder. I never really paid attention until I went to look at the folder because it seemed that the internet connection has slowed down. Even though the lan doesn't show, the computer still has an active connection to the internet. So I thought it was a virus or malware, so I scanned my computer with nod32 and kaspersky, saw a few viruses (it's a shared computer), but nothing really major. I deleted/cleaned those files, reinstalled the drivers for the nic (it's intel's on-board nic) and still doesn't show. The last t thing I remember doing was tweaking the file sysoc.inf, but i changed it back to the original text, so that couldn't have been it.

The really odd thing though is that I got another hard drive (both rarely on at the same time) on the same computer with different xp install (just for games) on the same computer and the lan connection shows up on the second hard drive. So it can't be the hardware.

Yes, I searched the mother hen (google) for anything resembling my problem, but found nothing. Maybe I'm not searching with the right words?

 

[Lemon law]

To take somewhat a shot in the dark, you might try the following steps (1) Totally break your existing lan connection---which you might do by resetting up the network. (2) In the set up process, make sure you share something over the network---it could be shared files---or just a shared printer---but make sure something is shared. Also make sure the show lan connection box on the taskbar is checked.

If something is not shared, windows quits displaying items in the network neighborhood after a some time and a given number of reboots elapses.

And like I say, its a shot in the dark and only a possible explanation. And your problem may have a different cause.

 

[dyn2nvu]

Thanks I'll try that.
I've been looking on google for no "icons showing up in network" and 95% of the time I'm lead to the same 825826 page, but still no luck.

MS support link

One thing I did find though was this site link and led me to the "Network Setup Wizard" which is different from the "New connection Wizard."

This Network connection wizard says it can't complete because it can't find my network hardware. Odd, when I look in the device manger, my network adapter is there and reported by windows to be working fine. My 1394 connection doesn't show in the Network Connections either, but that works fine too.