Laptop + DHCP problem

Fellow IT Monkeys..

I have a Dell Laptop with windows XP Home installed, and for some obsecure reason it will not pick up a IP address from any network - even ones i know work!

Run down of whats happened:

User had loads of spyware on the laptop, so ran adaware, spybot etc all worked fine after that. Took it back to the house and plugged it into router. Its a talktalk router and the user said they would speak to talktalk directly to reset it up. No problem i said and left.

All went wrong from there...now i'm not sure what the talktalk people got them to do, but now it wont obtain a IP address from a DHCP server / router. This is either wireless or plugged directly into a router. At first i thought it might be the talktalk router at fault so i took a draytek vigor round to test. Plugged router into laptop - didnt work. Took laptop home to my wireless network still wont get a IP address and now in my office the same thing is happening. Gives it a 169 address.

i have:
disabled / enabled both wireless and network card
ipconfig /release and renew
Set laptop to obtain ip and dns automatically (even if you put a manual one in still dosnt work)
Tried a route print as the dell network assistant said it was a problem with the routing on the machine..how good that is i dont know though

I'm stumped!

Find more posts tagged with

Free for TechExams community: Cybersecurity salary guide

Compare cert salaries and plan your next career move

Button

Comments

sprkymrk

If it's not a harware problem try this from a cmd prompt:

netsh interface ip reset C:\iplog.txt

The last part is a log file, you can direct it anywhere and call it whatever you want (C:\Temp\myfile.txt, etc.) but it is a required parameter.

This is the same as removing and reinstalling TCP/IP.

If it is a routing problem (doubtful) do this:

route delete *

Dannybear

Thanks for that - i have done the command, rebooting laptop now just incase and see what happens. Am i meant to do anything else after typing that command?

shednik

Actually I was told after clearing tcp/ip its recommened you reboot, any way after that you should be good...if not

I'd try removing the device formt he device manager and resinstalling the drivers...if its giving a 169 address from apipa when it should recieve an ip from dhcp it sounds like a device issue to me. try the latest drivers and let us know how that goes for ya!

Megadeth4168

Another thing to try if all else fails is to run Winsockxpfix... Run a Google search for this utility, it's free and has worked for me in the past.

Good Luck!

KGhaleon

Running the WinsockFix has helped me in the past. If that doesn't work, I'd suggest reinstalling the drivers for that device.

I did have one strange occurence when using winsockfix with a customer who brought his company laptop to me(why didn't he take it to his companies IT department? bah). He had practically a dozen domains listed, which he could sign into. When I did the Winsockfix, over half those domains disappeared and it had to be completely reconfigured by his company since it wouldn't allow us to sign in.

KG

theseman

I agree with the WinSockFix utility suggestions. If that doesn't work, like mentioned before, trying uinstalling/reinstalling the network drivers. Though, the fact that both the wireless and wired cards are having an issue is a bit disconcerting.

KGhaleon

Do you have another laptop that you can test? If it's happening on both interfaces then it may just be the network device.

KG

Dannybear

I tried the command as listed above, rebooted but still no joy. I have my own laptop sat next to me which works at my house and on my company LAN.

I'm going to try the others now - thanks guys, really appreciate it

Dannybear

woohoo...Seems to be working, using both the wireless and with a CAT5 cable plugged in.

I removed both cards, downloaded drivers from Dell website and reinstalled, ran the winsockfix utility and it seems to be working

Megadeth4168

Good Deal!

shednik

Sounds Good!