network cable unplugged, sigh

michellekanice · 10-10-2008, 04:43 AM

I'm looking for advice on what could be causing the problem I'm having. I'll try to include as much info as possible.

Several months ago my computer mysteriously stopped being able to connect to the internet. I tried a few different things and the advice of some friends, but I couldn't make it work. I didn't think about the possibility of it being a hardware problem, so I just wiped my hard drive and started anew, thinking that would surely fix whatever it was. Well, it didn't and so the comp sat for like 5 months. Finally my brother put a new NIC card in in a new port. Hallelujah, we have internet!

It lasted for about 2 weeks. My comp was working beautifully one day. I turned it off and unplugged it from the wall because beautiful Hurricane Ike was barreling down on us. Two weeks later when we got power back I plugged everything back in, and I get "network cable unplugged." Aaauuughhh!!!

If the card has somehow gotten fried in that little amount of time it was used, what could have caused that? Something shorting out? What?

I have not been able to replace the card to see if it is a physical hardware problem again. I have tried everything I can think of to make sure it's not anything else (but I'm open to any more suggestions on what to try!!!!). I have done the following:

*the usual enable/disable
*uninstalled the driver and let windows find it as new hardware
*made sure it is not the cable or the port on the modem by switching around with other computers
*tried an automated WINSOCK fix
*Reset WINSOCK entries to installation defaults: netsh winsock reset catalog
*Reset TCP/IP stack to installation defaults. netsh int ip reset reset.log
*checked for "Trojan Horse Dialler 17.E" by pinging google
*cleared the Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power check box
*tried all possible values for the Media Type property on the network adapter

Any ideas for me? Anything else to try without replacing the network adapter again? If I do replace it again and it breaks straight away again, what might be causing that???

Thank you guys so much! This site is so awesome! :0)

**johnwill** · 10-10-2008, 12:14 PM

If the cable and the port on the router or switch is known good, I think you're down to another bad NIC. I would expect that perhaps power grounding issues could be taking the NIC's out...

michellekanice · 10-10-2008, 06:33 PM

Thanks johnwill!

Is there a chance it could be the power supply going bad? Someone suggested that to me.

10-10-2008, 04:43 AM	#1 (permalink)
michellekanice Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 2 OS: XP sp2	network cable unplugged, sigh I'm looking for advice on what could be causing the problem I'm having. I'll try to include as much info as possible. Several months ago my computer mysteriously stopped being able to connect to the internet. I tried a few different things and the advice of some friends, but I couldn't make it work. I didn't think about the possibility of it being a hardware problem, so I just wiped my hard drive and started anew, thinking that would surely fix whatever it was. Well, it didn't and so the comp sat for like 5 months. Finally my brother put a new NIC card in in a new port. Hallelujah, we have internet! It lasted for about 2 weeks. My comp was working beautifully one day. I turned it off and unplugged it from the wall because beautiful Hurricane Ike was barreling down on us. Two weeks later when we got power back I plugged everything back in, and I get "network cable unplugged." Aaauuughhh!!! If the card has somehow gotten fried in that little amount of time it was used, what could have caused that? Something shorting out? What? I have not been able to replace the card to see if it is a physical hardware problem again. I have tried everything I can think of to make sure it's not anything else (but I'm open to any more suggestions on what to try!!!!). I have done the following: the usual enable/disable uninstalled the driver and let windows find it as new hardware made sure it is not the cable or the port on the modem by switching around with other computers tried an automated WINSOCK fix Reset WINSOCK entries to installation defaults: netsh winsock reset catalog Reset TCP/IP stack to installation defaults. netsh int ip reset reset.log checked for "Trojan Horse Dialler 17.E" by pinging google cleared the Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power check box *tried all possible values for the Media Type property on the network adapter Any ideas for me? Anything else to try without replacing the network adapter again? If I do replace it again and it breaks straight away again, what might be causing that??? Thank you guys so much! This site is so awesome! :0)

10-10-2008, 12:14 PM	#2 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 41,720 OS: Windows 7, XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	Re: network cable unplugged, sigh If the cable and the port on the router or switch is known good, I think you're down to another bad NIC. I would expect that perhaps power grounding issues could be taking the NIC's out... __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

10-10-2008, 06:33 PM	#3 (permalink)
michellekanice Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 2 OS: XP sp2	Re: network cable unplugged, sigh Thanks johnwill! Is there a chance it could be the power supply going bad? Someone suggested that to me.