Network Cable Trouble- Viruses may be involved

[palfreyman18]

Hi there

Recently i've been having trouble with my network cable on my computer. I can't seem to connect to the internet and the icon for the network at the bottom right hand corner of the screen says "aquiring IP address". It was working last monday and i haven't been on my own computer since then, just the ones at college.

The reason i think there are viruses involved is that AVG hasn't been able to update because my internet connection isn't working. It reckons AVG has been disabled, but it was working last monday and i could connect to the internet then.

I also scanned with AD-Aware but this found nothing.

Can anyone help me with this dilemma?

Thanks in advance

[yorks2510]

This sounds more like a problem with either your modem or ISP. I had the exact same problem last week with NTL, and after checking the connection on a couple of computers (I have a few, being a geek), I phoned NTL, and they told me that they had updated one of the servers I connect to, but they were waiting for people to actually phone them! Not sure if it's any help, but you can always phone your ISP, and they should tell you whether there has been any work going on.

Just for the record (not sure where you are) - I'm in Middlesbrough, and mine was off from Tuesday until Thursday (as I had been too busy between to phone NTL) - which sounds about the same span as you...

Hope this helps

[pjm007]

I once had a problem similar to yours, ( I am also with NTL ) My IP address changed to a number that wasn't recognised by NTL, therefore not allowing me to access any online services. The advise they gave me was that windows had become corrupt (probably due to a virus). The conclusion was that I had to re-install windows.

[yorks2510]

I think it was because I had the advantage of being able to plug a few computers either into my router or directly into the modem that I convinced them that it was a problem at their end, rather than mine.

palfrey - a question I forgot to ask - can you still ping websites in a command window? As I was able to do this, just nothing "substantial" - ie. web surfing, emailing, etc... which also convinced me that the problem was at NTL's side.

pjm - in windows XP, it used to be quite common with the rise of all the spyware cr*p that if you removed it, you also removed your internet connection, which would be very nasty to reinstate - thus requiring a total reinstall of windows. Luckily, someone has come to the rescue, and provided a little program which will do this with no reinstallation needed. It is called winsockxpfix, and is available here: http://www.spychecker.com/screenshots/winsockxpfix.htm (although available in lots of other locations as well) - and has proven to be a rather smashing tool of last resort (I have the mantle of fixing all relatives, friends, and their friends pc's due to the fact that I know what plugs go where... sigh)..

hope this helps

[pjm007]

Thanks for the advice yorks2510.

[palfreyman18]

Oh i think ive found the answer now i found something while googling saying that its something to do with Windows XP SP2 and its one of the problems that occurs. I just downloaded the patch that's supposed to fix this!

PS my computer has no Spyware but AVG is working now and it picked up 2 Trojan horses in the System Volume Information part of my hard drive. How do i access this so i can remove them? or how can i remove them?

[palfreyman18]

and i also forgot to mention that everyone else on the network can see my computer, but i can't see anyone else on the network. The "acquiring IP address" icon just stays there and wont let me connect to the internet

[Ralph]

I think System Volume Information is the System Restore storage area. If you turn off system restore (right click 'My Computer', choose Properties, then the System Restore tab) it'll clear all the stuff it's remembered. Do an AVG scan which should now be clear (or fixable), then turn System Restore on again.