Cannot connect to internet - Limited Access only

rebell1952,

 

Places to look to see if your Connection is enabled

 

Rockstar,

Here's the deal: 1) the connection is enabled everywhere it should be and I can access the router, but not the internet [also when I open Network and Sharing Center, under View your basic network information and set up connections, it says, "(network icon) Unknown The dependency service or group failed to start."]; 2) AVG free version was being used, but will be replaced with Norton 360 (from my ISP) when or if I get internet access back, however, no antivirus program is installed at the moment; and 3) I can run "Finding System Information", but I'm not too sure it will tell you anything, but after reading the rest of this, you still want that info, let me know. Also, when I ran sfc /scannow (twice) it reported that it found corrupted files, but couldn't fix them all.

I now believe this problem is due to a viral infection. I used the Norton Bootable Recovery Tool to scan for viruses (can't use Power Eraser without internet access) which found Trojan.Maljava!16 and 21, but may not have completely removed them. Also, from some of the symptoms, it's possible that a Trojan.Zeroaccess rootkit is present, but I can't be sure until or unless I get internet access. As I said earlier, I've tried dozens of "fixes" and I'm still researching, but because both the onboard wireless card and the onboard ethernet controller are unable to connect to the internet, though both connect to the router, no matter what I try and the fact that an USB wireless adapter is not detected during installation, even though the dongle works perfectly on my other computers and all 3 of the laptop's USB ports work perfectly with any other USB devices plugged in, suggests to me that something is actively thwarting my efforts to access the internet. Since these trojans are said to be extremely difficult to eradicate and the rootkit one nearly impossible to even find, I think this is going to be a marathon repair job. I believe I am going to have to do some work on the registry (don't worry, I'm a computer repair tech), then run a repair of the OS from the installation disc, then reinstall the wireless and ethernet drivers and see what happens, but all that could take a while, I'll let you know how it turns out.

Richard

Richard,

 

I can recommend that you Post Here for Malware Removal ...

 

I would first backup all files and folders that you cannot afford to lose.

 

Since the system sounds like it is a mess, it sounds like the quickest route would be to Restore the computer back to factory.

 

The easiest method is, Restoring Your Computer´s Software to the Factory Settings

 

The more involved method is How To Restore or Reinstall Microsoft® Windows® on a Dell™ Computer

 

installing the drivers in the correct order is important. How to Download and Install Drivers in the Correct Order

 

 

Rick

Richard,

 

Did you try system restore to an earlier restore point that may not have had the issue?

 

 

Rick

Rick,

Thanks for the info, the article "How to Download and Install Drivers in the Correct Order" could be very useful as I never knew the order could make much of a difference and I've been repairing computers for many, many years now. As for restoring to factory settings, while this is very often the easiest route to take, there are some serious drawbacks to this approach and since this is a computer used for business, Restoring to Factory Settings is an absolute last resort, as the cost in time and repurchasing some of my programs would be very great, as I have a truck load of programs that would have to be reinstalled one at a time and some of them take even longer than Windows to install.

Richard

Rick,

There were no restore points saved (this is not actually my computer, but my roommates), so that wasn't an option.

Also, the malware site doesn't do me much good, since I can't get there with the affected computer, though there seems to be some good info there as well. But, I must say, I don't really like their attitude, and unless they plan to do some serious snooping, I don't know how they would know whether there were any P2P, keygen, craked, pirated or otherwise not too kosher programs on the machine, anyway.

Without trying to sound flipant, the article "How to Download and Install Drivers in the Correct Order" list as number 12 in the order, "Touchpad, Pointer, Track stick, Mice, and Keyboards..." I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to need a mouse (Touchpad, Pointer, Track stick, etc.) and a keyboard to do numbers 1 through 11. :)

Richard,

 

You have enough IP addreeses for the system?

 

Are you using Mac Address filtering?

 

Did you try using Malwarebytes Anti-Malware?

 

You could try going to Drivers & Downloads select your service tag number, select your operating system. Under network, download  and save the adapter to the desktop.

 

Make a system restore point.

 

Start, control panel, device manager, network adapters, right click on the wireless adapter, left click uninstall. Tell it to remove the software and drivers.

 

Restart the computer. When you log back in to an unrestricted account, then new hardware wizard may try to install the adapter, but it will fail. Use the drivers saved to the desktop.

 

If this is a company computer, you may have to contact them to get everything working.

 

 

Rick

 

 

Thanks, tried that too, didn't help. I do not believe this to be a driver problem either as it does connect to the router and from there to the internet is on the router. It also does not work in safe mode with networking, that's one of the main reasons I suspect a sophisticated trojan is involved.

Also, this thread was started before I knew there were Trojan.Maljava! infections, so my initial post may be a bit confusing as I've kinda changed track since the first post.

Good thought though.

Rick,

I think the Comcast router/modem has about a hundred IP addresses, so I don't think that's it and not every device is connected al the time and none have static IPs. This laptop connected just fine a few days ago and no other device is experiencing any such problems, so I doubt the router is the culprit.

I would have tried Malwarebytes, but since I can't access the internet, that wasn't an option.

One of the many, many things I've tried is reinstalling drivers, actually one of the first things I tried.

This is my roommates personal computer for her business enterprise, she's an accountant.

I don't know if I mentioned it, but I have been repairing and building PCs for more than 25 years and so the only time I use any of these forums is if I run into a problem that refuses to be solve by most conventional means. If it's a basic, obvious repair action, or even anything I can research on the web, then I've already tried it before coming here or any other forum. I am very thorough in my research, but I seem to have a knack of running into problems no one has ever seen before. While these uberproblems are usually very instructive, they still tend to make me crazy until I figure them out (usually with a lot of cyber help).

I did post this problem on the site you gave, but of course there hasn't been enough time for a responce. But, since they primarily deal with viruses and the like, it's likely they will be able to help, we'll see.

Thanks again for your time and help with this.

Richard

Richard,

 

Try Safe mode with networking?

 

Download Malwarebytes to nother computer and save it to a flash drive or burn to a disk.

 

Try reading...

How to repair a connection try resetting the winsock catalog.

 

 

Rick

Thanks you, Rick for all your help, but we're going over covered ground. Did you miss my statement, "I don't know if I mentioned it, but I have been repairing and building PCs for more than 25 years," I wasn't being boastful. Prior to my learning of the trojan infection, I was operating under the assumption ( and yes I know I should never assume) that this was a hardware and/or software problem and so that is where my reseach focused and of course all the above suggestions are offered on many forum sites and as I stated, I tired litterally dozens of "fixes" none of which worked because this was not a software and/or hardware issue. But now that I know pretty much for certain that this is a viral issue and not a software and/or hardware problem, per se, it doesn't make much sense to recover solutions for software and/or hardware issues. I know you guys like to know every little thing we answer seekers have already done, but in this case and every case that I feel a need to actually post on a forum, the list would be very, very long and usually I can't remember everything I have tried, not to mention that nearly every time I have asked a question on some forum (most notably Microsoft Answers), I'm directed to an article on how to do what I've told them I have already done and told to follow the article as if I was too stupid to do it right in the first place and for me, that is extremely insulting, as I have never disrespected them even though I have no more assurance of their claimed credentials than they of mine, but apparently they choose to assume I'm lieing, simply because I'm there asking questions.

I have learned that these newer viruses are some pretty sophisticated pieces of programing by people who are, apparently, as familiar with Microsoft software engineering as Microsoft's software engineers. I suppose that had I kept up with programing after Windows had been around for a few years, I could have reverse engineered Windows, like Gates did the Mac OS, but if these guys that do this hacking stuff are lone wolves, it's pretty impressive what they're able to do, which is to find ways around security measures designed litterally by teams of programers. It appears that Microsoft has really, really pissed some people off, but I only wish they would take their hostility out on Microsoft, since it is the consumer who is the victim of both these hackers and Microsoft.

In any case, I don't think there is any further help I can receive here unless there is a malware expert I can talk to.

Again, thank you and goodbye.

Richard

Richard,

 

You can post in the Dell Virus & Spyware Forums and they'll be able to help.

 

 

Rick

Also, the malware site doesn't do me much good, since I can't get there with the affected computer, though there seems to be some good info there as well. But, I must say, I don't really like their attitude, and unless they plan to do some serious snooping, I don't know how they would know whether there were any P2P, keygen, craked, pirated or otherwise not too kosher programs on the machine, anyway.

In spite of your concerns it appears that you registered and posted at SpywareHammer. Considering your 25 years of experience fixing computers, I'm sure that you and your helper there will be able to resolve the problem. Therefore, I am closing this topic at Dell.