Cant access network after installing SP2

Question

I have just reformatted and reloaded XP Pro. Loaded Chipset drivers and drivers for network card, graphics etc. A clean install. I was online and able to download XP updates. I installed SP2 and could no longer connect to the network/internet. The network connection was 'connected' but showed no traffic. I tried turning XP's firewall off completely, but still no network. I uninstalled SP2 and am able to connect again. Obviously there's some setting in XP/SP2 but none of the 'obvious' ones have worked - any ideas? I'd like to make sure SP2 is on and all of the Firewall systems are in place and working.

Jerry Park · Answer

Don't know. What client are you using? Could be a problem with client software vs Wireless Zero Configuration service. With SP2 loaded, try turning off the client software and using WZC.

caniwinz · Answer

Hi - not sure what you mean by client...I have nothing running on the machine but a fresh load of XP - everything at default. By the way it's a wired connection and I can't ping into or out of the machine.

Jerry Park · Answer

Sorry about my response. I've run wireless so long I forget that wired connections can also give problems.

volcano11 · Answer

caniwinz, See if the following helps: http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kb/en/document?dn=1090971&c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04 Steve

caniwinz · Answer

Cool - thanks guys I will give that a try and post back... :-)

jec4312 · Answer

i think Jerry means the software that belongs to the network card - are you using that, or is windows managing the connection?

Have you checked that you are only running one firewall and that the firewall is not blocking internet access?

caniwinz · Answer

I am using the latest vendors drivers for the cards in the machine - network, graphics etc. Also, I when I had SP2 installed I had turned off it's firewall completely to try and resolve the problem - no luck there.

Ok - I have uninstalled SP2 and installed SP1 (plus nearly 100 updates of course). I still have network connectivity at this stage. There is still the question of whether I should bother with SP2 now as this machine is behind a router on this network... I would like to have the machine up to date if possible but am a bit leery of SP2.......

jec4312 · Answer

hi, I can understand you are wary of SP2. I can remember when it was first introduced many people had various issues with it, which is why when I needed a new computer I asked the vendor to load SP2 on to the machine themselves (cowards way out!)

I notice you say you downloaded updates for xp, and then you say you loaded sp2 - were you definitely unable to check for post-sp2 updates?

With sp2 installed did you try opening a command prompt and typing ipconfig /all and ipconfig /renew?

I'll keep thinking and get back if anything comes to me.

jec4312 · Answer

just thought of something! should probably have been the first thought.  Sometimes uninstalling the drivers for both the ethernet card and wireless card, and reinstalling them helps people. hth

caniwinz · Answer

1. I tried uninstalling the device (network card) and its drivers and then reinstalled - no go. 2. I only downloaded updates after removing SP2 and installing SP1 - I have a theory one of those updates will allow a transition from SP1 to SP2 without killing my network connection (fingers crossed)

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

Was this post helpful?