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October 22, 2011 2:49 PM   Subscribe

Laptop suddenly unable to connect to the internet!

Despite working perfectly fine previously, our Sony Vaio on Vista 32 is suddenly unable to connect to the internet. It says that it is able to connect to the router, but not to the internet. Our other computers (another PC and a Mac) are currently able to connect. The laptop is also unable to directly connect with an ethernet cable to the router.

The Vista diagnostics are not helping, and suggest that something may be wrong with the network adapter?

Here are the things I've tried to do to fix it:
1. Disable the firewall.
2. Change the router settings from WPA2 to WPA.
3. Disconnect and reboot the laptop.
4. Disconnect and reboot the router.
5. Update the drivers.
6. Run this Microsoft Fixit.
7. Run these two commands: "netsh int ip reset all" and "netsh winsock reset catalog."

Is there anything else that might be able to fix it? At my wit's end here now.

I've read over these two problems before (Question 1, Question 2) and tried some of the solutions offered, but none of them worked.
posted by so much modern time to Computers & Internet (13 answers total)
 
Run the command ping google.com - what do you get?
posted by Foci for Analysis at 2:52 PM on October 22, 2011


Whenever I'm in doubt, I'll boot off a Ubuntu or Knoppix LiveCD and see if it can see the internet via plug-in cable. (Wireless drivers are often tricky, but wired Ethernet is usually dead-simple, so I start there.) If so, you know it isn't hardware at least, and can focus on Vista.
posted by introp at 2:53 PM on October 22, 2011


Response by poster: @Foci for Analysis
The Command Prompt box replied, "ping request could not find host google.com. Please check the name and try again."

@introp
So perhaps this is actually a hardware issue? It doesn't connect to the internet even with the ethernet cable connecting it directly to the router.
posted by so much modern time at 2:57 PM on October 22, 2011


Do you have both a modem and a router? Disconnect and reboot the modem if so.
posted by sarae at 3:09 PM on October 22, 2011


I was suggesting the LiveCD to divide the problem in half. The smaller you can make the problem space, the better-spent your effort will be. So I'd try a LiveCD. Then I literally unplug a cable from a working computer in the house and plug it into the laptop ('cause maybe on top of things you've got a bad switch port or cable).

Based on your description that neither wireless nor wired works, my first guess is that it's the OS; I mean, what are the odds of both pieces of hardware failing at once, right? But I always like to eliminate the big simple questions first, and having a computer in the house download a Ubuntu CD is something you can do while you make lunch, so it's low-effort.
posted by introp at 3:17 PM on October 22, 2011 [1 favorite]


What's your ip address? (to find out, run ipconfig from a command line) What are the ip addresses of the other two machines?
posted by KathrynT at 3:31 PM on October 22, 2011


Have a look under Control Panel/Network and Internet/Network Sharing Center - then click on the name of the connection(s) you are using to get to the internet and choose properties. Go down the list of all connection types which Windows makes available to this connection and choose TCIP/IPv4 - select "Properties".

Make sure that this connection is set up to attempt to get an IP address and DNS server setting automatically - rather than use a fixed value.

On my Windows 7 Vaio I have found that, when using some types of connection, this setting can be over-written so that a fixed value is inserted in one or both of these fields. If this has happened then it might be a cause of the problems you mention.
posted by rongorongo at 3:55 PM on October 22, 2011


This trick resets your TCP/IP log and 90% of the time, fixes this exact problem. There is no downside and it takes all of 2 minutes to type in the command and restart.


START
>RUN

Type in cmd and hit enter

Then type the following in exactly:

netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt

I like to restart, some will say it isn't necessary. Once rebooted do your usual thing with finding a local wifi/ethernet connection, connect to it, give password, etc.

Good Luck : )
posted by MansRiot at 5:24 PM on October 22, 2011


When you run IP config, do you see a DNS Suffix set to MSHOME.NET?

I had this issue with an old laptop that worked just fine on the network but couldn't connect to the web. My permanent fix was to assign a different DNS and set a static IP (permanent solution). My temporary solution was to go to a command prompt and type:

ipconfig /flushdns press ENTER
ipconfig /release press ENTER
ipconfig /renew press ENTER

Here is a thread that goes into the problem in a little more detail.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 6:47 PM on October 22, 2011


Sounds like you might have a virus or spyware. Try downloading Malwarebytes and/or Ad-Aware onto a USB stick and scan the machine. You can usually manually update the definitions, but I'm not at a computer where I can provide the details at the moment. Good luck.
posted by rwheindl at 7:43 PM on October 22, 2011


really sounds like a DNS issue. see if you can ping the IP address of another computer or ping your laptop's IP from another computer (ipconfig command will show your ip address if it has one assigned). If that works, then you know the issue is DNS. Which is a protocol that converts hostnames like www.google.com to the numerical IP addresses TCP/IP networking actually uses. I don't have access to a windows box, so I can't offer anything more specific to fix it other than making sure your DNS service is running and the DNS settings for your network connection are set to automatic.
posted by gregg at 10:22 PM on October 22, 2011


Also, not to ask an offensively simple question, but have you rebooted the router?
posted by Samizdata at 1:26 PM on October 23, 2011


Response by poster: Hey, everyone, I was just about to try some of the suggestions in here, when, for whatever reason, the computer magically started connecting to the internet again. That was quite a pleasant surprise, when I'd already been working on it for over 24 hours already.

This is a good thread to keep around in case it happens again though.

Thank you!
posted by so much modern time at 10:17 PM on October 24, 2011


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