calling all those who are knowledgable about computers

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General Lee

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Today my 4 month old laptop crashed (windows actually crashed) I was able to use the manufacture's recovery CD and restore windows. I did however lose all other saved data. It was just like the day I brought the computer home, starting from scratch.



While my laptop is re-booting I checked my desktop for normal operation. I was able to access the internet and everything seemed fine. I called technical support (TS) to re-configure my wireless network. At that time I could not access the internet from my desk top in order for them to help me w/ my wireless network. They came to the conclusion I had a problem w/ my internet provider. So I call them and advise them of my laptop crashing, and how my desk top has a wireless router for wireless internet access and now I can't access the internet through my desk top now :wall After about 45minutes of trouble shooting techniques the technical service rep (TSR) tells me it seems that your ethernet card in my desk top went bad and is not reconizing or pulling my IP address in order to access the internet. So I plugged the router in my laptop and BAM I have internet access! So I called the wireless TSR back and got my wireless access fixed.



Question: What in the hell happened that my brand new laptop crashes and then "apparently" my ethernet card on my desk top goes bad all in the same day?



What kind of repair is involved w/ the ethernet card? Maybe time for a PC upgrade?



Any help or advice is appreciated. Any questions about more details just let me know.
 
If your computer came with a recovery CD, See if it boots from the CD and run Diagnostic's on your Laptop.

You may want to call Tech Support if it is less than one year old and have them walk you through some troubleshooting stuff. Worth the call.



From what you explained, I would lean towards a motherboard problem.

But you could have a Virus, Trojan horse, or Spyware as well that could be causing problems.



Try running Virus scan and spyware scans as well.





Good luck , Computers can be a pain sometimes.
 
You should've bought a Mac. I realize mac computers can be invaded too but, after my last PC crash, I was through with PCs.



JJ
 
Well, if they "fixed" your wireless access over the phone, the card didn't fail. It was probably just not configured right. A "restore" CD will do just that, it will restore the image of the first day you got it. So anything you had is gone. I think restore CD's are lame and just a way for the vendor to cheap out. You used to get full installable versions of all the software you bought...



As to what made it crash, it could be anything from hardware going bad to a virus to a poorly written installer or uninstaller or a bad driver or something.
 
Aurora40 said:
Well, if they "fixed" your wireless access over the phone, the card didn't fail. It was probably just not configured right. A "restore" CD will do just that, it will restore the image of the first day you got it. So anything you had is gone. I think restore CD's are lame and just a way for the vendor to cheap out. You used to get full installable versions of all the software you bought...



As to what made it crash, it could be anything from hardware going bad to a virus to a poorly written installer or uninstaller or a bad driver or something.
Click to expand...



My laptop was repaired, but not the ethernet card (so they tell me that is what seems to be the problem) for my desktop computer. It won't recognize or pull up web sites?? But yes, I can still access the internet via wireless on my laptop with a router if that makes sense. :confused: Is it still possible to access wireless internet vis a router on my laptop if the ethernet card is suppossedly (sp) bad on my Desktop??
 
Is your desktop wireless also?



I have 2 desktops with wireless in each, and a lap top that is wireless. I believe you have to goto connections, and configure it. I figured it out pretty easily.



Either way, if i blow up my desktops, my lap top still will connect to my wireless router, the desktop has nothing to do with my lap top.
 
I don't see how your desktop and laptop could be related. The only way I see a problem surfacing is if your laptop connected the internet *thru* you desktop. Is that how it used to be configured??
 
JDookie said:
I don't see how your desktop and laptop could be related. The only way I see a problem surfacing is if your laptop connected the internet *thru* you desktop. Is that how it used to be configured??
Click to expand...



I believe it was configured that way. I had some help with the set up so I am not 100% sure. This is where I am weak in knowledge pertaining to the way this all works.



The desktop has a seperate modem for DSL which is connected to a linksys router (that gives me wireless capabilities for laptop only) and the router is connected to the back of my desktop unit. How would I know if my laptop is connected to access the internet through my desktop for sure??



JBM- Desktop is not wireless



I believe my laptop is on its own now because Linksys help me configure the wireless capabilities after it crashed. I still can't access the web through my desktop??
 
Okay, I'm thinking you have a connection issue, not a configuration or hardware issue. If you disconnect the wireless router entirely and connect your desktop directly to the dsl modem, what happens? Be sure to connect the network cable to the network *input* and not the output, if it has one. Also be sure you're not trying to plug it into the tele. modem. It shouldn't fit anyway since it's bigger, but it won't hurt to check all this out. Last, be sure to disconnect the modem from power while you do all this so it can reset the IP for you.



On another note, on the back of your wireless router, is there an output for a wired connection?
 
I did something similar..... I disconected the wireless router wire from the the back of my desktop and plugged it into my laptop. I did have internet access that way, granted the router was still connected to the verizon modem. Will that be basically the same as what you suggested?
 
ok, so the dsl modem has a cat5 cable (fat telephone type wire) that goes into the linksys. From the linksys, you had another cat5 cable connected to your desktop via the ethernet port. You had your laptop using wireless to hit the linksys.



All of a sudden, you can't access the internet via the laptop. Eventually, you disconnect the cat5 from the desktop and connect it to the laptop. Now the laptop can connect to the internet and the desktop can't.



There's several possibilities. One, I think you were WHACKed. (Wireless Hack). Can you get into the linksys admin console (198.162.1.1). Did you ever change the password? If you can't get in with your password, chances are, someone got on your router, and changed the access control rights for the wireless. At this point, you need to reset the router.



Another possibility is that sometimes (rare, but happens), you need to power cycle your linksys router. I would try powering down the linksys (pull the plug), wait 10 seconds, plug it back in, plug the cat5 cable back into your desktop, and try to connect via wireless on the laptop.



Not sure if you're near any schools, but you have to be dilligent on the wireless security. It's possible that not only was your wireless hacked, but you may have gotten a virus on the laptop. Windows and Internet Explorer security is soooo unbelievably weak! Firefox, and you'll never go back!
 
Once you get everything straightened out , defrag your drive , create and additional partition and make a back up image with Ghost or DriveImage or the likes .

Don't forget to make recovery floppy set or CD also afterwards

Make C: Drive oh say 4-6 gb -
 
NYC2SoCal said:
ok, so the dsl modem has a cat5 cable (fat telephone type wire) that goes into the linksys. From the linksys, you had another cat5 cable connected to your desktop via the ethernet port. You had your laptop using wireless to hit the linksys.



All of a sudden, you can't access the internet via the laptop. Eventually, you disconnect the cat5 from the desktop and connect it to the laptop. Now the laptop can connect to the internet and the desktop can't.



There's several possibilities. One, I think you were WHACKed. (Wireless Hack). Can you get into the linksys admin console (198.162.1.1). Did you ever change the password? If you can't get in with your password, chances are, someone got on your router, and changed the access control rights for the wireless. At this point, you need to reset the router.



Another possibility is that sometimes (rare, but happens), you need to power cycle your linksys router. I would try powering down the linksys (pull the plug), wait 10 seconds, plug it back in, plug the cat5 cable back into your desktop, and try to connect via wireless on the laptop.



Not sure if you're near any schools, but you have to be dilligent on the wireless security. It's possible that not only was your wireless hacked, but you may have gotten a virus on the laptop. Windows and Internet Explorer security is soooo unbelievably weak! Firefox, and you'll never go back!
Click to expand...



Close, My laptop crashed (windows did actually) after restoring windows I tried to access the internet the old fashion way through my desktop via DSL. Not able to gain access to the web via desktop. Yes I did use the cat5 cable from the router into my laptop and was able to use the internet on my latop. I did access the linksys console w/ the help of tech support to reconfigure my wireless network. Now I have wireless capabilities with my laptop but no access via my desktop with DSL and the modem and router.
 
General Lee said:
I did something similar..... I disconected the wireless router wire from the the back of my desktop and plugged it into my laptop. I did have internet access that way, granted the router was still connected to the verizon modem. Will that be basically the same as what you suggested?
Click to expand...



I think JD was suggesting you connect the fat telephone cable (CAT5) from the verizon dsl to your desktop. This will check to see if the desktop ethernet port/card is bad. So the diagram would be



-------------------- DSL MODEM ----------Desktop Ethernet

Telephone wire CAT5





Please note that this configuration should not be run for a long period of time. Since the linksys is out of the loop, you are somewhat unprotected from the predators out there in the wild.
 
papi_jay said:
Once you get everything straightened out , defrag your drive , create and additional partition and make a back up image with Ghost or DriveImage or the likes .

Don't forget to make recovery floppy set or CD also afterwards

Make C: Drive oh say 4-6 gb -
Click to expand...



You gotta speak english about this stuff, LOL I have no clue what you are talking about. :)
 
Can you access the linksys console via your internet browser or do you have to have the help of tech support? because I'm getting a "can't find address" message when I try 192.168.1.1
 
General Lee said:
Close, My laptop crashed (windows did actually) after restoring windows I tried to access the internet the old fashion way through my desktop via DSL. Not able to gain access to the web via desktop. Yes I did use the cat5 cable from the router into my laptop and was able to use the internet on my latop. I did access the linksys console w/ the help of tech support to reconfigure my wireless network. Now I have wireless capabilities with my laptop but no access via my desktop with DSL and the modem and router.
Click to expand...





I need a beer.. ;)



the laptop never uses the desktop to connect to the internet, ideally, your configuration was:



.................................................. Laptop

........................................................|

........................................................|

........................................................|

------------------ DSL Modem ------- Linksys--------Desktop

Telephone wire CAT5 CAT5





Both your desktop and laptop connect through the linksys for internet access. Since your wireless is working, we need to double check your desktop connection. Ideally, the CAT5 connecting your DSL modem to your linksys connects to the Linksys' WAN Port. You probably have 4 other ports (1-4). To be on the safe side, I would plug the CAT5 into the Port 2 or 3, and the other into your ethernet jack. Reboot your desktop and see if you can get out to the internet. Better yet, see if you can get to 192.168.1.1 from the desktop.
 
General Lee said:
Can you access the linksys console via your internet browser or do you have to have the help of tech support? because I'm getting a "can't find address" message when I try 192.168.1.1
Click to expand...



Hmmm.. you should be able to hit it from your browser.. unless they changed the subnet.



when you're connected to the internet via the laptop, do a <start><run>

and type cmd <enter>



at the command prompt, type:

ipconfig /all



look for the gateway ip address, that should be your router.
 
NYC2SoCal said:
I think JD was suggesting you connect the fat telephone cable (CAT5) from the verizon dsl to your desktop. This will check to see if the desktop ethernet port/card is bad. So the diagram would be



-------------------- DSL MODEM ----------Desktop Ethernet

Telephone wire CAT5
Click to expand...
Exactly. I was trying to isolate the desktop in order to see if the ethernet card is working or not, since we know that the wireless system and the laptop are working fine.
 
NYC2SoCal said:
Hmmm.. you should be able to hit it from your browser.. unless they changed the subnet.



when you're connected to the internet via the laptop, do a <start><run>

and type cmd <enter>



at the command prompt, type:

ipconfig /all



look for the gateway ip address, that should be your router.
Click to expand...



I just tried JD's advice...... still can't get to the internet via desktop. Now I did the ipconfig /all and saw a IP address and a default Gateway IP address. Also I saw a "lease obtained date" and a "lease expire date" what in the hell is does that mean. I didn't see that yesterday when tech support was helping me.
 
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