Hi all, I am new to the forum and have a major problem with XP I am hoping you can help me with.

 

The machine will not obtain an address from the DHCP server. When I do an IPconfig this is the results:

C:\Documents and Settings>ipconfig

 

Windows 2000 IP Configuration

 

There is no reference to even the NIC. The NIC has been replaced by the first admin who was on the scene. I have installed and additional USB NIC to see if I could get anything with no results

 

I thought it had something to do with a corrupt TCP/IP stack so I used the netsh int ip reset with no results. I then removed the winsock & winsock2 reg keys and reinstalled TCP/IP from disk and recieve an error "file does not exist" I then pulled the directory over from another XP machine and still recieve the same error. The error does not specify which file exactly it is looking for so I am at a stand still. Any Ideas? :confused:

Sounds like a hardware issue. Open device manager and see if the nic is listed or if there is any device that is unrecognized. If the nic is there click properties and see if it is working. If it is there and a device cannot start error then this is a driver issue or conflicting irq issue.

I have verified the NIC is in the device manager and according to windows "the device is working correctly". I attached a usb NIC to the machine and installed everything for it as well and still have the same problem.

You can also uninstall all NICs. Reboot then have windows reinstall them.

I have uninstalled the NICs and reinstalled and no change. I have attempted to reinstall the tcp/ip protocal using have disk and pointing it back to the \windows\inf folder and get a file not found error. I think this may be able to be resolved if I knew what file it was looking for but good ol windows does not say. I have copied the INF folder over from another machine and recieved the same error. Does anyone know what file windows may be looking for? I am certain it is an .inf driver file for tcp/ip but have no idea what it might be called.

OK. Back to original problem. You can't get an IP from the dhcp server. Have you verified that the dhcp server doesn't have a problem? Are other boxes able to get an IP?

Is there anyway you can get an IP assigned to you so that you can change tcp/ip configuration?

The problem started with this machine not being able to obtain an IP from the DHCP server. I verified the DHCP server was functioning properly and was able to obtain an address on my laptop with no problems so I ruled this out as the cause. I did an IPConfig and recieved no information. I went to the tcp/ip properties under the NIC that is installed and assigned a static IP that we have resrved that was not in use. Still no connectivity and no info provided on the IPConfig. Since I had used the cable that was originally plugged into the machine earlier I ruledout any external hardware issues (cables, etc). I connected a USB NIC into an open usb port and installed this NIC and attempted to use it instead and still no info in the IPConfig. I was then informed that the internal NIC had also been replaced and it did not resolve the issue. I did a little research and tried the winsockfix tool and manually deleted the registry keys and rebuilt. next I rebuilt TCP/IP using netsh int ip reset (http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=299357). The weird thing is there is very little info in the log file besides "completed". I then attempted to reinstall TCP/IP on top of itself and recieve the "file not found error"

This is puzzling. You've done everything you can do and still doesn't work.

About the only thing that you haven't tried that I would suggest is to take both nics out of the box and reboot. Make sure both are no longer present in device manager and then shutdown, reinstall and restart.

Another thing I find odd is this.

Windows 2000 IP Configuration

Mine says Windows IP Configuration on my XP pro box.

Was this an upgraded box from 2000 to XP?

If it was you might want to do a clean install. Some remnants of 2000 might be causing the problem.

actually the windows 2000 thing is a typo on my part. The laptop I am using to connect is a 2000 machine and I think I got a mix up in there somewhere. This machine is actually an OEM install of XP. I have had to bite the bullet and do a reinstall for this issue. Kinda sux but oh well. I actually tried to perform an upgrade earlier so that it would overwrite all the core components and this failed as well.