forgive me if this should be listed under viruses... i just setup a pc for a lady i work with today, and when she came back from lunch the network card wasn't sending or receivign packets. so i assume the nic is dead. put a new one in same problem. then i notice i forgot to install norton my b. i checked for a few viruses, i ran stinger, and some fix tools from norton, such as netsky, mydoom and beagle, i also installed norton corporate edition but i am unable to update it due to me not being able to get out on the network. anyone have anyideas on why this machine would be acting up the way it is?

The NIC may not be dead, you may have a bad cable connection or the switch port you are plugging into does not correctly negotiate autoconnect speed with the NIC you are using. Try a new cable first. Best choice is to borrow one from a pc you know is working.

Yes- if changing the cable doesn't hep, try a different port as well.

If those suggestions don't do the trick, it might be time to look "inside the box":

- Have you verified that the TCP/IP stack is functioning correctly by pinging the loopback device?:

ping 127.0.0.1
or
ping localhost

- Can you ping the IP of the NIC? Can you ping the computer by its hostname?

- When you say that it isn't sending or receiving packets, what utility are you using to determine this?


<edit>

This being essentially a networking question, I'll move this thread to the networking forum...

</edit>

i'm able to ping the nic with the ip address that i have assigned to it. but if i try to ping another computer by ip or name it times out. by looking at the local area connection status. it claims there are no packets being sent. however the lights on the card are blinking away. i have put a new nic in and am working off of a different port and have the same problem.

Do the following commands show the proper default gateway and routing information?:

ipconfig /all
route print

If so, you might want to look further into the possibility of damage by a malicious program. Look through the threads in our Security form for information on using Ad Aware, SpyBot, HijackThis, and other tools. If running those tools leads you to suspect an infection, start a new thread in Security and post as much info there as possible in terms of waht you've done and the results you've gotten.

too put closure to this post, the damn card just started working on its own again...

Uh-oh... I'm not entirely sure that's a Good Thing. Better make sure you have a spare NIC hanging around just in case... :p