Glad we could help.

Let us know if the problem returns (hopefully it won't!)

Well, the DNS problem is back. I've run the winsock fix program a number of times (and then changed the IP settings to the proper static IP address again), but it keeps coming back. Do you suppose that it has something to do with the static IP address that I'm assigning the XP machine?

Well, I went on a hunch and replaced the mswsock.dll in the C:\WINDOWS\system32 with the one from the C:\WINDOWS\$NtServicePackUninstall$ directory, which should be the one previous to XP SP 2 installation. This worked for a little while, but also failed with the same dam DNS error.

Will this never end? How could such an error be allowed to escape testing? Dam Mickeysoft!

Thanks goodness that I have an old trusty Windows 2000 installation to fall back on, otherwise I'd be completely out of business.

If your network connectivity and web browser work fine for a while before they quit again, it's unlikely that your static IP settiings are part of the problem.

Given that the corruption keeps reappeariing, and that Ad Aware/SpyBot/etc. have found nasties on your machine, you might consider the possibility that you still have a piece of malicious software which could be at the root of the problem. It's at least worth checking out and/or ruling out- have a read through the threads in our Security forum for a lot more info on what infections you could possibly have and what you should do to detect and remove them.

If you get the sense that "spyware" may indeed be the problem (or at least part of it), please start a new thread in the Security forum. Give us as much info as you can concerning what you've done and found, and we'll take it from there.

Service pack 2 has created lots of problems with everyone who has updated it from being too restrictive to corrupting tcp/ip, or so they say. If you can browse with your dial-up but not through your cable modem, then you know its not your browser. Do you have separate profiles on your o.s.? With my customer's i usually either have to remove Sp2 or actually reset tcp/ip. That usually ultimately fixes the problem.

After setting the registry as described below, I've expereienced no problems whatsoever.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters]
C:\WINDOWS\$NtServicePackUninstall$\dnsrslvr.dll