Member Avatar for kaje103

I wake up one morning and my PC is fine. Get back from classes, run AVG, adaware, spybot, and CWshredder to get rid of my hijacked homepage, reinstall WMP because it quit working, and with AVG found a virus called downloader.esepora.k. I reboot and I can't connect to the net anymore. No clue why I can't. My internet works because I hook my laptop up straight to it and it's fine. I'm on a college network. I also a few days ago set up a wireless router. Uniden. After I started getting the problem I unhooked it though, thinking it could be the problem, but I don't think it is. Dunno if the router or the trojan or something else could have screwed up my settings? My computer still responds when I unplug the ethernet cable or plug it in. Just no activity. Things I've done to try and solve the problem:

#1. Repair LAC - get error msg (Cannot renew ip)
#2. goto cmd. ipconfig /renew - get error msg (Similar to above, says it timed out.)
#3. Running a program called LSPFix (Didn't fix anything)
#4. Go into admin tools> services> dhcp client> set to automatic and start it (These settings were already correct)
#5. Get the IP, Gateway, router, and DNS addresses from my laptop, and hard coded them into the tcp/ip settings of my desktop's ethernet card. (Didn't work. It only took longer to realize it didn't work when looking up homepages.)

I'm clueless on what to do next. I'm thinking reformat, just don't want to have to go that far. Anyone got any suggestions?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by kswyr39

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Short diagnosis and practical next steps (ties to the replies already in the thread).

After the malware cleanup the machine shows link activity but DHCP renewal times out and a statically assigned address did not restore browsing; already ran LSP/Winsock cleaners and set the DHCP Client service to automatic. This pattern most often means the Winsock/LSP or TCP/IP stack is damaged, or a third‑party security/firewall component is blocking normal network negotiation (see on CWShredder and on security-suite conflicts). A college network can also reject an unregistered MAC or require 802.1X, which explains why a manual IP might still fail.

Recommended troubleshooting (in order):

  1. Isolate software vs hardware: test in Safe Mode with Networking. If networking returns there, startup software or drivers are the culprit.
  2. Temporarily remove any third‑party firewall/security suite (including CA tools if present). These can silently block DHCP or the Winsock catalog.
  3. Reset the Winsock and TCP/IP stacks, flush DNS, then reboot: 
netsh winsock reset
netsh int ip reset
ipconfig /flushdns
  1. If still dead: uninstall the NIC from Device Manager, reboot to let Windows reinstall the driver, or try a different NIC/USB adapter to rule out hardware.
  2. Check for leftover proxy/hosts tampering and ensure the DHCP Client and RPC services are running. System Restore to a pre‑infection point is a safe alternative to reformat if available.

If these steps fail, gather diagnostics for campus IT (ipconfig /all, route print, Event Viewer entries) and ask them to check port/MAC registration. Back up important data before any system restore or reformat. Note: repeating DHCP release/renew attempts has worked for some users (), so it is worth trying before drastic measures.

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Member Avatar for Zachery

I wake up one morning and my PC is fine. Get back from classes, run AVG, adaware, spybot, and CWshredder to get rid of my hijacked homepage, reinstall WMP because it quit working, and with AVG found a virus called downloader.esepora.k. I reboot and I can't connect to the net anymore. No clue why I can't. My internet works because I hook my laptop up straight to it and it's fine. I'm on a college network. I also a few days ago set up a wireless router. Uniden. After I started getting the problem I unhooked it though, thinking it could be the problem, but I don't think it is. Dunno if the router or the trojan or something else could have screwed up my settings? My computer still responds when I unplug the ethernet cable or plug it in. Just no activity. Things I've done to try and solve the problem:

#1. Repair LAC - get error msg (Cannot renew ip)
#2. goto cmd. ipconfig /renew - get error msg (Similar to above, says it timed out.)
#3. Running a program called LSPFix (Didn't fix anything)
#4. Go into admin tools> services> dhcp client> set to automatic and start it (These settings were already correct)
#5. Get the IP, Gateway, router, and DNS addresses from my laptop, and hard coded them into the tcp/ip settings of my desktop's ethernet card. (Didn't work. It only took longer to realize it didn't work when looking up homepages.)

I'm clueless on what to do next. I'm thinking reformat, just don't want to have to go that far. Anyone got any suggestions?

ever thinkg of calling your ISP

Member Avatar for kaje103

I don't have an ISP, i'm on a college network. Yes i've called them and they can't get anyone here till tuesday. I'd kind of like to have it fixed by then.

Member Avatar for caperjack

CWshreader can cause this problem .

Member Avatar for kaje103

CWshreader can cause this problem .

wow it can? do you know the problem and how to fix it? Or perhaps a link to how to fix the problem?

Member Avatar for kaje103

I've tried the lspfix. And the 2nd link (whndnfix.zip) isn't for xp, but the WinsockXPFix is and i've tried that before too..last night actually

Member Avatar for JCam

Hi, I had the same exact problem and it seem there was a conflict with my CA Security Suite. I uninstalled it completely from the Add/Remove Programs.

Reinstalled it with:
CA Anti-Virus
CA Anti-Spyware
CA Personal Firewall
CA Anti-Spam


Excluded:
CA Parental Control
CA Website Inspector
CA Desktop DNA Migrator


I hope this will resolve your issue even if you use another Security Software suite.

Member Avatar for kswyr39

you have tried release and then renew you might try that two or three time i did that once for a gentleman and it worked, at lease try that before you redo you computer.

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