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:cry: hi

i just bought a brand new compaq presario sr1850nx. here are the specs:

amd athlon 64 3700+
1 gb of RAM
250 GB HDD
Windows XP MCE 2005/SP2
D-Link dwl-g132 wireless usb adapter
smc wireless g router

so i plugged in the usb adapter for the wireless...followed the instructions...and then this error message popped up: please upgrade to service pack 1 with this one update i cannot remember (but i can find it if needed) so i thought i have sp2 so its all good so i continued the installation...everything went fine for the first week and then i tried to forward a port...didnt work so well so i un-did all of that...but now i cannot access the internet on that computer!! i can connect to the wireless router...but not the internet...my laptop from which i am typing this can get on fine and so can the other computer...but i simply cannot do it on the compaq...i can open google then i try to go to another site but it just gives me a cannot display page error...:cry: and i need that computer for school...and firefox just displays a blank page...the connection troubleshooter tells me its a problem with the winsocks provider or something so i let it try to fix it but it wont work...i have no idea whats going on here and i cannot fix it myself with the limited knowledge of computers i have...:rolleyes: ...i have browsed other forums to no avail and i have tried everything from virus scans to reinstalling the wireless adapter...somebody please help??:sad:

colin8910

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Dani AI

Generated

A common pattern here — a single PC joins the LAN but cannot load pages while other machines work — usually stems from a local TCP/IP/Winsock problem, proxy or firewall policy, or a bad driver/LSP installed by security software. ultimately resolved the situation by reinstalling Windows, but the steps below are safer, faster checks to try first and can often avoid a full reinstall.

Start with quick connectivity diagnostics to isolate DNS vs routing vs application problems. Run these from a command prompt and note which commands succeed or fail:

ipconfig /all
ping <default-gateway>
ping 8.8.8.8
nslookup www.google.com

If ping to the gateway and 8.8.8.8 works but name lookups fail, focus on DNS. If ping by IP fails, it is a routing or adapter/driver problem.

Try these safe repairs (run from an elevated command prompt and reboot after the winsock/tcp reset):

netsh winsock reset
netsh int ip reset
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew

Notes and cautions: resetting Winsock removes Layered Service Providers added by software; back up the registry or create a restore point first. Some older security suites install LSPs that can re-break the stack — uninstall such software temporarily when testing.

Additional checks that often help:

  • Confirm no proxy is set in Internet Options (also check Firefox connection settings).
  • Disable third‑party firewall/antivirus briefly and retest.
  • Update or reinstall the wireless USB adapter driver from the vendor.
  • Test with a wired connection or another adapter to rule out the USB stack.
  • Boot into Safe Mode with Networking to see if a third‑party service is interfering.
  • Inspect the hosts file and use route print or tracert if routing looks wrong.

These steps prioritize minimal change and data preservation. If all fail, collect the above command outputs before any reinstall — they help pinpoint the root cause for a cleaner recovery.

Member Avatar for colin8910

*EDIT* : and im highly suspicious if this "group policy" thing which know nothing about. It controls my firewall settings and it was causing the problem the first time this happened (it has happened a few times in the 2 weeks ive owened this computer) so i switched off the group policy and it worked for a bit but now it wont work at all (the wireless)...so good move or bad one??

colin8910

Member Avatar for colin8910

well i reinstalled windows xp and its working now :-D

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