[daveinlv]

I have a HP laptop with Windows XP Pro and Ethernet, Wi-Fi and dial-up ports, all of which have worked just fine for two years. I also have Norton Antivirus. My Windows Firewall is turned off. I have mostly used my dial-up service but have occasionally used the Ethernet while traveling and with no problems. I recently signed up with our cable hi-speed service with the cable modem directly connected to the Ethernet port. After running just fine for a couple of weeks, the system suddenly stopped. I seemed to be able to connect to the Internet but couldn't open any website. I performed some remedial actions described by the tech support and after a while the system worked. Then, after a few days it stopped again. I went to the local Geek Squad and they got it working on their system. After a few days it stopped again, this time for good. Cable's tech support said my Ethernet was unable to "ping" and "telnet to port 80" and they suspected the Antivirus but turning its auto-protect off didn't help. I took it back to Geek Squad but even they couldn't get the Ethernet running. So right now I can use both the dial-up and the Wi-Fi but not the Ethernet. Both Geek Squad and I have performed full system scans but no virus was found. Is there any way to determine whether it is a hardware or a software problem and how to correct it? Thanks.

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Hello, and welcome to Geeks To Go.
You can access the Internet with no problem using the wireless adapter, or your modem.
That narrows the problem down specifically to your Ethernet adapter.
Can you use a PCMCI Ethernet adapter for diagnostic purposes?
First let's look at your drivers for the Ethernet adapter.
Please

• Click on the start button.
• Select control panel.
• Open system.
• Select hardware.
• Select device manager.

Do you see any yellow exclamation points, or yellow question marks?

• Expand network adapters (click on the + sign).
• Right click on the Ethernet adapter.
• Click on properties.
• Look for any error codes.
• Select update drivers (connect to the INTERNET tirelessly).

If updating the drivers does not work, try rolling back the drivers. (follow the above steps, select rollback drivers instead of update drivers).
If non of this works, and the PCMCI adapter works your Ethernet adapter will need to be replaced.
Thank you.

[hfcg]

Hello, and welcome to Geeks To Go.
You can access the Internet with no problem using the wireless adapter, or your modem.
That narrows the problem down specifically to your Ethernet adapter.
Can you use a PCMCI Ethernet adapter for diagnostic purposes?
First let's look at your drivers for the Ethernet adapter.
Please

• Click on the start button.
• Select control panel.
• Open system.
• Select hardware.
• Select device manager.

Do you see any yellow exclamation points, or yellow question marks?

• Expand network adapters (click on the + sign).
• Right click on the Ethernet adapter.
• Click on properties.
• Look for any error codes.
• Select update drivers (connect to the INTERNET tirelessly).

If updating the drivers does not work, try rolling back the drivers. (follow the above steps, select rollback drivers instead of update drivers).
If non of this works, and the PCMCI adapter works your Ethernet adapter will need to be replaced.
Thank you.

[daveinlv]

To hfcg: Thanks for the response.

>> Do you see any yellow exclamation points, or yellow question marks?

No

>> Expand network adapters (click on the + sign).
>> Right click on the Ethernet adapter.
>> Click on properties.
>> Look for any error codes.

Here is what it says:
General
Device Status: This device is working properly. If you are having problems with this device, click Troubleshoot to start the troubleshooter.
Device usage: Use this device (enable)

>> Select update drivers (connect to the INTERNET tirelessly).

Here is what HP tech support has written:

To isolate the issue that you are experiencing with the Ethernet port whether it is a hardware or software issue, I recommend you to follow the instructions as below:
Diagnostics for Windows will display information about the computer's hardware and software configuration and test the computer to ensure it is operating properly.
To run Diagnostics on the computer, download and install SoftPaq SP25498 from the following HP Web site:
http://h18007.www1.h...load/19228.html
For installation instructions, refer to the " HOW TO USE" section on the above Web site.
By performing the above steps will detect the kind of issue, I recommend you to perform the above steps and get back to us with the results to proceed further.

However, I had already run Window's own Network Diagnostics without any results, so I asked them if the Diagnostics for Windows was something different. My problem is that I have cancelled my cable Internet subscription and have nothing to connect the Ethernet to so I am not sure whether Network Diagnostics actually worked because it didn't give a PASSED indication for that port.

>> If updating the drivers does not work, try rolling back the drivers. (follow the above steps, select rollback drivers instead of update drivers).

Again, without the Ethernet being connected to anything, I will have no physical way to tell if it is working so I am trying to figure out where can I find an Ethernet connection I can access.

>> If non of this works, and the PCMCI adapter works your Ethernet adapter will need to be replaced.

My Ethernet is built-in so that would probably mean replacing the entire motherboard. So, if nothing else works, then I am considering backing up all data and then restoring the machine with the restore disk. But even then I will still not know what the problem exactly was and what caused it so whatever had happened could happen again.

BTW, can you explain what exactly happens when I "telnet to port 80" from my computer? Where is this port 80 and what does it do?

[hfcg]

Hello,
This is why I asked if you can get a PCMCI Ethernet card.
I believe that your on board Ethernet adapter is bad. (it happens some times).
OK reinstalling windows will not fix this problem!.
If your on board Ethernet adapter is bad this cost under $30.00.
Give it a try, it is a simple and inexpensive fix.