This is strange to me, hopefully not strange to you guys:
I got my wife's desktop out of storage and brought it up - no connection to the internet. What's more, it's flaky - I've gotten it to talk a couple of times and then lose the connection.
I'm running W2K pro and connect through a Linksys Wireless G router (through a cable connection, not wireless) to a roadrunner modem. I have two computers on the net in addition to the one I'm trying to add - one is wireless and the other cabled.
I suspected the system itself and because I didn't care about this particular system and had an extra computer, I changed the hard drive and reloaded windows just to make sure it wasn't in software. Then, as I suspected the ethernet card I replaced it. I then replaced the cable. All one at a time. No dice.
When I replaced the card, I had a connection for a short while, which also happened when I connected the computer the first time (coincidence?). But I had no chance to check IP or anything else much. I went on the internet and even checked for the other computers on the net and got them. When I rebooted the computer, I had no connection.
When I disable the connection and enable, the desktop icon says I have a connection for a moment, then says the cable is disconnected. But I know the cable is good because I can connect it to the working cabled computer and it works fine.
Nothing I do will get that connection back. Like I said, I had the same process happen before I changed the nic, so it doesn't seem to be that.
Some additional info:
Before I changed the nic I connected directly to the cable modem and got a connection. When I changed back to the router, I continued to have a connection but no internet and couldn't see the rest of the net. After I changed nics I can still get a connection while connected directly to the cable modem but it doesn't stay when I reconnect to the router. FYI, I can't get to the internet when I connect the one cabled computer on the net directly to the cable modem either, but when I reconnect it to the router the internet is instantly available.
I have everything on DHCP. No special settings that I know of on any of the three computers.
I know about ipconfig and ping but can't remember just how to use them and find out what is going on. For example, I don't remember how to get the IP of the router or modem so I can try to ping them. However, without the connection, I guess it wouldn't do any good anyhow. Can't think of any more info to include...
Thanks in advance for any help you can give me...
zeroth