Thank you in advance for reading this message, and for any help you offer, it is sincerely appreciated!

I searched the database before posting, and I nearly found an answer to my question. Here is the post from the forum. Link is http://computing.net/windows95/wwwboard/forum/116408.html:

"What a conundrum! I have never seen so many people try and give someone support that probably shouldn't. Especially the guy telling them to go into the registry. You should NEVER have to go in and modify your registry for any setup unless it is advanced and uses specific instructions. Anvil- the very basic thing noone has bothered to ask you is if your getting a link light on the back of the cable modem where the cable runs to your computer. The reason a network card will not grab an address and goes into auto mode is if the device cannot communicate or the DHCP device (that gives out addresses) is not communicating. I have seen on numerous cable modems where if you don't go through a specific startup routine you will not get a link light to your computer. You should also see an activity light that will show network traffic, it should blink periodically. If that all works..come back and talk to me and I'll tell you the rest."

I need the rest!

Here is my conundrum, (and this is my first time with this particular problem) I cannot connect to the internet, and my winipcfg program stops responding while trying to "release and renew all".

It has never not worked before. I ran this program due to not being able to connect to the internet, after installing and repairing an IRQ problem with a new sound card. I managed a workaround for the IRQ problem by disabling my serial and printer ports in BIOS, since I use neither. The BIOS is set to allow the use of only my COM ports now.

My ethernet card is listed in the device manager, with no problems.

In msinfo32, under IRQ's, it is listed as well.

It is not listed as a problem device or forced hardware either.

The dsl modem is working (lights as usual) and the light is on in the network card, so everything is as it was, except for not being able to connect to the internet. When I try to access the modem address, it says the connection was refused.

It isn't my firewall, I still cannot connect to the internet with or without it running.

Now my winipcfg program has stopped responding, when I try to renew the IP's. I did get an error pertaining to DHCP.

Could you please help me? I am a 'blossoming' PC tech, and long to learn as much as I can. I don't have to do this kind of thing everyday, but if you would teach me, I would never forget it. And I would be eternally grateful.

Most sincerely,
Eric

Sorry about the spelling error in the subject line, it's a typo. It should read winipcfg.

Eric

Report Offensive Follow Up For Removal

I received your PM but I was already aware of this post. I don't think the typo is the reason why nobody has yet answered. In my case I couldn't see any obvious reason for your problem, so it might just be a case of waiting for the right person to come along.

What isn't clear is whether you got your Internet problems immediately after installing the sound card or whether it was only after you repaired the IRQ problems. You need to determine which of these got you into problems with the internet.

All I can suggest, as you've asked, is uninstalling the sound card, undo the IRQ repair then see if the internet starts working again. If you are lucky and it does, then take one step at a time to find out which step causes the problem.

If you still have the internet problem after the sound card has been uninstalled and the IRQ fix undone, then type scanreg /restore in the Run box and see if you can find a registry which is dated just before you put in the sound card. This should put you back to square one.

Windows overlay is another possible approach to this but I regard it as rather extreme and hope someone has a better idea.

You can contact "Network Admin" (the person in that link you gave) and get the email address by clicking the name. He/she may or may not be prepared to look at this post.

If this posts gets way down the page then I would repost it, keeping it fairly short and to the point (avoid bold). It may be that it is so long people are not prepared to read it all. You can avoid the cut/paste from that other post by just giving the response number.

All we need to know is what the problem is and, in this case, a brief explantion about what led up to it.

DerekW

Wow, ok. Thank you. I didn't realize I was doing so many things wrong as far as posting goes, so thanks for the heads up. I will certainly do as you suggest. Again, thanks.

To answer your queries, there was no problem after installing the sound card, it did start after the IRQ workaround, but not right away. Which has me baffled as well. I was saving a scanreg restore as a last resort, as I don't want to lose what seemed to be an impossibe fix that I managed to get the sound card working.

Contacting Network Admin was the very first thing I did, after researching the site for answers, good advice! So thank you again. For everything. Sincerely!

I will wait for others to post, in the hopes that I can glean and learn about possible solutions.

Eric

... better add, you were not really doing "wrong things". It's more a matter of giving yourself the best possibility of getting a response.

DerekW

Yes sir, that is in fact what I meant. Thanks again! Fingers crossed for someone out there who has run in to this before....

Hi, I was going to post hours ago, but ended up a little side tracked.

When you run winipcfg, do you actually have a valid NAT IP address (either 10.x.x.x or 192.168.x.x)? Personnally I use ipconfig (/all) to get this information.

I'm not entirely sure on the inner workings of how windows handles devices. As a hardware tech, I don't need to know that! When you freed up the IRQs allocated to the serial and parrallel ports, it would be likely that windows shuffled its device IRQs to take up the extra room. You may be able to overcome your dilema by simply rerunning the Internet Connection Wizard. Hopefully this will find the network card and its new IRQ.

Thank you for your post. Yes, as I recall they did in fact shuffle. I remember making a mental note of what IRQ was listed for what device, and after I disabled the unused ports, I rebooted, re-opened msconfig and most of the IRQ's had shifted around. I didn't pay it much attention until I tried to connect to the internet, because all of the devices were listed with no conflicts or problems.

When I tried to run the internet connection wizard from Tool> Internet Options> Connections, I received an error message. I am on my XP machine at the moment, so I will get that exact message and post back.

Again, thank you for your help.

Eric

While you do that, might I suggest you try accessing the ICW through, Start -Program -Accessories -Internet tools.

I am sorry it took so long to respond, I am disabled, and in excruciating pain today.

I ran ipconfig /all and it said that I did not have DHCP enabled. (which is changed because it has always been enabled in the past.)

I tried to access the ICW, but received an error message. "Failed to load Internet Connection Wizard Helper Component"

After working with this for three days, I finally ran a SCANREG /RESTORE. After restarting this time, it detected my new sound card as expected, picked up the drivers from the root drive just fine, and started to load Windows, when the hardware wizard opened again, and detected the ethernet card all over again. Only this time it can't find those drivers, and this ethernet card has been installed and working fine on my computer for over four years!

I am about to try and find them manually, and if that proves unsuccessful, I will download new drivers for it. Will post back as soon as I can give more information.

Okay, when trying to install the drivers for the ethernet card, it kept asking me for the disk that came with it, and wouldn't install the new drivers. It gave me the error number 1F6.

After several attempts, it finally allowed the installation of the drivers.

I restarted.

In the device manager, it showed the card as installed, but disabled. I re-enabled the card, and it did so without error.

Now when I try to run winipcfg or ipconfig, it gives me a fatal error message. "Cannot read internet protocol configuration."

Now, I am really stumped.

(if you are just now logging on Rimfire, I posted a previous message above this one in case you didn't see it)

Thank you again for your help, I await your response.

It sounds like windows is sort of seeing your network card. You might like to try deleting the card in device manager. Also delete the TCP/IP driver in Control Panel - Network. Shut down the computer and pull the power cord. Take the card out and reboot without it.

Reinstall the card and ensure that the network cable is connected to an active device such as your modem or router. Boot up and install the drivers. You will need the windows CD handy.

Good advice, I will try this...and thank you.

Also, I did a search on here for "winipcfg fatal error" and received numerous results.

Some with the exact same problem as me, (now anyway) and most are saying that I have a corrupt Winsock 2 file. There are fixes for it detailed at Microsoft, but I am hesitant to screw up anything further. They suggest opening a prompt, entering

cd\windows\ws2bakup [enter]
ws2backup.bak [enter]
exit [enter]

Is this worth a try and do you think I should do this before or after I try what you suggested?

Thank you!
Eric

Well, so much for that idea (Microsoft's).

I did an exhaustive search, and there is no file on my system named ws2bakup.bak. Nor is there the ws2bakup file directory.
I will give your idea a try and let you know tomorrow. If you have anything else that would help, I am all ears.

Thank you for everything.

Sincerely,
Eric

Windows 98 does not use winsock. That advice only applies to win 95 and NT.

FWIW I have winsock.dll on my W98SE.

I found this old post, no idea if it is appropriate (the link still works):

W95/98 149410

DerekW

.... it seems to have helped somebody but looks worryingly risky. It may generate some ideas though.

DerekW

Hi Derek,

Oh, I have winsock.dll too. Regardless, the fix was meant for 95 and NT.

That link you posted is not aplicable in this case. The page it links to, list a requirement that you have a valid IP address. The network card does not appear to be installing correctly.

Sorry, my mistake.

DerekW

Thank you Derek, Rimfire. Guys, something happened on a catastrophic level. I removed the card from the device manager, then removed TCP/IP as you stated.

On reboot, the BSOD came up, stating that Windows configuration was incorrect, reinstall windows!

What in the world could have caused this? Does anyone have any ideas how I can avoid doing this?

P.S. I also removed the card from the PCI slot as well.

Oh dear.

Is it the same if you reboot?

Can you get to Device Manager via Safe Mode to see if there is any clue there?

Have you tried putting the cards back and rebooting?

If it comes to the crunch you can put Windows in again via DOS (without re-formatting and losing your stuff). But let's see if there is any other way forward first.

DerekW

Try a scanreg /restore again.

I'm beginning to suspect that this is the work of malware. What security programs do you use?

I got your PM too. My initial thought when I saw the thread was maybe LSPFIX would help but I don't know if it applies in this case. Probably wouldn't hurt to try though. A google search should turn up a download site.

Hi guys,

Sorry, been down with the flu.

Derek, yes it is the same if I reboot. I have been in the device manager, and there seems to be no clue at all, except it's having trouble installing the drivers for my network card still. I did put the card back in it's original slot, and tried to reboot with the same problem.

Rimfire, it might be the work of malware, but if it were; it would have to be a tricky one indeed, that no one has a definition for yet! I use four different spyware programs, AdAware SE, Asquared, Spybot Search and Destroy, plus I am running ZoneAlarm with spyware scanner. AVG is my virus protection, and I also do a weekly scan at Symantec. That is not to say you aren't right, it wouldn't be the first time a scanner has missed something. I am open to any thoughts you might have sir!

HI DAVEINCAPS! It's good to see you. Well, it's a fine mess I have gotten myself in to this time. **sigh** thank god it isn't a client's computer. It's the same ole sob story, I have all my website files on this computer, I can't afford to lose them...blah blah blah. You have heard it all before. I just can't believe I am the one saying it this time.

Ok, I managed to get it rebooted in normal mode yesterday, it picked up my sound card, and loaded the new drivers for it fine. Next it went to look for the network card drivers, and didn't have a clue where to look, even though this card has been in the computer for four years. (The card is fine too, I checked it in another computer) I finally pointed it to the folder where I had loaded them from the day before, but this time it didn't see them. The files were there and it didn't pick them up at all.

So I rebooted, and got the same system driver message as the day before:
"Invalid VxD dynamic link call from VSDATA95C01 + 0002FD6C to device 0028, service 800A. Your windows configuration is invalid. Please run the setup disc again"

So I thought great, ok Windows setup again. I started Windows to command prompt with CD ROM support, and ran setup again.

I have done this once before as a last ditch effort three years ago, and haven't had any problem since, so I thought, you've got er whipped now.

WRONG. After running the Windows setup again, I first get an invalid registry error, to which it tells me to run SCANREG /fix. I do.

Then when booting up again, it tells me that I have missing system files, it runs the scan disc program and tells me to reboot. I do, and I get the registry error again. It's a vicious cycle that has me baffled.

The only thing I can do is boot to safe mode, and nothing I have done while in safe mode so far has helped my situation. I can't believe this all started by simply installing a new sound card.

Is there anything I can do to hunt this problem down?

Scraping the barrel I know, but I suppose there is no chance this is something like RAM playing up? I accept that the symptoms are a bit focussed for RAM problems but it can cause some strange things to happen.

You can get a boot floppy from DocMemory tester and run it. Cleaning the edge connectors with a pencil eraser sometimes helps. You can also try one RAM stick at a time in first position if there is more than one.

I'm not bubbling with confidence but it is fairly easy to eliminate from the equation.

DerekW

Derek, I will certainly give this a try right now, and post back asap.

So far all the memory tests from DocMemory have passed with flying colors.

16456 passed.
0 Failed.

It is still running.

Are there any specific tests that I should run with this program?

Eric

Nope, it was a very long shot but at least we now know the RAM is OK.

I'm about out of ideas, short of Windows overlay, without undoing the work you've done to get your sound card going (already mentioned).

DerekW

Ok Derek, thank you sir. I did try a Windows overlay, as I mentioned above somewhere...that is where I ran in to this latest VxD 'your windows configuration is invalid' error.

I am beginning to think it's a virus of some sort not yet detectable! I am going to search my registry for recent entries, and try to figure out what in the world has happened. I don't know, I am really out of ideas too.

Short of simply installing this drive as a slave in my XP machine, and losing the ability to run certain programs. What do you think?

Sorry, I missed the bit about the overlay. Unfortunately it doesn't "always" cure problems, so it seems you were unlucky.

No harm checking for viruses, also running something like Ad-Aware to check for malware too. Somehow this doesn't sound much like either though.

There's always reformat as the ultimate option (possibly the best idea) but you would need to backup all your stuff first somehow.

DerekW

I do have awesome protection, both in firewall, and virus/malware. I run daily updates and tests, so I am with you, I don't think that is the problem.

Thank you sincerely, for sticking with me through to the end. I am truly honored for your help. God bless ya, and have a splendid day!

Warmly,
Eric

Always a student of the trade...

Now Eric, that sounds like you are giving up.

Before you do, try re-enabling the serial ports in bios. Having them disabled may cause windows to assign it comm 1 where as it natively wants comm 3.

Thanks for the encouragement Rimfire! I will certainly do that next. Will let you know how it turns out.

Thanks so much for stickin with me Rim, it means a lot!

Eric

Always a student of the trade...

Dear God, could it have been that easy?

I went back and un-did the changes that I made to the BIOS, (relatively simple changes, really) and then restarted my system. It gave me the VxD error again, so I booted to command prompt only, ran a SCANREG /RESTORE, restarted in safe mode and ran SFC, then restarted once again.

WHAM! Back up in normal mode came my operating system like a dream! I cancelled out the sound card install opting instead to install my network card first, which it picked up all on it's own, and installed without a hitch.

I restarted, and installed the drivers for my new sound card, and Lo and Behold, the whole system works! I can't believe it! I ran winipcfg with no errors or hangs, and BOOM, I am even back connected to the internet.

THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU that helped, you guys are amazing. I bow and offer a thousand thanks.

Eric

Proving once again, I am forever and....

Always a student of the trade...

I've been watching this one. Glad to hear you fixed it and thx for popping back. Nice one Rimfire.

DerekW

Glad it worked. I was running low on ideas.

Yes, take a bow, all of you!

Rimfire, since you are a hardware man, would you mind answering one more question for me?

I have been in the repair aspect for so long, and my repairs usually entail working with older machines, but at one time, I was really into hardware myself. (building up new machines for gaming applications, mostly)

I realize now, looking at some of the new mobo resources, I am so far out of the loop! Could you direct me to any really good online sources for learning about the new technologies in the hardware arena? Is there a new bus standard? Is AGP still in use and flourishing, (last time I checked it was up to 4x. Yeah, it's been a while) or are there newer graphics interfaces now?

I am looking to start building them up and selling again, but I really need to get up to speed first.

Thanks again, for everything guys.

Sincerely,
Eric

Always a student of the trade...

I think you might like to google PCIe.

You are a few years out of the loop! I too deal with mostly older gear and lower end products. In fact, the majority of computers I look at have cash handling capability.

Tom's Hardware Guide is probably the most respected site for computer hardware.

LoL, thanks Rim, I really appreciate it! Good luck to you in all your endeavors my friend, and may all your repairs be lucrative and simple!

Sincerely,

Eric

Always a student of the trade...

I know this is an after-fix post, but for someone searching for answers related to your problem, I may have some related advice.

You said:
[So I rebooted, and got the same system driver message as the day before:
"Invalid VxD dynamic link call from VSDATA95C01 + 0002FD6C to device 0028, service 800A. Your windows configuration is invalid. Please run the setup disc again"].

I had this problem as well, stemming from an incomplete uninstall of ZoneAlarm (thanks ZoneLabs). After much effort, I found a page http://discussions.virtualdr.com/archive/index.php/t-194197.html that had detailed manual steps for a complete ZA uninstall that did correct this problem.

I also found that I could rename the VxD file in error through DOS to get Windows to start.

Hope this Helps someone thru this difficult process!!