I left my system downloading last night and woke to find my connection was lost. I tried everything I could today including re-installing my wireless adapter (Intel Pro 2200BG) and my connection software (Intel Pro Set). I finally decided to try and set up my TCP / IP manually instead of using 'Obtain IP / DNS Automatically...'. It worked. Great ! However, can anyone suggest why this might have happened please? What specifically could have gone wrong in order for Automatic Acquiring of IP and DNS to stop / refuse to work? Thanks in advance for any advice.

Hello cyberdyne, welcome to PCHF.

DHCP is handled by your router. If you find that your PC is no longer being assigned an IP address, the very very first thing you should try is to reset your router.

Routers do have the tendancy to do this on rare occasions, you can logon to your router, by typing in 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 in Internet Explorer. Depending on your router, you can try running diagnostics and analyse your logs to see if you find any possible issues here, however it can actually be caused by an enless number of factors. You should also see an option for DHCP there, make sure that it is enabled, and also check your DHCP range.

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cyberdyne comments: Very helpful. Thanks

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Thanks for the reply and warm welcome Madmonkey.
I should have given a little more information in my question, but the router is still running 3 other systems, one via LAN and two via wireless.
Therefor, I assumed nothing had changed in my router and didn't even consider looking at it. Perhaps I'm wrong? Could this still be the cause of the issue, but for some reason it only affected one wireless laptop?

Thanks again.

Well, the fact that it could not acquire a DHCP address, but works happily on static would suggest a DHCP issue.

If DHCP itself has failed on the router, it would only affect PC's that had just started in Windows. Other PC's would not experience the problem until it was shutdown/restarted. If you haven't already, try rebooting the other PC's to make sure that you still have connectivity when they come back up, and if so, try your laptop on DHCP again? If your other PC's still work and you laptop doesn't, this would rule out DHCP failing on the router side (but not DHCP altogether). We can rule out one problem at a time if you would like.

There are some possible causes on the client side which we can rule out immediately too.
- First of all, make sure you are not running any torrent software such a uTorrent can cause this problem with certain routers.
- Secondly, go to My Computer, Administrative Tools, Services and look for DHCP Client. Make sure that this service is showing as "Started". If it is not, right click on it and go to Properties. Startup type should by Automatic. You can then Start the service again from here.

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Thanks MadMonkey

I did try to reply last night, but I wrote my reply out, hit 'Post' and the site went down, lol. No problem though.

As suggested, I rebooted my LAN PC and one of my wireless laptops. Both reconnected to the Internet automatically without error.

I checked DHCP in 'services.msc' and it is turned started and set to automatic as it should be.

I then tried my problem laptop with automatic settings for IP and DNS in TCP / IP and again, no connection.

I also tried combinations of both automatic and manual settings, ie:
Both set Manually - Connection fine - as current.
IP set Manually / DNS Auto - Connection ot the wireless router but no internet connection.
IP Auto / DNS set Manually - No connection at all
Both set to Auto - No connection at all

Thank you.

Using the same combination you used above. Reboot the PC, and then:
- Go to Start, Run and type in cmd
- From the command window, type in msconfig
- Right click on the titlebar, and go to Edit, Select All, followed by Edit, Copy.
- Paste the contents into Notepad, Word or whatever text package you use until you have your internet connection back, and then paste the results back here.

Also, what router do you have? Did you check the logs on the router for any problems?

Finally, have you installed any software on the client PC that may be causing your problem, such as security software? Might be worth going through PCHF Prework on my signature too, to make sure that it is not malware related, and we can rule out the client PC altogether.

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I cannot run msconfig from a command window, only from a run command.
I get an error message:
I have run a full scan with both Nod32 AV and Spybot S&D Search & Destroy. Both scans were clean.

My router is a Netgear DG834GT 108mbps Wireless router/modem. The logs don't show anything unusual.
I don't remember installing any software, either immediately or within a few days prior to the problem occurring. It seemed to happen overnight when I was downloading '.rar' files.

I will have a look at your signature link now.
Thanks again.

EDIT:
Here's my HJT log if it helps:

Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.2
Scan saved at 11:12:25, on 09/04/2008
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v7.00 (7.00.6000.16608)
Boot mode: Normal

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\Bin\S24EvMon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\Program Files\ESET\ESET NOD32 Antivirus\ekrn.exe
C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\Bin\EvtEng.exe
C:\Program Files\Dell\NICCONFIGSVC\NICCONFIGSVC.exe
C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\Bin\RegSrvc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\tcpsvcs.exe
C:\Program Files\Sygate\SPF\smc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\Bin\WLKeeper.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\RunDll32.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\hkcmd.exe
C:\Program Files\Apoint\Apoint.exe
C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\bin\ZCfgSvc.exe
C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\Bin\ifrmewrk.exe
C:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy\TeaTimer.exe
C:\Program Files\PeerGuardian2\pg2.exe
C:\Program Files\ESET\ESET NOD32 Antivirus\egui.exe
C:\Program Files\Apoint\Apntex.exe
C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\Bin\Dot1XCfg.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\LVComsX.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe
C:\Program Files\Orbitdownloader\orbitdm.exe
C:\Program Files\HJT\HiJackThis.exe

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Window Title = FireFox
O2 - BHO: btorbit.com - {000123B4-9B42-4900-B3F7-F4B073EFC214} - C:\Program Files\Orbitdownloader\orbitcth.dll
O2 - BHO: Adobe PDF Reader Link Helper - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: Spybot-S&D IE Protection - {53707962-6F74-2D53-2644-206D7942484F} - C:\PROGRA~1\SPYBOT~1\SDHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: SSVHelper Class - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_09\bin\ssv.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [igfxtray] C:\WINDOWS\system32\igfxtray.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [igfxhkcmd] C:\WINDOWS\system32\hkcmd.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Apoint] C:\Program Files\Apoint\Apoint.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [IntelZeroConfig] "C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\bin\ZCfgSvc.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [IntelWireless] "C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\Bin\ifrmewrk.exe" /tf Intel PROSet/Wireless
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SpybotSD TeaTimer] C:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy\TeaTimer.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SmcService] C:\PROGRA~1\Sygate\SPF\smc.exe -startgui
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [PeerGuardian] C:\Program Files\PeerGuardian2\pg2.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [egui] "C:\Program Files\ESET\ESET NOD32 Antivirus\egui.exe" /hide /waitservice
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-18\..\Run: [CTFMON.EXE] C:\WINDOWS\system32\CTFMON.EXE (User 'SYSTEM')
O4 - HKUS\.DEFAULT\..\Run: [CTFMON.EXE] C:\WINDOWS\system32\CTFMON.EXE (User 'Default user')
O6 - HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Restrictions present
O6 - HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control Panel present
O8 - Extra context menu item: &Download by Orbit - res://C:\Program Files\Orbitdownloader\orbitmxt.dll/201
O8 - Extra context menu item: &Grab video by Orbit - res://C:\Program Files\Orbitdownloader\orbitmxt.dll/204
O8 - Extra context menu item: Do&wnload selected by Orbit - res://C:\Program Files\Orbitdownloader\orbitmxt.dll/203
O8 - Extra context menu item: Down&load all by Orbit - res://C:\Program Files\Orbitdownloader\orbitmxt.dll/202
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_09\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_09\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {DFB852A3-47F8-48C4-A200-58CAB36FD2A2} - C:\PROGRA~1\SPYBOT~1\SDHelper.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Spybot - Search & Destroy Configuration - {DFB852A3-47F8-48C4-A200-58CAB36FD2A2} - C:\PROGRA~1\SPYBOT~1\SDHelper.dll
O10 - Unknown file in Winsock LSP: c:\windows\system32\nwprovau.dll
O16 - DPF: {79E0C1C0-316D-11D5-A72A-006097BFA1AC} (EPSON Web Printer-SelfTest Control Class) - http://esupport.epson-europe.com/selftest/en/Prg/ESTPTest.cab
O17 - HKLM\System\CCS\Services\Tcpip\..\{8CE69F8E-96DC-4AEF-8B11-46E060D5D4EA}: NameServer = 195.74.113.58,195.74.113.62
O23 - Service: Eset HTTP Server (EhttpSrv) - ESET - C:\Program Files\ESET\ESET NOD32 Antivirus\EHttpSrv.exe
O23 - Service: Eset Service (ekrn) - ESET - C:\Program Files\ESET\ESET NOD32 Antivirus\ekrn.exe
O23 - Service: Intel(R) PROSet/Wireless Event Log (EvtEng) - Intel Corporation - C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\Bin\EvtEng.exe
O23 - Service: NICCONFIGSVC - Dell Inc. - C:\Program Files\Dell\NICCONFIGSVC\NICCONFIGSVC.exe
O23 - Service: Intel(R) PROSet/Wireless Registry Service (RegSrvc) - Intel Corporation - C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\Bin\RegSrvc.exe
O23 - Service: Intel(R) PROSet/Wireless Service (S24EventMonitor) - Intel Corporation - C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\Bin\S24EvMon.exe
O23 - Service: Sygate Personal Firewall Pro (SmcService) - Sygate Technologies, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Sygate\SPF\smc.exe
O23 - Service: Intel(R) PROSet/Wireless SSO Service (WLANKEEPER) - Intel Corporation - C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\Bin\WLKeeper.exe

--
End of file - 5466 bytes

017 is a result of me having to enter my DNS settings manually to gain a connection.

Sorry cyberdine, I was on autopilot when I wrote that one, I meant ipconfig /all rather than msconfig.

The scans you run with Nod32 and Spybot S&D may well be clean but this does not necessarily mean that your PC is really clean. Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware programs only remove *known* problems. Plus, there is nothing that can compare a human actually checking each entry from problems rather than a programmed response.

At this point we have already ruled out the most likely and common causes to this particular issue. Unless your having any other symptoms that can point us in the right direction, we will need to rule out one thing at a time.

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No problem.

Question - is it safe posting the below in here?

Note:
I didn't alter the IP addresses above, that's how they appeared.