internet and LAN access problem - please help

"Gordon" wrote in message
...
On 02/03/11 23:14, Adam wrote:

"Char wrote in message
...
On Wed, 2 Mar 2011 12:14:41 -0800, wrote:


"Char wrote in message
...
On Wed, 2 Mar 2011 09:39:39 -0800, wrote:


"Char wrote in message
...
On Wed, 2 Mar 2011 05:37:45 -0800, wrote:

4) Now, I am no longer able to access my wired LAN/home network,
which connects to the internet via DSL and Ethernet router.

You can access the Internet, but not the other PC's on your home
network? Check your firewall config and/or any Internet security types
of software. Try pinging the other PC's and try to access this PC from
one or more of the others. What to check next depends on what you find
so far.


No, the problem system does not have internet access either.
ZoneAlarm firewall is setup to allow only a certain IP range in
the trusted zone. This may be the problem since
doing "Diagnose Connection Problems" in Internet Explorer on
problem system shows the following problem ...
"Local Area Connection doesn't have a valid IP configuration"

At least three important details were provided he the presence of
ZoneAlarm, which I suspect is kicking your butt, the fact that the
problem PC doesn't have Internet access, and the name of the interface
that's complaining (Local Area Connection, in other words the wired
network connection).


6) The Network icon on the taskbar has a yellow ! by it.

Which network interface is complaining? Is there a tool tip that comes
up when you hover over the taskbar icon? Is it the standard Windows
Network icon, or a 3rd party program's icon?


How do I find out which network interface is complaining?

It's your wired network interface, the one called Local Network
Connection.

Running "ipconfig" in command prompt on problem system shows ...

Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address . : 169.254.86.63
Subnet mask . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . :

As someone else said, the problem PC was not able to communicate with
your router's DHCP server when this happened. The primary keys/clues
are the 169.254.x.x IP address and the 255.255.0.0 netmask.

It doesn't look like the problem system was assigned a valid IP address.

Oops, just saw a later post where the DHCP address assignment issue
was resolved, but it still looks like ZoneAlarm may be the culprit.

--

Char Jackson


Regarding ZoneAlarm, it's a love-hate relationship. :-)

Thanks to EVERYONE for being so helpful.


Glad you have it sorted.
BTW, if you are behind a NATS router and have Windows firewall running,
there is absolutely NO NEED to use anything like Zonealarm....


Thanks, that's good to know. But, sometimes it's not easy to
remember which system needs ZA and which system does not.
So, I just install on all that will allow.

"Gordon" wrote in message
...

snip

BTW, if you are behind a NATS router and have Windows firewall
running, there is absolutely NO NEED to use anything like
Zonealarm....

Except that IIRC, by default the Windows firewall does not provide
outbound filtering so Zonealarm still provides benefit.

--
Zaphod

Arthur Dent, speaking to Trillian about Zaphod:
"So, two heads is what does it for a girl?"
"...Anything else he's got two of?"

"Zaphod Beeblebrox" wrote in message
...

"Gordon" wrote in message
...

snip

BTW, if you are behind a NATS router and have Windows firewall running,
there is absolutely NO NEED to use anything like Zonealarm....

Except that IIRC, by default the Windows firewall does not provide
outbound filtering so Zonealarm still provides benefit.

The firewall that comes with Windows 7 (and Vista) provides outbound as
well. Run wf.msc to see it.

Or are you saying it's just not "on" by default?

"Seth" wrote in message
...

"Zaphod Beeblebrox" wrote in
message ...

"Gordon" wrote in message
...

snip

BTW, if you are behind a NATS router and have Windows firewall
running, there is absolutely NO NEED to use anything like
Zonealarm....

Except that IIRC, by default the Windows firewall does not provide
outbound filtering so Zonealarm still provides benefit.

The firewall that comes with Windows 7 (and Vista) provides outbound
as well. Run wf.msc to see it.

Or are you saying it's just not "on" by default?


Not on by default was my intent, yes. I've also heard it isn't
particularly friendly to configure, but never having felt the need to
enable it I can't really say.

--
Zaphod

Voted "Worst Dressed Sentient Being in the Known Universe" for seven
years in a row.

"Zaphod Beeblebrox" wrote in message
...

"Seth" wrote in message
...

"Zaphod Beeblebrox" wrote in
message ...

"Gordon" wrote in message
...

snip

BTW, if you are behind a NATS router and have Windows firewall running,
there is absolutely NO NEED to use anything like Zonealarm....

Except that IIRC, by default the Windows firewall does not provide
outbound filtering so Zonealarm still provides benefit.

The firewall that comes with Windows 7 (and Vista) provides outbound as
well. Run wf.msc to see it.

Or are you saying it's just not "on" by default?


Not on by default was my intent, yes. I've also heard it isn't
particularly friendly to configure, but never having felt the need to
enable it I can't really say.

It can be a bit intimidating to configure but it is quite powerful and does
a very good job. My current company, while we're still on XP with a 3rd
party firewall, using the built-in firewall on Windows 7 (I'm engineering
the new desktop currently) is a major contender (and this is for 140,000
machines, 90% laptops in 240 countries).

On Fri, 4 Mar 2011 07:57:22 -0500, "Zaphod Beeblebrox"
wrote:

"Gordon" wrote in message
...

snip

BTW, if you are behind a NATS router and have Windows firewall
running, there is absolutely NO NEED to use anything like
Zonealarm....

Except that IIRC, by default the Windows firewall does not provide
outbound filtering so Zonealarm still provides benefit.


I used to believe that and say much the same thing myself, and back in
those days, I recommended ZA over the Windows firewall for exactly
that reason.

But I've more recently become convinced that outward protection is
just an illusion. Once one of the nasties gets into your computer, it
can essentially do whatever it wants, including circumventing the
firewall. So the extra protection provided by a firewall that monitors
outbound traffic is more apparent than real.