UPDATE:

As of yesterday morning I followed this tip from PracticallyNetworked.com
(linked from Chuck's web page). I took it off of automatic. First I tried
100 MB full duplex, as suggested on the site but I shortly lost the
connection as usual. I then tried 10 MB full duplex and it has worked
flawlessly so far. I don't know if it's just a coincidence, or permently
fixed the problem. 10 MB is fine for internet usage through my cable
company, which I primarily use the network for. I also left it as a static
IP address which didn't work on it's own. Since it is currenlty working
normally, I am not going to change anything else. I copied and pasted the
excerpt below incase anybody else with this type of problem would like to
give it a shot.

Specify Explicit Speed and Duplex Settings
By default, network cards are configured to automatically detect the proper
speed and duplex settings. This automatic sensing can fail, preventing the
computer from accessing the network.

In Windows XP, right click the network connection and click Properties |
Configure | Advanced. In Windows 95/98/Me, go to Control Panel | Network,
double click the network adapter, and click Advanced. The name of the
appropriate setting depends on the particular network card. Specify explicit
speed and duplex settings that work on your network. Most switches and
hardware routers use 100 Mb, full duplex. Hubs use half duplex. Here’s an
example, showing how to configure an SMC 1211TX network card that’s connected
to a switch.


"PhilBy" wrote:

> Any Help Resolving This Problem Would Be Greatly Appreciated…
> I have 2 computers connected to cable internet service through a wired
> router (a Windows 98 older desktop and a 4 year old laptop running Win XP Pro
> SP2). I have noticed since around last weekend, I intermittently lose my
> internet connection on the laptop. For instance if you are surfing the web,
> it just tries to go to the page, but you end up getting the Internet Explorer
> page cannot be displayed message. All internet programs lose the connection
> not just Internet Explorer. Sometimes the connection icon comes up as
> limited connectivitly and sometimes it doesn't. I have searched the internet
> and read through a lot of forums on this message boards. I found people with
> pretty much the same or a similar problem, but the solutions don’t seem to
> work for me. Sometimes my internet connection will work for hours, and other
> times it will only last a few minutes. I even plugged a friend’s laptop in
> to my laptop setup and it worked for as long as I tested it. Sometimes I can
> get mine to work again for awhile if I disconnect the LAN cable from the back
> of the computer and reconnect it. Other times that doesn’t work and you just
> get the little connection status icon moving that circle thing back and forth
> to both computer screens. When you sit on it, it says acquiring network
> address. The repair button in the connection dialog box doesn’t work. I
> have tired the ipconfig commands I found mentioned and none of those work. I
> get an error message that said something to the effect unable to connect to
> DHCP server. I then get that 169… ip address that I read about on here.
> Rebooting will occasionally fix the problem, but not all the time either. I
> have had this setup for a little over two years and have never had a problem
> unless it was something on the ISP’s end. The windows 98 machine still
> connects to the internet as usual, so I have pretty much narrowed it down to
> something on the laptop not the router, cable modem, or ISP. Here are some
> of the things I can recall already trying, but have not solved the problem.
> I bought a new cat5 patch cable, reset the cable modem and router numerous
> times, tried a different jack on the back of the router, updated the nic card
> driver, uninstalled and reinstalled the network card driver, ran the ipconcig
> commands mentioned here, verified that DHCP was enabled in the router
> configuration screen options, tried Chucks suggestions from his networking
> problems webpage such as Microsoft’s winsock2 corruption repair utility, I
> tired 2 of the freeware repair a corrupted LSP / Winsock layer programs,
> tried the NETSH commands at the command prompt, I installed a program to scan
> for and remove spy ware (it didn’t find any), ran a complete virus scan with
> my anti virus program, I tired reinstalling Windows overtop my current
> installation using the repair option on the installation CD. I attempted to
> assign a static IP following instructions I found online, but am unsure if I
> did it completely correctly, at any rate I still was unable to connect.
> Currently the connection has been working for the past hour or so, but I
> don’t know how long that will last. I apologize for the long post, but this
> has got me completely stumped. It is seems at this point, my only option is
> to buy a new laptop, but I don’t want to have to do that.
>
> Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions you may give.
>
> PhilBy
>

On Mon, 7 Nov 2005 19:10:02 -0800, PhilBy <PhilBy@discussions.microsoft.com>
wrote:

>"PhilBy" wrote:
>
>> Any Help Resolving This Problem Would Be Greatly Appreciated…
>> I have 2 computers connected to cable internet service through a wired
>> router (a Windows 98 older desktop and a 4 year old laptop running Win XP Pro
>> SP2). I have noticed since around last weekend, I intermittently lose my
>> internet connection on the laptop. For instance if you are surfing the web,
>> it just tries to go to the page, but you end up getting the Internet Explorer
>> page cannot be displayed message. All internet programs lose the connection
>> not just Internet Explorer. Sometimes the connection icon comes up as
>> limited connectivitly and sometimes it doesn't. I have searched the internet
>> and read through a lot of forums on this message boards. I found people with
>> pretty much the same or a similar problem, but the solutions don’t seem to
>> work for me. Sometimes my internet connection will work for hours, and other
>> times it will only last a few minutes. I even plugged a friend’s laptop in
>> to my laptop setup and it worked for as long as I tested it. Sometimes I can
>> get mine to work again for awhile if I disconnect the LAN cable from the back
>> of the computer and reconnect it. Other times that doesn’t work and you just
>> get the little connection status icon moving that circle thing back and forth
>> to both computer screens. When you sit on it, it says acquiring network
>> address. The repair button in the connection dialog box doesn’t work. I
>> have tired the ipconfig commands I found mentioned and none of those work. I
>> get an error message that said something to the effect unable to connect to
>> DHCP server. I then get that 169… ip address that I read about on here.
>> Rebooting will occasionally fix the problem, but not all the time either. I
>> have had this setup for a little over two years and have never had a problem
>> unless it was something on the ISP’s end. The windows 98 machine still
>> connects to the internet as usual, so I have pretty much narrowed it down to
>> something on the laptop not the router, cable modem, or ISP. Here are some
>> of the things I can recall already trying, but have not solved the problem.
>> I bought a new cat5 patch cable, reset the cable modem and router numerous
>> times, tried a different jack on the back of the router, updated the nic card
>> driver, uninstalled and reinstalled the network card driver, ran the ipconcig
>> commands mentioned here, verified that DHCP was enabled in the router
>> configuration screen options, tried Chucks suggestions from his networking
>> problems webpage such as Microsoft’s winsock2 corruption repair utility, I
>> tired 2 of the freeware repair a corrupted LSP / Winsock layer programs,
>> tried the NETSH commands at the command prompt, I installed a program to scan
>> for and remove spy ware (it didn’t find any), ran a complete virus scan with
>> my anti virus program, I tired reinstalling Windows overtop my current
>> installation using the repair option on the installation CD. I attempted to
>> assign a static IP following instructions I found online, but am unsure if I
>> did it completely correctly, at any rate I still was unable to connect.
>> Currently the connection has been working for the past hour or so, but I
>> don’t know how long that will last. I apologize for the long post, but this
>> has got me completely stumped. It is seems at this point, my only option is
>> to buy a new laptop, but I don’t want to have to do that.
>>
>> Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions you may give.
>>
>> PhilBy

>UPDATE:
>
>As of yesterday morning I followed this tip from PracticallyNetworked.com
>(linked from Chuck's web page). I took it off of automatic. First I tried
>100 MB full duplex, as suggested on the site but I shortly lost the
>connection as usual. I then tried 10 MB full duplex and it has worked
>flawlessly so far. I don't know if it's just a coincidence, or permently
>fixed the problem. 10 MB is fine for internet usage through my cable
>company, which I primarily use the network for. I also left it as a static
>IP address which didn't work on it's own. Since it is currenlty working
>normally, I am not going to change anything else. I copied and pasted the
>excerpt below incase anybody else with this type of problem would like to
>give it a shot.
>
>Specify Explicit Speed and Duplex Settings
>By default, network cards are configured to automatically detect the proper
>speed and duplex settings. This automatic sensing can fail, preventing the
>computer from accessing the network.
>
>In Windows XP, right click the network connection and click Properties |
>Configure | Advanced. In Windows 95/98/Me, go to Control Panel | Network,
>double click the network adapter, and click Advanced. The name of the
>appropriate setting depends on the particular network card. Specify explicit
>speed and duplex settings that work on your network. Most switches and
>hardware routers use 100 Mb, full duplex. Hubs use half duplex. Here’s an
>example, showing how to configure an SMC 1211TX network card that’s connected
>to a switch.

Well, we're glad that you were able to resolve your problem, that you were kind
enough to update the thread, and that you were able to find the paragraph key
and make your post readable. ;-)

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.