Help! My folk's Computer has Lost Internet Capability!

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I was hoping someone could help me analyze and fix a problem concerning my parent's computer, which has since a few days ago, refused whatsoever to connect to the Internet, save for small bursts which last in infinitesimal windows of time. This REALLY blows, because my parents are invading my room by the mass to use MY Internet, which is cramping my style.

The computer's specs are as follows:

OS: Win XP Pro
Processor: AMD Athlon XP 2.8 ghtz
RAM: 512 MB

For the last year, we have used SBC Yahoo DSL for our Internet, which uses an external modem connected to the phoneline (with filters of course) which then connects to the computer using an ethernet cable.

I have ascertained that the problem is not with the modem, because both of our computer's take turns using it for Internet, and my computer accesses the internet without consequence (explains how I'm writing this to you ^_^). So, knowing this, I have tried all I can think of to fix the problem. SBC Yahoo comes with a tool called the SBC Self-Suport tool, which cannot resolve the issue at all. I've attempted to repair the connection, but this always fails, usually informing me that it cannot renew my IP.

I have tried disabling my firewall to no effect, have tried using Internet Explorer, still to no effect, and I've tried uninstalling SBC Yahoo and re-installing, but this fails due to the fact that I can't connect to finish the install. To m knowledge, no new programs have been installed. The only thing I ca imagine is that the ethernet itself is damaged, something I've never before heard of hapenning.

Can anyone help me? I've sent a similar message to the forum on "Bleepingcomputer.com", but things are slow. I want to fix this as quickly as I can.

(PS: My antivirus and firewall is Norton Internet Security)
 
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Norton Internet Security is garbage, absolute trash. I'd uninstall it immediately.

My room-mate had Norton Antivirus/Internet Security, and it somehow effed up, causing his laptop to take literally 10 minutes to load on startup, and when Firefox updated, Norton decided to remove the permissions for it to access the internet, and when he would try to add the permissions, Norton would lock up and he'd have to restart his computer.
 
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Just checked, and the Ethernet is a direct attachment of the motherboard, not a card.

@Optimus Prime: What? Why? It's always served us well in the past. I haven't detected a single virus in all the time we've used it.
 
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Has it got more than one port? one of the ports on my mobo died for ethernet, so you may want to also try that. if it doesn't work then buy a cheap NIC card and see if that works.
 
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Let's just say that once my roommate uninstalled Norton, his laptop stopped taking 10 minutes to load Windows, and Firefox once again worked.
 
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Optimus Prime said:
Let's just say that once my roommate uninstalled Norton, his laptop stopped taking 10 minutes to load Windows, and Firefox once again worked.
heh. true Norton is a POS. Causes more problems than fixes.

J-dude, for the sake of having fun, uninstall norton and see what happens :D
 
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Tsunami said:
Has it got more than one port? one of the ports on my mobo died for ethernet, so you may want to also try that. if it doesn't work then buy a cheap NIC card and see if that works.
Nope, just one port. NIC card huh? What do those typically go for these days? I'm actually seeing a movie today, and a Best Buy is right across from the theater, so I may be able to try it.

EDIT: Really? Well...what program would you suggest I use? I'm not especially attached to Norton myself, but if it does help your speed...God knows my folks computer has 512 MB of RAM and it runs like a crappy computer in terms of speed. My PC uses the same thing and has an oddly long startup time for a computer with a 3.8 gigahertz dual core processor with 2 gigs of RAM.
 
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I use BitDefender and I have never had ANY problems ever.

Why not set up a network with your pc and your folks pc. If you can ping them from there and they can ping you, the ethernet isn't broken (as far as I can tell).
 
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Raeku said:
I use BitDefender and I have never had ANY problems ever.

Why not set up a network with your pc and your folks pc. If you can ping them from there and they can ping you, the ethernet isn't broken (as far as I can tell).
Sounds ideal...how do I do that?
 
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Put a network cable (Cross-over cable I think) in your ethernet port and the other in your folks ethernet port. Go to "My network places" and set you IP to something like "190.160.0.10" and the other pc to "190.160.0.20"

The Subnet mask will probably set itself to something like "255.255.255.0".

After that go to start, run. Type "cmd".

Type PING 190.160.0.10/20 (type the other pc's ip there)

You should be able to ping. If not it will say something like Ping timed out.

Im not a pro on this so I suggest letting someone with more skillz verify this before you do it.
 
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For internet security, I use Avast! (Yes, it has a ! at the end.)

I've seen Norton and it's just a huge memory hog, plus it basically tells every program you have to go **** itself, and disallows basically everything.

So it's security, but it's waaaaay too hard-core.
 
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So, both computers are connected to a DSL modem, or are they both connected through a router? If you have two DSL modems, and you both try to log on at once, that is very likely your problem. Try shutting down your pc and see if theirs has access.

If you don't have a router for this setup, you should.
 
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I assume you may be using a modem and router in one?. What modem/router are you using?.

I also agree with what everyone says about norton, hence why I avoid it at all costs (but yet, my brother praises norton...).
 
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My setup works like this:

We have an external modem which sits next to a local phone line. My parent's computer utilizes the SBC software in the connection. Mine does not and is no in any way sharing an account. When we swap Internet, we unplug the Ethernet cord from one computer and plug it into the other.

Also, I've purchased ZoneAlarm Security Suite and have done away with Norton.
 
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If you go into device manger on the computer that doesn't work with the internet, go to My Computer > Properties > Hardware > Device Manger > Network adapters, does it say they are working correctly?. I'm beginning to think that through unplugging the cable so much that you have killed your lan port/card on one computer or the cable may be in someway damaged.
 
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|Overlord| said:
If you go into device manger on the computer that doesn't work with the internet, go to My Computer > Properties > Hardware > Device Manger > Network adapters, does it say they are working correctly?. I'm beginning to think that through unplugging the cable so much that you have killed your lan port/card on one computer or the cable may be in someway damaged.
I've already checked that, and it said they are working properly. It may very well be a hardware issue, but I know it's not the cord, simply because the same cord is used for my computer. I'm attempting (as prescribed at bleepingcomputer.com) to run a system restore to a few days before the Internet went dead and see what happens. If it turns outbad, then tommorrow, I'll just drive to Best Buy and pick up an NIC card with another Ethernet port. And to prevent another such damaging, I'm going to try and get the wireless internet router to work for my PC (won't work in the other because the motherboard is too close to the walls of the CPU tower).

System restore should be just about done. I'll keep you postd on what happens.
 
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If I were you I'd strongly suggest you look into purchasing a router. I myself prefer linksys routers overall, even though my brother works for d-link (does have it's benefits though, I get free networking equipment :)).
 
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We tried that once, but the pc is custom made and the d-link router card (the one with the antenna) has a useless bit of metal on it that prevents me from installing it correctly because the motherboard is too close to the inside of the CPU tower's walls. It'd probably work for my computer since mine's made by HP. Haven't tried it yet. I'm getting the urge to, so my folks could at least not worry about who's online and when, and they won't have to keep unplugging that thrice-damned cord from the computer.

A little update on the situation: System restore failed to fix the problem one iota. I was going to buy the NIC Card today (we were going to the Best Buy anyway just to buy a DDR Dance-Pad for my brother anyway) but that plan sank for some reason or another.
 
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