How to recover lost network connectivity

I should have mentioned that I tried that yesterday. (Yes, subnet in my case, is 192.168.0.x as you suggested it might be.) I managed to set the static IP addr, but couldn't find where to specify the Connection-specific DNS Suffix or (I think) the default gateway. Even if I had connectivity I couldn't do DSN searches so I really was still dead in the water.

"The collection of information used to connect your application to a particular ODBC database. The ODBC Driver Manager uses this information to create a connection to the database. A DSN can be stored in a file (a file DSN) or in the Windows Registry (a machine DSN)."

That's far beyond IP networking. Is there more to this story?
Bob

Did you try NSLOOKUP and sorry but where to set the DNS is widely documented so I'll skip writing where that is.

HOWEVER there is that issue with Norton and Kapersky that block the internet when they expire (to protect you?) But I call that thuggish behavior.
Bob

I've set a static IP addr and subnet mask, set the default gateway, set the (hopefully correct) Connection-specific DNS Suffix, and set the DNS addr (which, according to an NSLOOKUP from another PC on my LAN is the same as the gateway addr). However, I could not even successfully ping that addr so NSLOOKUP obviously times out.. (And yes, my static IP addr and the router are on the same subnet.)

I have Kaspersky and turned off it's firewall to see if that would make a difference, but it did not.

I have a USB-connected wireless adapter, but Windows says it is connected to my access point (which is also my router) so I assume the adapter is working.

As to the DNS, why not try the old Google DNS of 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4?

-> And let's be clear here. Windows doesn't handle TWO network connections automagically. If you have a WiFi connection, you would never expect the NIC to function without a lot of discussion about what you were trying to do.
Bob

I misread the comment about Kaspersky. It has not expired on the PC in question..

I don't have two active network connections on this PC - just a wireless connection to my wireless access point with has an internal ethernet-appearing connection to the the router (which contains a name server) which has an internal ethernet-appearing connection to the DSL modem. A DSN lookup from this PC will get nowhere if it can't get to the DNS in the router which will forward the lookup to a real DNS that my ISP connects me to. There's no way I can get to the Google DNS.

This LAN segment uses the private IP subnet 192.169.0.0 with subnet mask 255.255.255.0. The router (gateway) and DNS functions are at 192.168.0.1. 2 other devices - a PC, a laptop, a printer, and a networked drive - have no problem talking to each other on the LAN. The laptop and PC have no trouble accessing the internet through this configuration. And until yesterday, the WinXP PC that I'm grumbling about had to trouble accessing the internet and printer through this configuration.

It appears we've hit an impasse. That is, I fear you'll have to let your support work on it since, and I could be wrong, you are not going to try the usual.
Bob

In that case, and given the other posts you've made, odds are you're looking at a corrupted TCP/IP stack and a reinstall of Windows to fix it. You can try other suggestions to fix it and maybe you'll even get lucky, but as I said before, every time I've run into issues like this or known someone else who has run into issues like this the only solution seems to be to reinstall the entire OS.

I always give google dns a shot along with NSLOOKUP testing then before I reinstall I'm off to google this...

"XP NETSH RESET."
Bob

Re: Which is why we often use another DNS
"... I fear you'll have to let your support work on it ..."
This is a home computer and I'm the only "support" I've got. And so far I'm not doing to well.

Re: In that case
"... every time I've run into issues like this or known someone else who has
run into issues like this the only solution seems to be to reinstall the
entire OS. ..."

Oh good. I wonder if I still have the install CD.

Re: Before I go that far.
"... I always give google dns a shot along with NSLOOKUP testing then before I reinstall..."
But as I said before, I can't get to any DNS. I can't even ping the gateway.

"XP NETSH RESET."
I tried that yesterday. It achieved nothing.

But there must be something I can try before reinstalling the OS, and I've got nothing to loose if reinstallation is the next step. There are only so many places TCP/IP stack info can reside: the registry, (likely), an executable (unlikely), a config flat-file somewhere (unlikely, but what do I know?).

Anyone have any idea what I should be looking for?

Sadly no, the TCP/IP stack is part of the networking subsystem which is a core part of the OS. My personal theory on why this kind of thing happens is that Microsoft appropriated the TCP/IP stack from BSD some time ago (completely legal and it's why there's a HOSTS file on Windows) and tried to kind of shoehorn it in. It used to be there were programs like Winsock Trumpet that handled this, but that hasn't been the case for a very long time. Anyway, Microsoft has been slowly modifying this code over time, possibly trying to incorporate updates made in FreeBSD over time as well, and ultimately you're trying to use a networking stack developed for a completely different OS architecture. Think of it sort of like the scene from the Apollo 13 movie where they have to figure out how to basically get a square peg into a round hole using random bits and bobs laying about. Except instead of a temporary emergency solution, it's been built upon and extended over the years.

I could be way off base, that's just my take based on what info I can glean from outside the Windows development process, but it would rather neatly explain a lot of the observable scenarios you find with Windows.

That's not a DNS issue at all so let's REWIND to the beginning.

Did you try a Linux Live CD to see if the hardware is good?

Re: Sadly no
"... the TCP/IP stack is part of the networking subsystem which is a core part of the OS ..."
Obviously. But I would doubt that status and config stuff is stored in the code - in the executables. And if the the code had gotten clobbered I would be getting execution failures, not just problems connecting.

Re: Tell more about this PING THE GATEWAY

I agree that this is not a DNS problem, and hopefully I haven't made it sound like it is.
So let's back up a bit.

I have a USB-connected wireless network adapter with Windows configuring and controlling the adapter. Windows reports a good wireless connection to my access point with good signal strength. But that is as far as I get with connectivity.

When I have the TCP/IP stack configured for DHCP, Windows reports that it is trying to acquire an IP addr, but the process times out. Windows reports I have limited or no connectivity, and IPCONFIG reports some private net IP addr that seems to be built into Windows. (At least I assume that's where the addr comes from. Maybe that is is part of the problem.) Doing an IPCONFIG Release resets it to 0.0.0.0 but Renew gets me right back where I was.

If I configure a static addr appropriate for my LAN - 192.168.0.nnn - Windows no longer says I have limited or no connectivity, but a ping to my router - 192.168.0.1 - times out. And if I can't get to the router I can't get anywhere.

I don't have any idea how USB-attached wireless adapter works, but I assume the stack interface of the driver looks just like the stack interface of a NIC driver. Since the wireless adapter successfully makes a wireless connection I assume the hardware is working.

I guess I could lug this PC (and accompanying peripherals) up to my router and try an ethernet connection, but that's a big hassle since they are on different floors.

I know nothing of "Linux Live". Is it likely to support the configuration and use of a USB-attached wireless adapter?