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A number of sources have indicated that my TCP/IC settings are incorrect, but this appears to be a complicated business under XP, and I haven’t had any luck. The local network itself is working well with a crossover cable, but even with the files I wanted transferred now moved and the cable removed I still can’t get on the internet or send or receive email. Any more explicit directions would be welcome.

Thanks, peter

When the frazzle has worn off you might take a second look at McAfee: I think it can be configured to allow the LAN to function while protecting you on the internet. This matters to those of us who are still using dial-up and sharing, and if I understand it correctly it can provide you with more than one firewall level (with a third thrown in if XP’s firewall can be added), and the protection is additive. Better get an expert opinion on that, however.
Good luck, peterg

When Microsoft says you

Could firewalls be a problem? If you have a proprietary firewall such as ZoneAlarm on each of the computers, and the router has a firewall, and the Windows XP firewall is being used in any or all cases, could they be blocking the transfers?

(Edited by peterg on 18-May-03 20:33. )

Neither computer had a network card prior to this; I put them into free slots and XP properly identified both. I know nothing about networks but there

Thanks – I didn’t know this thing existed and I think it’s terrific since I’m performing a clean install and I was struggling with Recovery Console. I hate to ask the supplementary question because I think I know the answer, but Is there any way to change the relative size of an existing partition? My system drive is too small, and I really only need one. One last format and installation won’t kill me, but if there’s a quicker way I’d be interested.

Success, thanks to your suggestion. Re-installation seems to have solved it, but I also discovered a newer version of the installation software on the manufacturer’s site (which I hadn’t previously been able to locate), so maybe that was what did it. Whatever the case, I’m very grateful for your help.

The machine is a 400 MHz IBM Aptiva E Series 274, and the CDs I have, aside from installation CDs for programs (and the flash drive), are the original OEM CDs.
It has two USB ports, and I have LapLink, which works perfectly, and a CanoScan scanner, which also works perfectly, so the ports are fine. One concern I did have, however, was drive letters since I have the software installed for a parallel-port Zip drive and I recently installed PGP, which also takes a drive letter, and the flash drive will want one as well. Most of the alphabet is available and none of the other applications (except PGP) is in service at the moment. As for the BIOS, I’m not sure what I should be looking for.

Now you’ve really got me worried. What on earth is the Mainboard System CD?

There is indeed a setup.exe on the installation CD, and it appears to do what it’s supposed to do and reports that the drivers are installed, and Windows then dutifully updates the drivers list. Unfortunately, I still can’t get the drive to appear.

Thank you, it works perfectly, apart from drop caps which are easily filled in. I got thrown off by all the frames and fancywork, but I’ll want frame contents for fields and I can select them individually.

Thanks for the help. Cleaning out registry entries solved the problem with no apparent ill effects.

The panic is over for the moment. I restored com1 through safe mode and all is as it was before. Whew. (Still can’t get dial-up.)
Help came from a different source, and here’s the fix, which worked like magic:

I had the same problem. There are some corrupted files in the registry. Here is the solution.

>Run: regedit
>Select folders in the folllowing order:
>-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
>-SYSTEM
>-Current Control Set
>-Services
>-RasMan
>-PPP
>-EAP
>-when you get to this point, you should see 4 folders (numbered 4, 13, 25, 26)
>-DELETE: folders 25 and 26
>-Reboot

When your system comes back up give it a moment to load then check your connection before creating another one because your old connection will still be there.

It detects it all right, and then freezes completely. No mouse response, and on rebooting it runs a scan of the disk.
I admit I couldn’t figure out how to disable com1 in the BIOS and simply disabled it in Device Manager.
The machine is kaput. With the modem removed I now get as far as the Dell splash screen and it freezes.

Rule 14 appears to apply to the Lounge only, and the downtime for this computer has been scandalous. I intend to post a similar query to certain manufacturers’ boards ASAP, but will monitor all and let everyone know if a solution is found.