Win 7 disaster with Network settings...

[chicagofan]

My new laptop of almost 2 weeks, had been working fine wirelessly
connected, then yesterday Microsoft downloaded 9-12 security and other
updates... and today I can NOT connect... even though this laptop with
WinXP sitting next to it... is working fine... with the same router and
modem.

It tells me my laptop is connected but I have no access. It shows in
the network configuration map an unidentified network between my laptop
and the internet. So I wondered if all these great security updates
allowed my connection to be hi-jacked? I tried every way I could, to
find where I could restore my laptop's connection, because all of their
fix-it resolutions just say unplug everything and start over.

This is an Intel adapter that I'm not familiar with [surprise... ],
and I don't want to run up and down my stairs plugging and un-plugging,
if anyone can tell me where in all of those locations is the setup I am
looking for... to get my connection back. The terrific Windows
firewall shows me public network is connected and my home network is
NOT... and I can't change the outgoing to block it. I knew I never
should have never depended on MS for firewall protection.

Is there any way out of this besides restoring to a previous day? If I
do that, I'm going to get all those MS updates again... <sigh>. HELP....
bj

 

[Paul]

My new laptop of almost 2 weeks, had been working fine wirelessly
connected, then yesterday Microsoft downloaded 9-12 security and other
updates... and today I can NOT connect... even though this laptop with
WinXP sitting next to it... is working fine... with the same router and
modem.

It tells me my laptop is connected but I have no access. It shows in
the network configuration map an unidentified network between my laptop
and the internet. So I wondered if all these great security updates
allowed my connection to be hi-jacked? I tried every way I could, to
find where I could restore my laptop's connection, because all of their
fix-it resolutions just say unplug everything and start over.

This is an Intel adapter that I'm not familiar with [surprise... ],
and I don't want to run up and down my stairs plugging and un-plugging,
if anyone can tell me where in all of those locations is the setup I am
looking for... to get my connection back. The terrific Windows
firewall shows me public network is connected and my home network is
NOT... and I can't change the outgoing to block it. I knew I never
should have never depended on MS for firewall protection.

Is there any way out of this besides restoring to a previous day? If I
do that, I'm going to get all those MS updates again... <sigh>.
HELP....
bj

A group unrelated to computers, noted this as well, although without
any precision as to what exactly they were seeing for symptoms.

Noted here as well. No resolution yet.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com...l/thread/de8fa29f-5048-403f-8ad0-79c86e99a030

Judging by the new postings at the very bottom of this page,
February updates are a "train wreck". I can hear the screech of
metal and broken glass from here... Rail cars all over the place.

http://pcsupport.about.com/b/2012/02/14/patch-tuesday.htm

And people wonder why I don't do them on Tuesday, when they come out

Paul

 

[chicagofan]

My new laptop of almost 2 weeks, had been working fine wirelessly
connected, then yesterday Microsoft downloaded 9-12 security and other
updates... and today I can NOT connect... even though this laptop with
WinXP sitting next to it... is working fine... with the same router and
modem.

It tells me my laptop is connected but I have no access. It shows in
the network configuration map an unidentified network between my laptop
and the internet. So I wondered if all these great security updates
allowed my connection to be hi-jacked? I tried every way I could, to
find where I could restore my laptop's connection, because all of their
fix-it resolutions just say unplug everything and start over.

This is an Intel adapter that I'm not familiar with [surprise... ],
and I don't want to run up and down my stairs plugging and un-plugging,
if anyone can tell me where in all of those locations is the setup I am
looking for... to get my connection back. The terrific Windows
firewall shows me public network is connected and my home network is
NOT... and I can't change the outgoing to block it. I knew I never
should have depended on MS for firewall protection.

Is there any way out of this besides restoring to a previous day? If I
do that, I'm going to get all those MS updates again...<sigh>.
HELP....
bj

A group unrelated to computers, noted this as well, although without
any precision as to what exactly they were seeing for symptoms.

Noted here as well. No resolution yet.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com...l/thread/de8fa29f-5048-403f-8ad0-79c86e99a030

Judging by the new postings at the very bottom of this page,
February updates are a "train wreck". I can hear the screech of
metal and broken glass from here... Rail cars all over the place.

http://pcsupport.about.com/b/2012/02/14/patch-tuesday.htm

And people wonder why I don't do them on Tuesday, when they come out

Paul

LOL! I usually don't allow them to update automatically, that was just
a setting that I hadn't thought about before they had already downloaded
them, and when I was shutting down they installed. I usually checked
everything before I installed on my XP... too late now.

Looks like my only choice is to restore to a previous day AFTER ....
double-checking that I stopped the automatic updates.

Thanks so much, Paul for letting me know I wasn't alone, and that it
wasn't related my new hardware.
bj

 

[Char Jackson]

My new laptop of almost 2 weeks, had been working fine wirelessly
connected, then yesterday Microsoft downloaded 9-12 security and other
updates... and today I can NOT connect... even though this laptop with
WinXP sitting next to it... is working fine... with the same router and
modem.

It tells me my laptop is connected but I have no access. It shows in
the network configuration map an unidentified network between my laptop
and the internet.

Check that you're actually connecting to your own access point (AP)
and not that of your neighbor. If the SSID of your access point is
still set to its default, change it! If you're connected to your own
AP, did the AP assign you a valid IP address? Can you ping your AP? Is
Windows expecting you to re-enter your network encryption key? Can you
connect to any other wireless networks, or is your own network the
only problem child?

Troubleshooting this isn't difficult and should definitely be
attempted before resorting to rolling back. Ugh! I hate when people
reach for System Restore at the drop of a hat.

I knew I never
should have never depended on MS for firewall protection.

What's that got to do with anything?

Is there any way out of this besides restoring to a previous day? If I
do that, I'm going to get all those MS updates again... <sigh>. HELP....
bj

I haven't seen any of those issues out here in my neck of the woods,
so it's probably not a widespread problem. Should be easy to fix if
you dig in a bit.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

In message <[email protected]>, chicagofan

It tells me my laptop is connected but I have no access. It shows in
the network configuration map an unidentified network between my laptop
and the internet. So I wondered if all these great security updates
allowed my connection to be hi-jacked? I tried every way I could, to

[]
Although it looks from other posts in the thread as if You Are Not Alone
and it's the upgrades that are responsible, if you want to see if
anyone's hacked into your wireless router, then (via your old PC that
still works with the router), go into the router's controls (usually via
one of http://192.168.0.1, 192.168.0.0, '1.0, '0.1, '0.254, 10.0.0.2 ...
see your router's handbook); somewhere in there, you should be able to
find a list of all the devices that are connected to it. (You may find
you need to give a username and password - again see the handbook, but
they're often some combination of admin, Admin, password, and blank, if
you've not changed them.) Once you're looking at the list of what's
connected, it should contain the PC you're using to access it (assuming
that's coming via wireless rather than wired), possibly the router
itself, and nothing else. It'll be a list of wireless addresses - they
should usually match a label on the wireless part of what's connected
(underneath the laptop/netbook if its wifi is built-in).

 

[chicagofan]

In message<[email protected]>, chicagofan

It tells me my laptop is connected but I have no access. It shows in
the network configuration map an unidentified network between my laptop
and the internet. So I wondered if all these great security updates
allowed my connection to be hi-jacked? I tried every way I could, to

[]
Although it looks from other posts in the thread as if You Are Not Alone
and it's the upgrades that are responsible, if you want to see if
anyone's hacked into your wireless router, then (via your old PC that
still works with the router), go into the router's controls (usually via
one of http://192.168.0.1, 192.168.0.0, '1.0, '0.1, '0.254, 10.0.0.2 ...
see your router's handbook); somewhere in there, you should be able to
find a list of all the devices that are connected to it. (You may find
you need to give a username and password - again see the handbook, but
they're often some combination of admin, Admin, password, and blank, if
you've not changed them.) Once you're looking at the list of what's
connected, it should contain the PC you're using to access it (assuming
that's coming via wireless rather than wired), possibly the router
itself, and nothing else. It'll be a list of wireless addresses - they
should usually match a label on the wireless part of what's connected
(underneath the laptop/netbook if its wifi is built-in).

I looked over my settings in the router setup and couldn't find a list
of connected devices, but I'll check that again later.

Right now, it looks like my system is just fried, because MS has been
downloading updates every day since I started using it [to catch up I
suppose] and the February 8th date I thought was safe... has the same
problem now... of no connection.

It appears I'll have to go back to the Gateway disks I made on day 1 or
2. I'll try again tomorrow one more time to find a solution, when
I'm in a better frame of mind. Thanks, John....
bj

 

[chicagofan]

Check that you're actually connecting to your own access point (AP)
and not that of your neighbor. If the SSID of your access point is
still set to its default, change it! If you're connected to your own
AP, did the AP assign you a valid IP address? Can you ping your AP? Is
Windows expecting you to re-enter your network encryption key? Can you
connect to any other wireless networks, or is your own network the
only problem child?

There is nothing wrong with my network. My son-in-law's PS3 and my old
XP laptop are connecting fine, that is how I am able to post here. My
Win7 laptop which was connecting yesterday... is NOT today... and the
only changes made were the MS updates downloaded yesterday.

It has said alternately that I am connected to an unidentified network,
I have no IP, and the adapter is not working or not connected. It
shows my SSID on the Win7 as unconnected, and I cannot find a way to
change this. I have not tried connecting to someone else's nerwork, I
want to fix mine.

Troubleshooting this isn't difficult and should definitely be
attempted before resorting to rolling back. Ugh! I hate when people
reach for System Restore at the drop of a hat.

I've never had to do this before... but I did ... a few minutes ago to
Feb. 8th, and it did not help.

What's that got to do with anything?

It's just one more thing I am not familiar with, and I thought there
might be something there related to attempts to get on my system in general.

I haven't seen any of those issues out here in my neck of the woods,
so it's probably not a widespread problem. Should be easy to fix if
you dig in a bit.

If I were using XP, that might be true. It takes me forever to find the
simplest things in Win7, and I was used to the Broadcom utility. I
can't tell if it's Win7 or Intel that makes it harder for me to find
settings I would know how to work with.
bj

 

[chicagofan]

In message<[email protected]>, chicagofan
[]

It tells me my laptop is connected but I have no access. It shows in
the network configuration map an unidentified network between my laptop
and the internet. So I wondered if all these great security updates
allowed my connection to be hi-jacked? I tried every way I could, to

[]
Although it looks from other posts in the thread as if You Are Not Alone
and it's the upgrades that are responsible, if you want to see if
anyone's hacked into your wireless router, then (via your old PC that
still works with the router), go into the router's controls (usually via
one of http://192.168.0.1, 192.168.0.0, '1.0, '0.1, '0.254, 10.0.0.2 ...
see your router's handbook); somewhere in there, you should be able to
find a list of all the devices that are connected to it. (You may find
you need to give a username and password - again see the handbook, but
they're often some combination of admin, Admin, password, and blank, if
you've not changed them.) Once you're looking at the list of what's
connected, it should contain the PC you're using to access it (assuming
that's coming via wireless rather than wired), possibly the router
itself, and nothing else. It'll be a list of wireless addresses - they
should usually match a label on the wireless part of what's connected
(underneath the laptop/netbook if its wifi is built-in).

I looked over my settings in the router setup and couldn't find a list
of connected devices, but I'll check that again later.

Right now, it looks like my system is just fried, because MS has been
downloading updates every day since I started using it [to catch up I
suppose] and the February 8th date I thought was safe... has the same
problem now... of no connection.

It appears I'll have to go back to the Gateway disks I made on day 1 or
2. I'll try again tomorrow one more time to find a solution, when
I'm in a better frame of mind. Thanks, John....
bj

Last word today... I promise. Had to report just how screwed up
that laptop is now. It told me that it restored to Feb. 8th... but when
checking the updates INSTALLED through that date... every single update
through yesterday is there, showing as installed successfully. That is
why I still have the problem of NO connection, after I thought I had
restored to Feb. 8th.

I did not touch anything and it completed the restore... but would not
shut down or restart... so I powered it OFF, after waiting a long time.
When I powered it back ON ... I still have all of these updates. I
have never had this much trouble with a pc in 20+ years.
bj

 

[Char Jackson]

There is nothing wrong with my network. My son-in-law's PS3 and my old
XP laptop are connecting fine, that is how I am able to post here. My
Win7 laptop which was connecting yesterday... is NOT today... and the
only changes made were the MS updates downloaded yesterday.

Ok, it's always good to know the parameters of the problem and your
answers do seem to point to the laptop. Let's focus there, then.

It has said alternately that I am connected to an unidentified network,
I have no IP, and the adapter is not working or not connected. It
shows my SSID on the Win7 as unconnected, and I cannot find a way to
change this. I have not tried connecting to someone else's nerwork, I
want to fix mine.

You didn't answer any of my other questions, so I'll repeat them here.
Check that you're actually connecting to your own access point (AP)
and not that of your neighbor. If the SSID of your access point is
still set to its default, change it! If you're connected to your own
AP, did the AP assign you a valid IP address? Can you ping your AP? Is
Windows expecting you to re-enter your network encryption key?

Also, I assume the very first thing you did was to open a Command
Prompt and run ipconfig /all to see the current status of the network
interfaces. That would provide some much needed information and is
also where you'll find the ping command.

 

[P.O.]

because of ms updates screwing up my laptop i had to get in touch
with HP to have them turn my computer back to an earlier time-system
restore would not work- i now have ms updates turned off permanently
and have not had any problems- insane isn't it?

In message<[email protected]>, chicagofan
[]


It tells me my laptop is connected but I have no access. It shows in
the network configuration map an unidentified network between my laptop
and the internet. So I wondered if all these great security updates
allowed my connection to be hi-jacked? I tried every way I could, to


[]
Although it looks from other posts in the thread as if You Are Not Alone
and it's the upgrades that are responsible, if you want to see if
anyone's hacked into your wireless router, then (via your old PC that
still works with the router), go into the router's controls (usually via
one of http://192.168.0.1, 192.168.0.0, '1.0, '0.1, '0.254, 10.0.0.2 ...
see your router's handbook); somewhere in there, you should be able to
find a list of all the devices that are connected to it. (You may find
you need to give a username and password - again see the handbook, but
they're often some combination of admin, Admin, password, and blank, if
you've not changed them.) Once you're looking at the list of what's
connected, it should contain the PC you're using to access it (assuming
that's coming via wireless rather than wired), possibly the router
itself, and nothing else. It'll be a list of wireless addresses - they
should usually match a label on the wireless part of what's connected
(underneath the laptop/netbook if its wifi is built-in).

I looked over my settings in the router setup and couldn't find a list
of connected devices, but I'll check that again later.

Right now, it looks like my system is just fried, because MS has been
downloading updates every day since I started using it [to catch up I
suppose] and the February 8th date I thought was safe... has the same
problem now... of no connection.

It appears I'll have to go back to the Gateway disks I made on day 1 or
2. I'll try again tomorrow one more time to find a solution, when
I'm in a better frame of mind. Thanks, John....
bj

Last word today... I promise. Had to report just how screwed up
that laptop is now. It told me that it restored to Feb. 8th... but when
checking the updates INSTALLED through that date... every single update
through yesterday is there, showing as installed successfully. That is
why I still have the problem of NO connection, after I thought I had
restored to Feb. 8th.

I did not touch anything and it completed the restore... but would not
shut down or restart... so I powered it OFF, after waiting a long time.
When I powered it back ON ... I still have all of these updates. I
have never had this much trouble with a pc in 20+ years.
bj

 

[Char Jackson]

because of ms updates screwing up my laptop i had to get in touch
with HP to have them turn my computer back to an earlier time-system
restore would not work- i now have ms updates turned off permanently
and have not had any problems- insane isn't it?

Insane perhaps, but a lot of people aren't ready or willing to
troubleshoot and repair their computers themselves, so that's why you
see them contacting their vendor, using System Restore, or disabling
updates. A proper repair would involve none of that.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Insane perhaps, but a lot of people aren't ready or willing to
troubleshoot and repair their computers themselves, so that's why you
see them contacting their vendor, using System Restore, or disabling
updates. A proper repair would involve none of that.

So what _would_ it involve? Especially for the non-savvy user? (Given
that updates sometimes _do_ cause problems.)

 

[Char Jackson]

So what _would_ it involve? Especially for the non-savvy user? (Given
that updates sometimes _do_ cause problems.)

I asked a series of questions in two prior posts in this thread that
should help answer your question. They're just a start, but you have
to start somewhere.

 

[chicagofan]

Ok, it's always good to know the parameters of the problem and your
answers do seem to point to the laptop. Let's focus there, then.


You didn't answer any of my other questions, so I'll repeat them here.
Check that you're actually connecting to your own access point (AP)
and not that of your neighbor.

I thought I had made it clear earlier that I could not FIND... this
"unidentified network" SOURCE to change or review.

If the SSID of your access point is still set to its default, change it!

It was... and is not.

If you're connected to your own AP, did the AP assign you a valid IP address?

Once again, I could not find the settings for this "unidentified
network" connection.

Can you ping your AP?

Would not ping anything....

Is Windows expecting you to re-enter your network encryption key?

Hasn't asked for one... and shows my correct info in a network map.

Also, I assume the very first thing you did was to open a Command
Prompt and run ipconfig /all to see the current status of the network
interfaces. That would provide some much needed information and is
also where you'll find the ping command.

Wasn't the first thing I did... but the Run command is also screwed up.
The page flips up and out... instantly. So no info/access that way. I
think I have determined that the Intel WiFi utility has been corrupted,
and I don't know what else. It says it needs to be enabled to show the
things I want... and yet the property box shows it is enabled.

After I disabled my AV and unplugged the router again today, I finally
got a connection and it is identified
correctly in the network map. I still can't get or find the info I need
to understand this thing, so I will see if Intel has any driver updates
that might help.
bj

 

[chicagofan]

because of ms updates screwing up my laptop i had to get in touch
with HP to have them turn my computer back to an earlier time-system
restore would not work- i now have ms updates turned off permanently
and have not had any problems- insane isn't it?

It sure is... you have my sympathy. I don't know if restore worked
correctly on mine either, because it didn't shut down properly.

I have updates turned off for now too. They only downloaded 87 updates
in the last 2 weeks, so I don't know where to begin figuring out what I
really need... if anything. The security updates are worrisome.
bj

 

[chicagofan]

Insane perhaps, but a lot of people aren't ready or willing to
troubleshoot and repair their computers themselves, so that's why you
see them contacting their vendor, using System Restore, or disabling
updates. A proper repair would involve none of that.

What is a "proper" repair?
bj

 

[Nil]

Wasn't the first thing I did... but the Run command is also
screwed up. The page flips up and out... instantly. So no
info/access that way. I think I have determined that the Intel
WiFi utility has been corrupted, and I don't know what else. It
says it needs to be enabled to show the things I want... and yet
the property box shows it is enabled.

It's not screwed up, it's acting normally. You must enter CMD in the
Run box to start up a command line session. Then enter IPCONFIG /ALL at
the prompt.

 

[Rodney Pont]

Wasn't the first thing I did... but the Run command is also screwed up.
The page flips up and out... instantly. So no info/access that way. I
think I have determined that the Intel WiFi utility has been corrupted,
and I don't know what else. It says it needs to be enabled to show the
things I want... and yet the property box shows it is enabled.

You needed to open a command prompt and run ipconfig /all from within
that otherwise it opens a window, runs and then closes the window.

Is there a button on the laptop to turn wi-fi on and off and if so is
it on?

 

[Char Jackson]

What is a "proper" repair?

Troubleshooting the connectivity issue, isolating the cause, and
repairing the actual problem.

Note that this is very different from rolling back the system state to
some prior time and hoping the issue is resolved, while having no clue
what else was affected by the rollback.

 

[charlie]

What is a "proper" repair?
bj

"What is a "proper" repair?"

Fixing the exact problem without "shotgunning" the whole system?
Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's not.
Laptops often have OEM software "enhancements" in the networking /WiFi
area that can complicate matters. This was perhaps more needed with Vista.