HELP I need a computer savvy person

[ShelleBink]

<p>My brother got me a laptop.&nbsp; Not new, but from eBay, and he installed a wireless card and Windows XP Media Center on it.&nbsp; He dropped it off at the house on Saturday, and late Saturday night and early Sunday morning I checked everything out and it ran fine ((Internet Explorer, and I downloaded AIM and Firefox and installed them - all were working properly)).&nbsp; Sunday in the afternoon the problem started.</p><p>It shows that I am connected to a wireless thinger ((gimme a break, I'm not good with computer terms)).&nbsp; When you open up the connections, packets are only being sent and not being received.&nbsp; I tried reinstalling the software for the wireless card, as well as a ssytem restore; but neither work.&nbsp; Also did a virus scan that resulted in no problems or viruses.</p><p>&nbsp;Any suggestions?<br /></p>

[feralBoy]

<p>Are you stealing wireless from somewhere, or do you actually pay for it?&nbsp; If you are paying for it, have you tried connect an ethernet cable directly from the wireless router to your computer?&nbsp; How far are you from your router?</p><p>If you are stealing it, is there more than one wireless connection that you can try?&nbsp; Are all of them giving the same results?&nbsp; Does it show signal strength?&nbsp; Are you getting a good signal?&nbsp;</p>

[ShelleBink]

<p>&nbsp;</p><strong>feralBoy</strong> wrote:<br /><p>Are you stealing wireless from somewhere, or do you actually pay for it? If you are paying for it, have you tried connect an ethernet cable directly from the wireless router to your computer? How far are you from your router?</p><p>If you are stealing it, is there more than one wireless connection that you can try? Are all of them giving the same results? Does it show signal strength? Are you getting a good signal? </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>1. Stealing it. ((figured we should start there))</p><p>2. The signals are low, but I was able to surf the Web from a &quot;Very Low&quot; signal from home when it worked</p><p>3. Tried all the wireless connections; all have the same results ((before you ask, I skipped the password-protected ones))</p><p>4. I have no port on the laptop to connect the network cable I have connected to my desktop here at school&nbsp;</p>

[Death Metal Moe]

<p>I can't help you with your settings, but if you like I can send you my old network card for a laptop I have at home.&nbsp; I got it for like 12 dollars off Ebay last year.&nbsp; It's yours if you need it, let me just find it at home tonight and I'll mail it tomorrow.&nbsp; PM me if you're interested.&nbsp; </p><p>I guess I could even meet you or Snoogs somewhere in the north NJ area.</p>

[feralBoy]

<strong>ShelleBink</strong> wrote: <p>1. Stealing it. ((figured we should start there))</p><p>2. The signals are low, but I was able to surf the Web from a &quot;Very Low&quot; signal from home when it worked</p><p>3. Tried all the wireless connections; all have the same results ((before you ask, I skipped the password-protected ones))</p><p>4. I have no port on the laptop to connect the network cable I have connected to my desktop here at school&nbsp;</p><p>It could just be the poor signal.&nbsp; </p><p>As a check, what you can do is go to a free wi-fi spot and see if your internet works there.&nbsp; I know of two main ones in NYC.&nbsp; Bryant park, and the samsung store at the time warner center.&nbsp; Here is a website that has links to find free wi-fi spots in your area.</p><p><a href="http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1613502,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03119TX1K0000594">http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1613502,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03119TX1K0000594</a></p><p>But as more diagnosis, here is what you can do.&nbsp; Go to Start-&gt;Run and type in cmd then hit ok.&nbsp; Then on the command line type in: </p><p>ipconfig </p><p>then press enter.&nbsp; See what the ip address is.&nbsp; If you are getting an ip address is.&nbsp; It should be like 192. whatever.&nbsp; But if it's 169.xx.&nbsp; Then that could be the problem.&nbsp; Let me know what it starts with and I can try and help you out further.&nbsp; sorry if this is too technical.&nbsp;</p><p>*EDIT Make sure you are connected to somebody's wireless when you type ipconfig.</p>

<span class=post_edited>This message was edited by feralBoy on 4-18-06 @ 11:15 AM</span>

[ShelleBink]

<p>&nbsp;</p><strong>feralBoy</strong> wrote:<br /><strong>ShelleBink</strong> wrote: <p>1. Stealing it. ((figured we should start there))</p><p>2. The signals are low, but I was able to surf the Web from a &quot;Very Low&quot; signal from home when it worked</p><p>3. Tried all the wireless connections; all have the same results ((before you ask, I skipped the password-protected ones))</p><p>4. I have no port on the laptop to connect the network cable I have connected to my desktop here at school </p><p>It could just be the poor signal. </p><p>As a check, what you can do is go to a free wi-fi spot and see if your internet works there. I know of two main ones in NYC. Bryant park, and the samsung store at the time warner center. Here is a website that has links to find free wi-fi spots in your area.</p><p><a href="http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1613502,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03119TX1K0000594">http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1613502,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03119TX1K0000594</a></p><p>But as more diagnosis, here is what you can do. Go to Start-&gt;Run and type in cmd then hit ok. Then on the command line type in: </p><p>ipconfig </p><p>then press enter. See what the ip address is. If you are getting an ip address is. It should be like 192. whatever. But if it's 169.xx. Then that could be the problem. Let me know what it starts with and I can try and help you out further. sorry if this is too technical. </p><p>*EDIT Make sure you are connected to somebody's wireless when you type ipconfig.</p>

<span class="post_edited">This message was edited by feralBoy on 4-18-06 @ 11:15 AM</span><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>It IS a 169.xx.xx.xx IP address&nbsp;</p>

[feralBoy]

<p>Ok, basically that means you are not getting an ip address.&nbsp; What you can try to do.&nbsp; Right click on the network connect, and there should be an option for &quot;Repair.&quot;&nbsp; That will attempt to get a new ip address.&nbsp; If that doesn't work, go to Start-&gt;Run-&gt;cmd&nbsp; then type:</p><p>ipconfig /release then press enter, then type</p><p>ipconfig /renew then press enter.&nbsp; Try the network again.&nbsp; </p><p>The other thing is to reboot the router, which you can't do because it's not yours.&nbsp; Let me know if you don't have any luck.</p>

[ShelleBink]

<p>tried everything</p><p>after the ipconfig/renew it gave me error messages.&nbsp; i might just go to a building with wifi and see if that'll work.</p><p>if anyone comes up with anything else, lemme know, and i'll keep y'all updated.&nbsp;</p>

[JoeYaDeadHomey]

what error message?<br />

[feralBoy]

<p>If you are getting this error message:</p><p>An error occurred while renewing interface local area connection: The system cannot find the file specified.</p><p>Try this: </p><p>start-&gt;run-&gt;cmd </p><p>type </p><p><span class="userInput">netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt</span> </p><p><span class="userInput">press enter</span> <span class="userInput">then</span> </p><p><span class="userInput">ipconfig /renew</span> </p>

<span class=post_edited>This message was edited by feralBoy on 4-18-06 @ 1:35 PM</span>

[ShelleBink]

<p>well i tried connecting in another location and it seems to work, I guess my dorm just doesn't pick up as strong a connection since its pretty much the furthest from the main portion of campus.&nbsp; I'll just cut my losses and deal with what I gotta... its only a few more weeks here anyway</p><p>Thank you so much feralboy for helpin me out, I really, really appreciate it.&nbsp;</p>

[SatCam]

Your dorm doesn't have an ethernet connection? I thought you had a desktop in there

[Death Metal Moe]

<strong>SatCam</strong> wrote:<br />Your dorm doesn't have an ethernet connection? I thought you had a desktop in there <p>No, it seems she does.&nbsp; But her notebook doesn't have an ethernet connection in it, just a slot for a card which is filled with her wireless card at the moment.&nbsp; That's why I offered her my spare network card.&nbsp; Then she can take the wire from her desktop and connect directly.</p>

[ShelleBink]

it does, but i don't have a port in which to connect the laptop to the ethernet connection<br />

[feralBoy]

<strong>ShelleBink</strong> wrote:<br /><p>well i tried connecting in another location and it seems to work, I guess my dorm just doesn't pick up as strong a connection since its pretty much the furthest from the main portion of campus.&nbsp; I'll just cut my losses and deal with what I gotta... its only a few more weeks here anyway</p><p>Thank you so much feralboy for helpin me out, I really, really appreciate it.&nbsp;</p><p>No problem.&nbsp; Sorry, I couldn't be more helpful, but it's tough to diagnose without having the computer in front of you.&nbsp; </p>

[SatCam]

<strong>Death Metal Moe</strong> wrote:<br><strong>SatCam</strong> wrote:<br />Your dorm doesn't have an ethernet connection? I thought you had a desktop in there <p>No, it seems she does. But her notebook doesn't have an ethernet connection in it, just a slot for a card which is filled with her wireless card at the moment. That's why I offered her my spare network card. Then she can take the wire from her desktop and connect directly.</p><p></p>
Oh ok... that would probably be your best bet... get a network card with an rj45 connection and just swap the cards when you enter/leave your dorm.