responds to ping only in Safe Mode

18 Sep 2006 6:41 PM

gutter_aid

My desktop responds to ping only in Safe Mode. I can connect to email
and internet fine. The desktop can ping other computers and also ping
itself. However, when I try to ping the desktop from another computer
the desktop doesn't respond. I can map network drives from other
computers onto the desktop but not vice-versa. When I reboot in Safe
Mode, the desktop will respond to pings and share its drives with other
computers. Basically, the desktop responds to pings (and file sharing)
only in Safe Mode.

I have searched "the internet" for a soloution and the common
suggestion is to check for firewalls. I have disabled the xp firewall
and also checked for 3rd party ones. I have Symantec AntiVirus (not
sure if this acts like a firewall) and also spybot S&D. I have ran
Adaware, Spybot, and have all the latest microsoftupdate.comS (sp2). I
have tried killing processes using task manager to no avail. I did
find out if I kill the RCP process the computer will shut down.

I have also tried this:
Q299357 - How to Reset Internet Protocol (TCP-IP) in Windows XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q299357

and this:
LSP-Fix
http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm

So far I don't think I've broken anything else in the process, but I
still have the original problem.

To me, the fact that the desktop responds in Safe Mode rules out that
it is a problem with other elements in the network (like my router or
other computers). Also it seems to rule out any problem with the
TCP-IP stack or network card. It seems like a firewall problem but I
can't find one other than the XP firewall and I've disabled that one.
I have checked the registry Run/RunOnce keys - is there anywhere else I
should check?

If anyone can provide suggestions for this problem I'd appreciate it.

Dan

18 Sep 2006 6:56 PM

Steve Winograd [MVP]

In article <1158604914.051465.36***@i3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>,
gutter_***@hotmail.com wrote:
Show quoteHide quote

>My desktop responds to ping only in Safe Mode. I can connect to email
>and internet fine. The desktop can ping other computers and also ping
>itself. However, when I try to ping the desktop from another computer
>the desktop doesn't respond. I can map network drives from other
>computers onto the desktop but not vice-versa. When I reboot in Safe
>Mode, the desktop will respond to pings and share its drives with other
>computers. Basically, the desktop responds to pings (and file sharing)
>only in Safe Mode.
>
>I have searched "the internet" for a soloution and the common
>suggestion is to check for firewalls. I have disabled the xp firewall
>and also checked for 3rd party ones. I have Symantec AntiVirus (not
>sure if this acts like a firewall) and also spybot S&D. I have ran
>Adaware, Spybot, and have all the latest microsoftupdate.comS (sp2). I
>have tried killing processes using task manager to no avail. I did
>find out if I kill the RCP process the computer will shut down.
>
>I have also tried this:
>Q299357 - How to Reset Internet Protocol (TCP-IP) in Windows XP:
>http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q299357
>
>and this:
>LSP-Fix
>http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm
>
>So far I don't think I've broken anything else in the process, but I
>still have the original problem.
>
>To me, the fact that the desktop responds in Safe Mode rules out that
>it is a problem with other elements in the network (like my router or
>other computers). Also it seems to rule out any problem with the
>TCP-IP stack or network card. It seems like a firewall problem but I
>can't find one other than the XP firewall and I've disabled that one.
>I have checked the registry Run/RunOnce keys - is there anywhere else I
>should check?
>
>If anyone can provide suggestions for this problem I'd appreciate it.
>
>Dan

What's the name and version number of your Symantec antivirus program?

Recent versions of some Norton (Symantec) antivirus programs have a
firewall component called Internet Worm Protection that has to be
configured to allow access by other computers on the local area
network.

Go to Start > Run > Msconfig > Startup and disable any remnants of
un-installed firewalls from ZoneAlarm, McAfee, etc.

--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

20 Sep 2006 5:56 AM

gutter_aid

After a few hours of trial and error I was able to solve this problem.
It turned out to be a problem with my software VPN. After
re-installing the VPN, my desktop responds to pings, file sharing, etc.

I have "Cisco Systems VPN Client". The reasons I didn't suspect this
was because the SW VPN was not enabled, and also I have the same
software on my laptop and the laptop was working fine. The way I found
this problem was comparing "started" services for Safe Mode vs. normal
mode. In normal mode, quite a few more services are started when
compared to Safe Mode. In normal mode, I stopped services sequentially
based on their description (and only stopping services that weren't
enabled in Safe Mode). The VPN has a service that runs even when the
VPN is not enabled. When I stopped that service, the computer started
responding to pings. At that point, I re-installed the VPN. I'm not
sure exactly what the problem was, but after the re-install the
computer seems to be OK. It could be that there is a way I could have
re-configured the VPN whithout re-installing it, but I didn't want to
investiage it anymore.

Dan