internet not working?

[butch81385]

ok, my brothers computer decided that it didnt like the internet anymore...

he tried new cables, still the same, he tried new card, still the same

he had the comcast guy come today and he said that the modem was fine and (my brother believes) he tried a winsock fix. still a no go...

the comcast guy says that he thinks its a registry problem and told him to wipe clean and start new...

the question, is there anything he can try to not have to erase his hard drive.

second question, he has his hard drive partitioned. does he have to format the whole thing or can he just erase c:
(he is going to back up whatever he erases, but it takes a while.....)

[HeadBand]

he just has to format the windows partition so he can just back stuff up on the other partition

[blubomber]

What version of Windows is he using? If he is using ME or XP, tell him to do a restore back to a point when the internet worked.

I am hoping that the comcast guy did this, but, you might want to do an ipconfig from the command prompt to see if you get any info. if he is using 2000 or XP, go to start->run and type in cmd to get the command prompt, then type ipconfig /all. If he is running 9x-ME, go to Start->Run then type in winipcfg and see what pops up in the window. You should get an IP address and all.

No, you do not have to format the whole hard drive, just the C: partition. If your bro has programs installed on the second partition, then have him uninstall them before he wipes the c: partition clean.

[AussieDan]

Mate,
what i would do is check the network settings. There could have been a problem with a setting. Do you have a router? Are your IPs statically assigned? If not, and your using auto on DHCP and everything else, then you need to check for line consistency, basically to see if there is enoguh juice runnin through the lines so your internet can work. If so, and everything seems to be working ok, and the comcast guy said its a no go, than i suggest a reformat. You do not have to reformat, you can selectively erase a partition using a Third-party program such as Partition Magic. I suggest doing that, but if all else fails, i wouldnt mind suggesting a total format.

Cheers,
Dan

[butch81385]

thanks, it is xp pro (sorry i thought i put that in my original post)

he will be trying all of this tonight after work