Tuesday, October 23, 2012

My internet broke! What do I do?



You've heard it many times. You get the call from an employee, family member, or friend (sometimes all three-shudder) telling you something like, "I can't get on the internet. Help!" This will vary depending on your crisis stricken caller's techie-ness, of course, but they're basically telling you, "Hey, my internet is broke. Fix it. Now. I need to check my [insert preferred social media site here], then my email, then youtube to watch funny animals and people falling down, then some gossip columns, then amazon."

What do you do?

I remember in college and during my CompTIA studies that the number one, most important thing you do before anything else is interrogate the person you're helping. What were you doing when this happened? What was the last program you used? Did you hear any noises? Did any error messages pop up on the screen? And so on. That's important, sure, but that kind of approach really depends on the person doesn't it? In my experience the bulk of persons tell me what they can't do and then leave me. I used to try and ask questions, but those questions got me nowhere fast or slow. My approach is to ask the person what they can't do and what they want to be able to do. Quick. Simple. Then the person can leave while I try to make that happen.

To fix the "internet is broke" problem we'll make a list. This list I use at for home users and business users.

Determine environment
Is this PC a member of a domain? Is it a type of server? Is it workgroup PC? Is it a stand-alone PC? This is the number one thing to find out. If it's a stand-alone PC then you won't have to go through as many tasks as a PC that is a member of an active directory domain, right?

Renew the IP address
First and foremost, the easiest fix may be renewing the IP address if it's a device that utilizes DHCP. To determine if it is go the command prompt ( start, run cmd.exe for XP users, start search cmd, click on cmd for vista and above users) and enter the following command: ipconfig /all Look for the word 'DHCP Enabled' You should see to the right of that a 'Yes' or 'No.'

If DHCP is enabled, then run the following commands while still in the command prompt: ipconfig /release then ipconfig /renew This could fix the problem

Flush the DNS cache
DNS is darn important for web browsing. Let me say that again: DNS is darn important for web browsing. When a person looks up sites on the internet your device keeps a record of the DNS "stuff" for that site in some files on your device for quicker lookup time when you visit the site again. Sometimes, the DNS information (cache for us techies) stored on your device can get "messed up" (corrupted, no longer valid information) and this can cause you to not be able to visit certain sites. Well, this can be fixed. While a simple reboot can do the trick, entering following command at the command prompt is quicker: ipconfig /flushdns If successful the cmd prompt will return the following: Windows IP Configuration Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache

Now, this method will work for a stand-alone PC, but what if the PC is a networked PC? For example, if it's a PC connected to a router. Well, the router also has a DNS cache. If that is corrupted, then it needs to be fixed. Reboot (turn off, then turn on) the router to fix the problem.

What if the PC is connected to a domain that has a DNS Server? The DNS server also has a DNS cache. How do you clear the DNS cache on a Windows DNS server?
  1. Open DNS in your Windows Server
  2. In the tree click on the DNS server(s)
  3. On the action menu (or right clicked menu), click clear cache.
Reset IE to Default Settings
These steps work for IE 7, 8, and 9.

In IE, go to Tools > Options
The Options windows opens. Click on Advanced. You should see a Reset button in the lower right portion of the window under a heading that reads, "Reset Internet Explorer Settings." Click on the Reset button.
In the Reset Internet Explorer Settings Dialog box, click on the Reset button.
After a little bit, IE will be return to the default state. 

Dive Into the Windows firewall configuration
For Windows 7 users, click start and in the search bar type 'windows firewall' then click enter. For Windows XP users go to control panel then find Windows Firewall.

Try disabling rules/exceptions one at a time, checking internet searching after disabling each one. You might find that a certain rule/exception is blocking internet all together or certain sites.


Reset TCP/IP
If you can't connect to the internet, the TCP/IP protocol may be corrupted. If it is, then you'll need to reset this protocol using the netsh utility via command prompt logged in as an admin.

1. Open command prompt as an admin (start, run cmd.exe for XP users, start search cmd, right click cmd, run as admin for vista and above users).
2. At the command prompt, enter the following command and then press ENTER: netsh int ip reset c:\resetlog.txt  By the way, you don't have to specify a directory path for the log file. If you don't want to, drop the "c:\" from the "resetlog.txt" portion of the command.
3. Reboot the computer.

Repair Winsock
If resetting TCP/IP didn't work, for example, if you're still getting "page cannot be displayed" when trying to access a site, or if Filezilla isn't working correctly then it may be a Winsock problem. Run the following command in command prompt as an admin to repair winsock netsh winsock reset catalog After repairing winsock (you're taking it back to default configurations) you may, MAY, have to reinstall services that use winsock.

Reset the default hosts file *copied and pasted from Microsoft*
To reset the Hosts file back to the default, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, click Run, type %systemroot% \system32\drivers\etc, and then click OK.
  2. Rename the Hosts file to Hosts.old.
  3. Create a new default hosts file. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Right-click an open space in the %WinDir%\System32\Drivers\Etc folder, point to New, click Text Document, type hosts, and then press Enter.
    2. Click Yes to confirm that the file name extension will not be .txt.
    3. Open the new Hosts file in a text editor. For example, open the file in Notepad.
    4. Copy the following text to the file:

      For Windows XP or for Windows Server 2003
      # Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
      #
      # This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
      #
      # This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
      # entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
      # be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
      # The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
      # space.
      #
      # Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
      # lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
      #
      # For example:
      #
      #      102.54.94.97     rhino.acme.com          # source server
      #       38.25.63.10     x.acme.com              # x client host
      
      127.0.0.1       localhost
       
      For Windows Vista or for Windows Server 2008
      # Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Microsoft Corp.
      #
      # This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
      #
      # This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
      # entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
      # be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
      # The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
      # space.
      #
      # Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
      # lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
      #
      # For example:
      #
      #      102.54.94.97     rhino.acme.com          # source server
      #       38.25.63.10     x.acme.com              # x client host
      
      127.0.0.1       localhost
      ::1             localhost
       
      For Windows 7
      # Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Microsoft Corp.
      #
      # This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
      #
      # This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
      # entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
      # be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
      # The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
      # space.
      #
      # Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
      # lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
      #
      # For example:
      #
      #      102.54.94.97     rhino.acme.com          # source server
      #       38.25.63.10     x.acme.com              # x client host
      
      # localhost name resolution is handle within DNS itself.
      #       127.0.0.1       localhost
      #       ::1             localhost
    5. Save and then close the file.
Network Devices
If this PC is connected to a network then the problem may very well be another PC or device causing the internet problem. Doing the above suggestions all day long won't fix the issue if another device on the network is the culprit.

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