for this issue

i have the fix for everyone probably. i had the same issues. i uninstalled update 905414 and everything now works fine. hope this helps.

I've been reading through this thread and it sounds completely relevant to what i have been experiencing. I have tried to get to the command prompt by going to start>run>"cmd", however, the command prompt box is just opening and closing out again to quickly for me to type in the suggested command to fix the problem. what should i do?

If your problem is the same as mine. You also cannot see your Network connections in the Network folder or on the taskbar. They work, you just cannot view them. I tried all of the different solutions both on Tech boards and from Microsoft support sites, none worked. I finally found this site.
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/repairwmi.htm
This is the second time that I have encountered this problem and this solution fixed it both times.
You have to rebuild the WMI Repository (Windows Management Instrumentation). There are two methods to do this on this page, I tried both, the comprehensive towards the bottom worked both times. You just need to insert your XP install CD, run the script on this page at the command prompt, it will ask you to point to your disk, point to the I386 directory on your disk and let it run. After this, my firewall worked again. ICS worked again. The second time this happened, I had to restart the "Network Connections" service to see my network connections, both in the folder and on the taskbar. The first time this happened, the service restarted without me having to manually do it. Hope this helps. I sent the URL and copied the text on this page to myself in an email. I found it in about an hour the first time this happened. Took me nearly 6 hours to find the solution this time, so I don't want to lose this info again. Anyway, let me know if this works for you all, some of your error codes are a little different than mine.

when i had same problem. i found out that a program i had just downloaded and installed from limewire (in this case a spysweeper program) had caused the problem. it had disabled my firewall and caused other problems with sound card drivers. once i removed this program everything was back to normal. Anyone having this problem might want to think about recent downloads that might have been sketchy and try deleting them.

Thanks rp748 your information did the trick on the Laptop I was repairing
and all is A OK now. Us Old guys can learn a lot from you young fellas.
thanks again to all for your great assistance.

Same problem here.

"Error 1075: the dependency service does not exist or has been marked for deletion"

i tried reseting the socket and also setting the service to automatic... iT stills can't start... please help... thankzalot

Click 'start'
click 'run'
type 'regedit' enter
click 'edit, find'
type "\SystemRoot\C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs"
click 'find next'

when you find it right click then modify

change the value to "C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs"

hit F3

change the value to "C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs"

now start the firewall from control panel.

Thanks for the reply dude, i appreciate it... However when i type regedit in the run, some thing just pop up and immediately closes it.. Sadly... HaHaz...

Hey,

New to the forum and have read the entire thread. I have the same "Windows cannot start the Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) service" message (though no subsequent Error # messages).

I have tried nearly every solution listed so far, but to no avail. My case seems different that those listed in that it just happened after years of working on the network/internet with no problems, i.e. this is not a new SP2 installation. I actually don't use the Windows Firewall -- we use PC-cillin for antivirus and firewall protection -- but have tried to access Windows Firewall because of my initial problem.

My issue is that I can no longer connect to our internal network. I have run every diagnostic possible through XP and have uninstalled a variety of softwares which might influence the network connection, again to no avail. The odd part is that I CAN connect to the internet which is only available through the network.

Can anybody help?

You mean other pcs in your network right?
check your IP addresses match up (except for the machine number at the end eg. 192.168.0.x)
check that the pc is on the same workgroup?

Correct, I mean other pc's and our server (used for data storage only), all of which are on the network.

Everything on my pc is set up correctly for the network -- I reran the Network Wizard just to be sure.

The problem started when I downloaded new spyware (ewido). First, it slowed my boot cycle, from login to usable Windows desktop, to almost 5 minutes. I removed it and PC-cillin and ran most of the fixes found on this and Microsoft's websites. Since then, I've reinstalled PC-cillin and am getting intermittent network connection. This morning when I logged in, it worked. Then, after a Microsoft update, I rebooted and the network "could not be found". I rebooted again, and now it seems to be working -- but will it work the next time I reboot ..........

so you've previously have a spyware problem before?
I suggest going through these instructions first to eliminate the possibility of any hidden nasties. Be sure to rename the Hijackthis program to HiJackThis1991.exe and open a new thread in the Security and Web section.

Have you tried to use some registry cleaner such as CCleaner?
are your IP addresses static or automatic? If its auto then set it to static...

Thanks for the reply.

I've done all this cleanup already on another forum (I found techspot when I googled the firewall problem). Unfortunately, the HijackThis log revealed nothing of relevance.

What will changing my IP address status do?

And, by the way, this morning, no network connection again after it working all day yesterday. When I try to run the Network Wizard, it errors out.

Well from what you're describing (restarting the pc then it picked up the network etc) it may sound like the network isn't resolving, so it may be using a different address (just guessing here)

Can you write down what error it is? all info could be relevant..
Download CCleaner (google for it) and run it. It would help a tiny bit if at all..

If you still get problems, then try reinstalling your NIC:
Go to device manager and find your network adaptor tree.
-expand it and click on the one you use to connect to the network.
-uninstall/remove it.
-reboot the pc and let windows reinstall it or if you've downloaded updated ones from the web for your NIC then point it to those drivers.

I ran CClean early on with this problem (going on now for almost 2 weeks) and I run PC Confidential nearly every day.

After my post earlier this morning, my connection "magically" appeared, meaning I made no changes to the system. Nonetheless, I reinstalled the NIC and changed the IP status as you recommended.

As far as the error messages go, it's pretty much just "cannot find network" (or something similar) whenever I click on a networked drive in Explorer .............

sorry for taking so long replying (lost the link ) but did you get it fixed?

Thanks for getting back with me. No, it is not fixed. My network connection is hit or miss -- some days it connects but others, like this morning, it doesn't until I reboot. And even then it's not guaranteed and I see no pattern as to when it will or won't connect.

I am getting the following error message pretty regularly now and assume it is part (or all) of the problem:

"Generic Host Process for Win32 Services has encountered a problem and needs to close"

I have tried all remedies as suggested by Microsoft KB to no avail. Any other suggestions?

OK, so today is the worst day so far. I have rebooted several times and still cannot connect to the network.

One other symptom that happens occasionally is that the Windows Security Center icon comes up warning me that I don't have antivirus and firewall protection running -- which, of course, I do. I've checked the PC-cillin settings and all appears normal.

One more wrinkle -- I uninstalled my NIC, rebooted and tried to run the Network Wizard, but it errored out. This has never happened before when running the wizard ...............

maybe its starting to go out.. try using a PCI NIC adaptor..

EDIT: hmm.. i just thought of something.. have you tried to boot in safe mode with networking option? that or using a linux live cd can help you determine if it truly is a hardware problem..

Oh yeh.. there's an edit button.. use it

I did

OK, two items:

1) I am able to access the shared files on my computer through other workstations on the network. So I can see, but not out .....

2) Per your suggestion, I started my computer in Safe mode with networking and voila! I could access the network.

So what does this mean?