DNS problem on Windows 98 machine.

[need_help]

I have a windows 98 machine I'm working on and no programs can connect to anything on the internet.

I can ping out to the internet, but I can't ping like www.yahoo.com. So I'm guessing it's a DNS problem.

This machine had lots of viruses/trojans/spyware on it when it came in. I have removed them all.

I have reinstalled win98 (over itself). I have done SFC and it replaced user.exe. At first I was getting socket errors, so I did the win98 winsock fix and now I'm getting "Unable to resolve host" on somes apps (such as the update portion of spybot). IE always gives me page cannot be displayed. Yahoo messenger doesn't even look like its trying to connect, just comes back immediatly with whatever error message.

It's on a lan and every other machine is working fine with the same settings. I have also tried putting in the correct DNS addresses. I have forced all the settings (ip/dns/gateway) and still same thing.

I have looked up what .dlls are used for DNS and replaced those using SFC.

Is this possibly a NIC problem?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

 

[Vigilante]

Have you used an LSP fix program for 9x? Check out http://www.bu.edu/pcsc/internetaccess/winsock2fix.html for a 9x based fixer.

Did you make sure there is no proxy? IE-Tools-Options-Connections-LAN Settings. If so, remove it (uncheck boxes).

Any software firewall present? Try disabling or uninstalling.

 

[DelJo63]

there's a HOSTS file in
\windows\system32\drivers\etc

empty all content

also replace the LMHOSTS.SAM in that folder
with \windows\i386\lmhosts.sa_

reboot

 

[need_help]

Thanks for the replies! I have actually tried all those suggestions. Sorry I didn't mention those things.

I tried the winsockfix for 98, I fixed the hosts file (the winsockfix also does this). There are no proxy settings and no firewalls (it did have zone alarm, but I uninstalled it to eliminate that possibility).

I've searched everywhere online for a solution and I've been working on it for far too long. I've decided to format and reinstall. There is no data the customer wants to backup, so it will be an easy solution.

Thanks for your time, I would love to figure out what is causing this, but I like to have a swift turn around and after talking to the client and finding out she doesn't mind if I format, I decided that would be the easist and quickest solution.

 

[Vigilante]

Screwy 9x. I suppose you had also ran ipconfig /flushdns?

Assume you (or future reader) were to try something else, I have resolved this problem in the past by a combination of using the LSPfix program, along with removing the NIC driver, AND everything in the ip settings. That is, any adapters, protocols etc...
Then Windows reloads the hardware and LSP finishes its thing, it usually comes back after that.

 

[need_help]

I had actually tried that as well. Removed all network components reinstalled them all and did the winsockfix for 98. Before I formatted the machine, another tech had worked on it and got it back on the internet.

When I asked him what he did, he said he ran adaware and that was all. I had removed all spyware/viruses before he got to it, but I had left webshots on the machine. Well adaware must of found webshots or something from webshots as spyware, as it was no longer on the machine. The tech that fixed it didn't even know it had a problem getting on the net, as the ticket just said "spyware/virus removal".

So in the end, I'm still not really sure.. but it might of been webshots? never heard of it causing this problem but I have heard of it being classified as spyware or something it installs.

(I still ended up formatting the thing as explorer kept crashing and the client had no data on the system. Was an older machine and was giving it to a friend so she could get on the internet with it.)

Also learned that FREE AVG (which i usually put on machines that don't have any anti-virus) causes explorer to crash on some win 98 machines. I don't think it was the cause here as uninstalling it didn't fix the problem like it has in the past. Just something I found out.

Thanks again for everyones time.