Network wizard destroyed my internet settings. Please advise how to get it back

[Tekunda]

I am the guy who had troubles accessing his second computer through a wirelsess network in another thread. Well, one of the posters was right, I did not even have a home network installed. All I had was two computers with access to the internet through a wireless router and network adapter.

So one poster suggested that I start with running the home network wizard. Well, I did this and eveyrthing seemed to be ok, the wizards on both computers finished without any problems. But suddenly the computer connecting to the network adapter cannot connect to the internet anymore. The "main" computer hooked up to the router is still able to log on to the web, the "second" computer will find the Belkin router and is showing excellent signal strength, but something is definitely messed up, since I cannot log on to the web anymore.

Even if I take the LAN cable from my Comcast cable modem and hook it up directly to the computer, it does not help. I tried to call the Comcast support, but these guys have no clue whatsover. So it seems it has finally started. I read so much about people having all sorts of crazy problems when trying to install a wireless network and yesterday I was so proud that I got my two computers successfully connected to the web, but today reality has finally overtaken me and I end up with problems like so many users before.

I have now come to a point where I cannot help myself anymore. (Before I even start to get into the home network issues which have sprung up as well, i.e. I cannot open the shared documents folder, because I am told I have no authority to do so and should turn to the network administartor, which I am of course) I would love to get back my web connection.

Maybe a blessed soul can walk me through these issues. ( I feel I am beamed into computer stonage land again) I cannot believe that creating a simple network would give so many useres, me included so much problems. That tells me how far away we still are from a proper operating system

So step by step: Any idea how I get back my web connection on my second machine before we continue with these other issues please?

I thank God that such a site like this one does exist with so many knowlegeable and helpful guys.

[cak46]

I'm trying to figure out your network construct.  From what I piece together, and correct me if I'm wrong, it goes:

Cable modem to Belkin router then machine A hard wired to Belkin router and Machine B going in wireless to Belkin?

[Tekunda]

Yes, this is my set up and was working fine (both computers were connected to the internet) until I ran the Win XP home network  wizard on both machines.  So computer B (the one connected wirelessly to the Belkin router) lost its  web connection, although the Belkin status software on that machine finds the Belkin router and confirms excellent signal strength

[cak46]

On the wireless machine:

Double-click on the belkin signal icon in the system tray.  It should bring up a screen where you can choose your network.  Select the Belkin_Pre-n .... network.

edit:

My stupid.  You already said you had a good signal.  It might be good to check the connection anyway, to be sure.  If this is ok, then go to Start menu>Run then type cmd and hit the enter key.  Now type ipconfig /all and hit the enter key.  Your ip address should be something like 192.168.X.X  (x's being numbers.  There should be a gateway address as well.  If either of these are all zeros (0.0.0.0) then type ipconfig /renew and hit the enter key.  Let us know what happens (error msgs, etc.).

[Tekunda]

First let me all thank you for your kind support. I did as I was told. When I type in ipconfig a bunch of cryptic lines and numbers comes up, and I see an ip address and a gateway address. Just to make sure I also typed in ipconfig/renew. Here I get an error message: while trying to update network bridge a time out error occured. No connection to the DHCP server is possible.  Any idea what would be the next step?

[cak46]

This is on the wireless machine?

If so, you need to get rid of the bridge.  This was created by the Network Wizard trying to set up the lan networking. 

Go to Start>control panel>Network and internet connections then click on network connections.  Right mouse click on the network bridge and select delete.  Reboot the machine and let us know what happens.

[Tekunda]

Well, that was a quick solution. After deleting the bridge I got my internet connection back on the wireles pc. Now the reason for all of that of course to be able to run a wireless home network and not only have two computers sharing one cable modem. But the problem started when I ran (as WIN XP commanded) the network wizard on the second pc. Any idea how to proceed now to be able to install my home network finally?

[cak46]

Go to My Network places and click on view workgroup computers.  If there are none listed, then you have a bit more work to do to set up the shares.

If they both appear, double click on the computer name of the other computer and see what might already be shared (I'm not sure whether sharing is automatically implemented or not).

Or if nothing appears:

There are some that we need to check.  To start with go to start>right click on my computer and select properties..  Under this, there will be a Name tab.  This is where the settings naming your computer and Workgroup name.  Make sure that the workgroup name is the same on both systems and note the computer names as well.  If you need to change the workgroup name on one machine (or both if you want to customize), you should be able to just type where the old workgroup name is.

After doing this, it will welcome you to the XXXXXX workgroup and ask you to reboot. 

Now, check in my network places again to see if the machine names appear.  Double click on the name (if it appears) and see If you can access a folder on the other machine.  If you can,  you have succeeded and need to add a password to the guest account, for security purposes.  Please let us know.