desrtfx

Just a quick one to show that I'm still alive. Haven't had much time lately, been very occupied with non-computer related tasks. Currently I can't test the connection with Wireshark since the VSAT link is down. Will update when I have tested. Regards, desrtfx

I'll see to it as soon as I can. Need to download Wireshark (ethereal) first, but no problem. Will update as soon as I have news Regards, desrtfx

Thanks, Rogue for the quick reply! One thing I know for sure is that Port 80 is blocked by ISA. The only thing that I don't know is, if there is a way for the other apps to bypass the ISA gateway - could be that a hardcoded IP as you previously mentioned finds a route bypassing the ISA (could be possible, but that will be extremely difficult for me to trace.) Actually, the pain has its limits (or in other, less polite words: I don't really care too much about the issue) since there is no company computer affected. All computers are private, but used more or less for the job (still, I don't really consider them my direct responsibility, but I try to help where I can.) I came to the conclusion that there is a DNS issue by the following: IE claimed that it could not "find the server or DNS" Firefox presented me anything between "gateway not found", "server not found", "connection reset", etc. Opera 9 decided to show only a blank page and stay at that - no error message or anything similar. I have tried all combinations of DNS entries that I could think of, used the local gateway, the remote DNS of the company's main site, public DNS addresses that I have from my ISP at home, from my Domain Host in Atlanta, and also OpenDNS Let's wait until my colleague has removed the security updates or until my personal laptop is fit again (my PSU burnt out and I am waiting for a colleague to bring in a new one for me - that's the fate of someone working in a very remote location - we actually have the Internet on site since only June, 3 this year and the connection I am using now is even younger! - Before that we had to go 50km to the nearest Internet cafe) Regards, desrtfx

Hi Rogue, This post just nicely sums a long conversation - yes, the issues that you listed are my problems. Yet: I can exclude any groupp policy issues since it happens even for "vanilla" machines which come with a clean install and only the Windows updates - no hand has been laid on any group policies, DNS settings other than the ones in the Network Property sheets. All the listed services are what they should be (I actually mimicked the services on a machine which could connect and tested with the same result - no reply from DNS) DNS resolution on the local intranet works perfectly fine, no problems there. The more I reflect upon this matter, the more convinced I am that there is a security update which causes that effect. I just want to wait now until one of my colleagues has tested his machine (without the security updates). One more thing that is worth mentioning: If I re-configure the machines for another network without the queer setup of the ISA gateway, etc. all machines work just fine! The gateway is basically setup as a firewall/proxy/download prefetcher/virus scan - but the open ports are extremely restricted (not even POP and SMTP). I, for my own part can't claim any experience with the ISA Server since I haven't yet setup or configured any - and I'm not entirely convinced that I will need to do that with our current network configuration. Regards, desrtfx (Georg)

Well, up to yesterday, I also shard the opinion that only cutting edge WinXP computers would be affected, but reality proved me wrong. So far I haven't actually tried ethereal - simply didn't have the time to test this. After all I cannot dedicate much time and efforts to this problem since it's only private Laptops (partly used for company business) that are affected. I will keep testing one or the other approaches, but that will have to wait until I manage to get my PSU for my personal notebook, this then gives me more time. Regards, desrtfx (Georg)

Well, right idea, slightly wrong place, you've looked Adobe themselves http://www.adobe.com provide a tool to generate unattended installs for their Acrobat product line. The tool is called Installshield Tuner 7.0 for Acrobat and can be downloaded here. For completeness the address is: http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=2709 Still, I don't know whether the Product Activation can be bypassed or not. Regards, desrtfx (Georg)

Ok, here we are again, sorry for the late reply, but I had a horrible day... First of all, today, the first Windows 2000 Pro Laptop showed the same symptoms. Apparently, I have been looking in the wrong direction. I dedicated loads of time to the problem on the Windows 2000 Pro machine today and found that there is no DNS response coming through - no matter what I set the DNS to (local DNS at my site, DNS at the main site, a couple of open DNS servers that I know of on the net) the problem stays the same - confused me even more. Pinging is not possible even if I extend the Reply time over half a minute, I don't get a reply Disabling one of the NICs didn't change the situation at all. DHCP issues can be ruled out - I am 100% sure, that I have no interferences since all the PCs with static IPs are on 192.168.35.x and the DHCP is on 192.168.33.x both with Subnet mask 255.255.248.0 - so there cannot be any conflicts In between I had a little brainstorming here with a colleague (hobby computer crack) who told me that on another laptop, he removed all Microsoft security updates and the problem was cured - so there's something we can build up on. (unfortunately, this worked so far only for one PC - lets see what the future brings...) I think investigating in direction of the security updates gets me to the target... So far, thanks for all the help. I will keep posting news. Regards, desrtfx (georg) - really from the Sahara desert (my Avatar is NOT A JOKE )

As my predecessors here said, you will definitely need a screen, keyboard, and mouse to install the desktop. A very good remote control software - which is even free and Opensource - is UltraVNC http://ultravnc.sourceforge.net/ http://www.ultravnc.com very easy to install and configure! Just keep safety in mind and use NT Authentication for the remote login to the desktop PC. I have tested serveral remote control solutions like DameWare MiniRemote, PcAnywhere, Radmin, etc. Finally, I've ended up using only UltraVNC on all the machines I need to remote contol. Going online requires either 2 NICs in the desktop (unless the DSL modem has an USB output), Internet connection sharing on the Desktop and a crossover network cable (pins left to right 1x3, 2x6, 3x1, 4-4, 5-5, 6x2, 7-7, 8-8) or a router (DSL-in -> NICs or WLAN out) Regards, desrtfx

Thanks for the compliment! I think that "nightmare" is an understatement Up to a few months ago this network was only a small, island network which the company then decided to join via satellite to the main office and therefore the main central network. Here the problem started. They wanted us to become a child domain of theirs but the "specialist" failed in doing so (he had never seen Windows 2003 Advanced Server before and the main net is running on Windows 2000 Servers). He also wanted to install an Exchange Server which I could just stop before it was too late. I postponed the Exchange installation until the child domain would be running. Now the network became patchy - we are using static IP addresses assigned according to our addresspace (which we got from the main office). The gateways are connected to a "VSat" satellite link system which joins the networks via 2MBits/s lines (shared with 5 other sites). In my network I currently use only Cat5e and WLAN connections (on Netgear, 3com & Cisco equipment - All gateway routers are Cisco, all Switches are Netgear and all WLAN devices are also Netgear, only two 3com Hubs are currently in the system.) The local domain server is a quite new HP Proliant running 2003 Advanced Server, but that one does not count for the current problem. DHCP is managed from one of the Netgear WLAN devices for now (because I am currently not using DHCP - it is just there to serve "Wildpluggers" and protect the network from IP conflicts) The WLAN is not encrypted since the site is so remote that there is literally no chance of anybody "Wardriving" I did a tracert today to reach a server that I know in Atlanta, Georgia (I have hosted domains there), but unfortunately, during the tracert the Internet connection after the ISA failed, so I was not able to get a detailed result. I added two new Laptops to the net this morning of which one immediately connected to the internet where the other one failed. On the failed one I did not even reach a response from the ISA Gateway. The virtual machines I know working are running on Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 with default settings (I think the virtual PC defaults to NAT - isn't it?) I also would like to take a shot in the dark - or better ask a really queer question (I am an absolute ISA newbie - never needed to work with it): Could it be, that if a PC registers itself with two addresses (e.g. LAN and WLAN on same subnet, but with different IPs), the ISA gateway blocks that PC? Could that be a possible cause? But on the other hand I don't think so, since when I only use one type of connection (LAN or WLAN) I still get the same results unless the gateway caches? EDIT: Upon reflecting about this post another thought came up - Could it help to bridge the LAN/WLAN connections on the affected computers? Regards, desrtfx (Georg)

Well, with that amount of bullets, good thing I wear a Kevlar jacket Ok, the light streams in through the bulletholes: Yes, the machines are all on the same subnet: 255.255.248.0 (assigned from company) I've tried different users on different user levels The machines all get valid DHCP addresses since the DHCP is (for now) managed locally The proxy settings for the browsers (IE, Firefox 1.5, Opera) are all OK All machines can ping the ISA server and the DNS server (both at the central site) but nothing can be reached after the ISA All machines have onlyWindows Networking File and Printer Sharing TCP/IP networking enabled [*]Some machines are on the domain, some are not (has as far as I've seen no effect at all) [*]Workgroup settings have no effect at all (tried joining the main domain, different workgroups, etc.) [*]The errors I get when trying to reach a webpage differ from Browser to Browser IE gives "Server not found" Firefox gives "Connection to server reset" Opera 9 keeps displaying a blank page forever The only thing that I can think of being unique to these machines is that all of them are quite up-to-date with Microsoft patches. Not even the OS (Windows XP) is common to the machines since some use XP Pro, some use XP Home, in UK & US English and in German versions. (Actually, the machines are private Laptops that need to be used in the work location and I don't really have much influence on the OS used.) The Antivirus and Firewall solutions are different (Bitdefender, AVP, AVG, Symantec) I already thought about installing the IPv6 protocol and seeing what will happen then, but I can't think that this will solve the problem. Also one more thing: I found that some programs (other than webbrowsers) find their home servers (when I allow them to connect and set the proxy) - so - what do all webbrowsers have in common? Winsock? Before I forget: Physical problems with the NICs can be totally excluded since all machines are working perfectly well on other networks - of course with changed IPs, Subnets, DNS, gateways, etc. - Actually, I tried to use WLAN on one net, and LAN on the other (swapped) - still same result - so it cannot be anything with the NICs either. I know that this is a tough one and appreciate all help I can get.

No, the new machines are not deployed from the same master image as they are contractor machines of different make, type, language, etc. The problem stays the same with or without DHCP enabled and I can exclude IP conflicts as I am the one assigning IPs to the computers. What still confuses me with this is that the virtual system accesses the same NIC without any problems. To me it seems that there is a Windows Patch common to all languages that causes the problem. Even when I traceroute (with tracert, ant, solarwinds, etc.) I always reach all gateways on the way, but stop at the ISA server. I know that the ISA is configured to work without authentication. Unfortunately, I cannot access any details of the ISA installation since it is done by the head office EDP and I am working in a site office which is connected through satellite link. I don't want to raise the issue with the head office since I never got even a close reply from there.

Hi everybody! I hope that this post fits in this category: In the compan I work for we use Microsoft ISA Server as Internet Proxy. The company Network extends over various Locations which are connected via satellite links with Cisco gateways. As far as I can see, all proxies and gateways are configured correctly, but on certain Windows XP pCs I cannot retrieve any Internet page. The strange thing is that the problem does not appear on all Windows XP machines, it seems to appear only on newer (less than a year old) high performance and up-to date machines. Funnily enough, using Microsoft's virtual PC, or VMware to create and run a virtual machine connects that one without any problems even though it basically goes through the same network connection. Does anybody have similar experiences or any ideas how to solve this problem without resorting to virtual machines. Regards, desrtfx (Georg)