[Error] Network Cable Unplugged (and some other stuff)

[HyperHacker]

I just install WinXP Pro SP2 onto an old Pentium 233 box, hoping to use it as a media center PC or whatever you call it (hook it up to the TV and watch movies from hard drive, DVD-ROM etc). I know I could just get WinXP MCE but I like to do things the hard way sometimes. The box has 64MB of RAM and runs at (guess what) 233mhz, which is surprisingly sufficient once you remove all the fancy graphics and disable some unnecessary services.

Now there's a problem with the networking, and it's quite a big problem since with no network connection I can't access the movies I want to watch, nor install drivers for the video capture or sound cards. (It doesn't even detect the sound card, so I suspect it may be pooched; it's one of them old ones like PCI but bigger.)

The problem is Windows says my network cable is unplugged while my router says it's connected fine. I've tried moving the card to another PCI slot and switching it for another one. I managed to get it to try to connect but fail to get an IP address (one is listed but it changes to zero ), then go back to saying it's unplugged. I used networking with the same parts and setup in Win98 on this box before, so I know it all works. The LED on the card is on and blinks as normal. I even took the cable it was using and plugged it into my laptop and used it to submit this post.

Also, I'm looking for a way to disable the "low resolution/colour" and "take a tour of Windows" balloons. I'm aware of my low colour depth and will fix it when I get a new video card, so I don't need to be reminded. I deleted the tour program outright so there's no sense prompting me to run it. How do I stop these?

Finally, I want to delete the following files in System32 to save some space:

sfc.dll

sfc_os.dll

wscsvc.dll

The first two are System File Checker which I don't care about; I already deleted sfc_files.dll so blah. The third is the Security Center service which is disabled. I've renamed them and rebooted to ensure they aren't needed (uxtheme.dll was ), but since I had to be running as SYSTEM to even touch them, I want to ensure nothing is going to break if I outright delete them.

[CptMurphy]

Uh, sfc.dll and sfc_os.dll is all of 142KB on my system, how would that save any space? SFC needs to stay on the system to help with any invalid files that may get into your system folder. I'd advise you against deleting them. If you want to save space, throttle down your recycle bin and lower, if not get rid of, the system restore cache.

Have you checked if the network card is supported under XP? There's some hardware that be detected in XP via plug-and-play. Does it need drivers?

The Windows Tour prompt should have a little check box which says something like "Run on startup". Uncheck it and you should be fine. And yea, before anyone else says it, "Get a new PC"

[HyperHacker]

142KB is a fair amount on a 10GB hard disk IMO. I intend to make an effort to keep invalid files out of the system folders to begin with. There's only like 3 programs I'll even be installing; Winamp, VLC and one I'm making.

The card is detected when Windows boots up, doesn't show any errors, and has the default MS driver. It's the same for both cards.

The tour prompt has no checkbox, it's just a balloon popup with a Close button.

[LLXX]

I have a P233MMX machine here too... it's currently acting as a file server (Win98SE, actually - XP is just a bit heavy for such a processor).

If at all possible, use Windows XP original (i.e. no SP) - SP1 and SP2 seem to successively increase memory and processor usage. This is a machine that you're not going to be using to access the Internet anyway, so any "security advantages" offered by SP2 won't be of much use.

[Ctrl-X]

I just install WinXP Pro SP2 onto an old Pentium 233 box, hoping to use it as a media center PC or whatever you call it (hook it up to the TV and watch movies from hard drive, DVD-ROM etc). I know I could just get WinXP MCE but I like to do things the hard way sometimes. The box has 64MB of RAM and runs at (guess what) 233mhz, which is surprisingly sufficient once you remove all the fancy graphics and disable some unnecessary services.

Could the disabling of any of these services be the cause of your networking problems?

[HyperHacker]

That's what I figured, but I've turned back on all those related to networking. The rest are disabled on my other computer without any problem.

[edit] I System Restored to before I'd changed any settings, and it still won't connect.

Edited November 12, 2006 by HyperHacker

[LLXX]

That's what I figured, but I've turned back on all those related to networking. The rest are disabled on my other computer without any problem.

[edit] I System Restored to before I'd changed any settings, and it still won't connect.

The essential services to network are the following:

DHCP client (if you use DHCP, otherwise it can be disabled as well if you have manually set a static IP)

Network Location Awareness

Network Connections

What manufacturer/model network card are you using?

[HyperHacker]

I've tried the D-Link DFE-538TX that worked in Win98 and the SMC 1211TX-50. With the Realtek RTL8139, the BIOS complains that "not enough I/O space is available". I suspect the PCI controller may be toast as the only other cards I've tried are the sound card (not detected), video capture (no drivers) and some old PCI video card (just doesn't seem to work). How can I test the PCI slots, preferrably without buying some new hardware?

All three of those services are running, even setting them to automatic startup didn't help.

What I find odd is that when I tried the RTL8139, it wouldn't start, so I switched back to the D-Link and now Windows claims to have found and be using the RTL8139 that I'm holding.

[LLXX]

With the Realtek RTL8139, the BIOS complains that "not enough I/O space is available".

An IRQ, I/O, or memory range it needs was taken by another device.

[CptMurphy]

With the Realtek RTL8139, the BIOS complains that "not enough I/O space is available".

An IRQ, I/O, or memory range it needs was taken by another device.

Go into system information->hardware resources->conflicts/sharing. Post up your results.

[HyperHacker]

I can't. It won't boot when that error occurrs.

[CptMurphy]

I can't. It won't boot when that error occurrs.

Even from safe-mode?

[HyperHacker]

Not even that far. The BIOS shows an error message and opens the configuration automatically. Exiting configuration automatically shuts down the system.