# Wireless internet ONLY works in Safe Mode.



## j3illy (Oct 13, 2007)

I've been searching the net up and down trying to figure out how to fix this problem, and I came across another thread on this site from May with someone having the SAME problem..

Here's what's up - I have a friend with a laptop who connects to his friend's internet connection wirelessly, and he was having some spyware/pop-up problems.. So I went over and we turned the laptop on, and like usual, it took a couple minutes to connect to the network.. I downloaded Spybot Search and Destroy, and Hijack this, and did some scans and got rid of all his pop-ups.. I also downloaded Firefox too.. We restarted the computer after all that, and the internet connection showed as active eventually - but the browser would NOT work..

I restarted into Safe Mode, and opened Firefox right up - and miraculously the internet connection was working immediately.. Now I've been over there messing with it numerous times, and I'm having no luck.. I tried it with IE7, and that browser doesn't work either.. I went into msconfig, and unchecked all the boxes under Startup - still nothing.. Firewall on or off makes no difference either..

So I was looking at the Network settings in Safe vs. Normal mode.. In Safe Mode, all it shows is the 802.11b wireless connection [I forget the brand of it], and it shows it as obviously working.. Now under Normal Mode, it shows not only THAT - but it shows an NVIDIA ethernet adaptor with an X over it in the status bar.. If I open it up, it says a network cable is unplugged, and to replug it [but there's nothing to replug lol].. However in safe mode, nothing about this NVIDIA adaptor is displayed ANYWHERE.. Just for the hell of it, I uninstalled it - but when I restarted the comp, Windows automatically detected it, and it popped right back up with the X over it.. Now if you go into the wireless connection, it shows it as active, and even shows it as receiving a little data - but like I said - it will ONLY work in Safe Mode, and it works instantly each and every time.. Help pleeeease!


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Since you haven't given some relevant info I'm going to assume Windows XP SP2.

To avoid seeing "network cable is unplugged" go into Network Connections and disable the internet connection.

One possibility for the wireless difference is that in normal mode there may be another wireless utility (client) running in addition to WZC.

On the other hand, I don't understand how the wireless works in SAFE mode. I thought SAFE mode with networking would be necessary.


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## j3illy (Oct 13, 2007)

I'll clarify a couple things for you, sorry... It is XP SP2, and it is Safe Mode with Networking.. 

As for the NVIDIA "network cable unplugged" and disabling it - I've tried that and it still won't work.. I even uninstalled it thinking it was a conflict, but when I restarted, Windows detected and reinstalled it - and it still shows up with the X over it in the status bar..

But in Safe Mode - there is no mention or trace of this "unplugged" NVIDIA network adapter anywhere.. Like I said, under the network connections, all it shows is the 802.11b wireless connection by itself.. In normal mode it shows THAT, and then next to it it shows the NVIDIA with the X over it - and both of these are on the bottom.. On the top it shows the Internet Connection, and it shows as active and everything - but the internet is unusable..


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Don't know why disabling the ethernet connection doesn't get rid of the "cable unplugged."

Another possibility for the wireless difference is that the computer is still infected.


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## j3illy (Oct 13, 2007)

Well it got rid of the "cable unplugged" - but it didn't fix the problem with the internet not working.. 
Now I was just reading some stuff from google, and saw a mention of a WZCBDL file regarding the networking - now I'm not positive, but I may have removed this using Hijack this.. Could this cause a problem like I'm having? 

But what I don't understand is how the internet works so nicely in Safe Mode w/ Networking!! ahhhh it's really bugging me


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## j3illy (Oct 13, 2007)

Now this computer is at my friend's house, so it's kind of a pain cuz I can only work on it here and there, when I go over.. But there's a couple things I'm gonna do when I go over tomorrow.. I'm gonna get an ipconfig /all for Safe vs. Normal mode, and compare the two.. I'm also gonna take an in depth look at the processes that are running, cuz the last person on this site that was having the same problem - it turned out being a software conflict with an anti-virus program.. But doing some more googling, I found this set of instructions for a similar problem.. Anyone think it could work? Here they are:

 Go to Control Panel.
 Choose Administrative Tools.
 Select Services. A two-pane window comes up.
 In the right-hand pane, scroll down and click Wireless Zero Configuration.
 Click Stop the Service. A progress bar may come up briefly.
 Click Start the Service. Again, a progress bar may come up.
 Close the Services window. At this point, Fleishman said, the connection should come back.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Is WZC being used to manage the wireless? Have you checked yet to see if there is another wireless utility running?

Stopping and starting WZC may result in a connection, but so might a 'repair' of the connection or ipconfig /release and ipconfig /renew or a Restart of the PC.

It really sounds to me like two wireless utilities running or malware. Could also be a 3rd party firewall if it never gets a connection in normal mode.


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## Xyzek (Oct 5, 2007)

Have you tried reinstalling the wireless NIC drivers? Something has probably messed up whatever software suite gets installed with the laptop. Usually you don't need all the bells and whistles that get installed with the wireless anyway, so you might want to try reverting back to the bare wireless driver and let Windows manage the configuration. I did that on my Dell desktop and things work much happier than with Intel's bloatware.

Do into add/remove programs and uninstall the wireless software, then either download and reinstall the newer software or force windows to install a driver. See if that changes anything.

Since it is working in Safe mode it must be using just the basic Windows driver and connecting, so it must therefore be a problem with the extra software that runs when in 'normal' mode.


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## j3illy (Oct 13, 2007)

What doesn't make sense is this - the computer was able to go online fine in normal mode until I downloaded Spybot S&D, scanned the system, and then thoroughly removed a LOT of entries w/ HijackThis.. Since doing this the system boots and runs much smoother - no more pop-ups.. But the internet will only work in Safe Mode w/ Networking, even though the connection shows as active in Normal mode [aside from the NVIDIA ethernet adaptor showing as unplugged]..

I'm hoping for any last minute advice before I run a clean install of Windows XP tomorrow.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

You just said the key phrase, *and then thoroughly removed a LOT of entries w/ HijackThis*. Unless you REALLY know what you're doing, HJT can cripple your system faster than you can imagine! Did you try a system restore to before you did the ill-fated HJT repair?


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## j3illy (Oct 13, 2007)

I haven't tried that, but I'm thinking at this point, doing a clean XP install isn't too bad of an idea..


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

If the system restore doesn't do it, I'm thinking you're right.


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## j3illy (Oct 13, 2007)

I just did a google search for "wireless internet only works in safe mode" - and apparently this is somewhat of a common problem.. I guess I shouldn't say "common" - but there were quite a few instances of it manifesting.. There were basically 2 possible scenarios: A software conflict with usually an anti-virus program, or a "service" conflict, which can be assessed via administrative tools and checking services.. Someone said to stop and restart the WZC service, and check that out - and someone else said the ipsec service can sometimes wreak havoc, and to try disabling that.. 

Someone said if you can come to the conclusion that it's NOT a software conflict, and the 2 'fixes' I mentioned didn't do the trick, then you can solve the problem via this method: Run 'services.msc' in safe mode, and write down which services are running.. Restart the comp in normal mode, and disable any services that weren't running in safe mode.. After rebooting again in normal mode, the internet theoretically SHOULD be working.. It then said you now have the tedious time-consuming task of finding out which service was the culprit..  

I think I'll just go with the clean XP install, but I kinda do like playing Mr. Detective - so we'll see which route I choose..


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Since it runs in safe mode, it's most likely indeed some application that's running in normal mode. Since you've already tried disabling stuff with MSCONFIG, the next step may be killing services until it starts working.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

If you are going to go the detective route I suggest you revisit my post #7. Look for another wireless utility running as a service (e.g., Dell WLAN) or a firewall.


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## j3illy (Oct 13, 2007)

So I go over tonight with a Windows XP Home CD, and with the intention of getting everything up and running.. I start the reinstall, and realize he had XP Pro installed - it tells me I can't upgrade, but I run a clean install, and purposely leave the rest of the hard-drive/files intact [which I'm VERY glad I did].. The install goes thru smoothly, and I end up getting XP running, but I soon realize that there's nothing at all in my "Network Connections".. I head into the control panel, and there's big yellow question marks over a whole section of hardware [of course pertaining to the network].. The wireless connection is running thru the house at all times, and all I had to do was do a scan with the basic Windows program, but it seemed like there was basically NOTHING I could do with no drivers for the hardware, and no internet connec to DL them..

So I reboot the computer but this time with his original OS - XP Pro.. It's the same old thing with the internet NOT working, but I do an ipconfig and see that he has an IP address, a physical address, and all that stuff.. So I reboot into Safe Mode and go into Administrative Tools, then services, and jot down all his running services - just so I could go the tedious route - service by service..

I reboot again, in XP Pro of course - but in normal mode now.. I do another ipconfig, and seeing the IP address and everything really irks me, cuz I KNOW the internet must be so close to working.. I was dreading the thought of going into the services though, one by one lol.. So I do a ctrl-alt-del and check out the task manager.. I see a couple programs that appear to be Norton's related.. So I go into Add/Remove programs, see Norton Internet Security, and proceed to uninstall it ASAP..

It starts doing it's thing, and I realize that it's like, the LOOOOOONGEST uninstall I've ever witnessed.. It had a status bar with the maybe 50 blocks that come up, one by one - and it was taking almost a full minute for each block to come up.. I don't know why I did it, but after about 3-4 minutes I loaded up Firefox - and the internet WORKED!! About 20-30 minutes later, the uninstall finally finished, and the internet has been working just fine, even after a few reboots..

Now I have just one more little issue - I'm thinking I'm def better off sticking with his original XP Pro, and even messing around with the XP Home I put on would be a total waste of time - right? So what I wanna do I guess, is to remove the XP Home install that I put on it tonight.. Just cuz when you boot up, it gives you a choice between the 2 [with XP Home on top], and XP Home is taking up unneeded memory.. But how do I get rid of it permanently? And if someone has any feeling on the contrary, thinking I should keep the fresh install of XP Home, and getting the drivers/network running with THAT - then I'm willing to listen to that as well..


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

You can fire up MSCONFIG and edit BOOT.INI using that tab. Remove the XP-Home boot definition under [operating systems]. Did you install XP-Home on a separate partition? If so, you can then erase the Windows installation there. If you installed on the same partition as XP-Pro, I have no idea what kind of mess you have! If so, I'd leave it alone.


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## j3illy (Oct 13, 2007)

Well the thing that kinda threw me off, was it never asked about formatting/installing on a certain partition.. The only thing it asked me, was initially if I wanted to convert the drive to NTFS, which would require a reformat.. I chose to leave all files intact however, and thank god I did.. I was looking though, and it seems like I only saw one windows folder.. I didn't open it up or investigate any further, but that didn't seem right, seeing as how both operating systems are fully installed and operational.. 

I also thought it was odd that just STARTING to uninstall Norton's Internet Security was enough to allow the internet to work, and it didn't even need to complete or reboot.. But like I said, when I looked at the ipconfig /all, and saw that I had an IP and physical address, I knew that there wasn't gonna be TOO much of a hassle to get the 'net up and running..


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Post the contents of the BOOT.INI file here, you can access it using MSCONFIG


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