Help! My Windows XP box can't be pinged!

[gdglass]

Folks,

I think I might be having a problem similar to others posted on this forum but I
haven't found the solution here (yet).

I have a PC running Windblows XP SP2. The IP address of this PC, assigned by my
local, wireless router, is 192.168.1.101. There is another PC on my home network,
running Windblows 2000, at 192.168.1.102. Here's the deal:

192...101 (the XP box) can ping 192...102 (2000). The XP box can also access the
2000 box's shared folders and files.

...102 CANNOT ping ...101, nor can it access ...101 in any other way.

The router itself (192.168.1.1) has a ping utility and can ping ...102.

The router itself CANNOT ping ...101 (this tells me that it's not a routing problem).

Both boxes can access the Internet to browse the web, send/receive e-mail, etc. just
fine.

Finally, 192.168.1.101 CAN ping itself, either with that IP address, or with the
localhost loopback, 127.0.0.1.

I have noticed that the XP box receives ping packets but does not transmit responses.
I determined this by watching the network connection status while pinging the XP
box from the 2000. The received packet count increments by one for each ping but
the sent packet count does not increment.

I HAVE ALREADY TRIED COMPLETELY DISABLING THE FIREWALL and I have no other, third
party firewalls installed. I did find some other IP and ICMP security crap while
poking around in places that I probably shouldn't have been in Windows administration
land but that didn't seem to make any difference either. By all appearences, it
looks as though, at the very least, ICMP should be 100% permitted.

Any clues? All serious responses appreciated.

Cheers,
G

[VirusEJ]

Do you have the firewalls on BOTH machines turned off?

I have a similar setup, but both machines are WinXP so maybe the problem is because you are using difference O/S.

You say you cannot ping the machine from the router itself? That would indicate some sort of problem, but sadly, you seem to have covered everything I would normally suggest.

How are these machines connected? Wireless USB Key? Model?

Dave

[gdglass]

Thanks for the reply Dave.

Alas, I have tried dropping both firewalls: no diff.

The PCs each contain wireless LAN cards talking to a Linksys wireless router. It seems that every other aspect of their communication works except that the 2000 box can't see the XP box.

The stranger thing is that the router recognizes, and assigns an IP address to the XP box. It simply cannot ping the XP box. The router, which is configurable via an "ASP" page, has a utility for ping and tracerouting. Since I tried pinging the XP box DIRECTLY from the router, I eliminated routing as the issue.

I suspect that there is some obscure, SP2 configuration somewhere deep in the bowels of XP that needs to be switched on or off that I just don't know about yet. <sigh>

Cheers,
G

[Paul Berneis]

I have a similar problem, which may well have the same root cause. I have not been able to solve it. I am sending you the details of my problem in the hope that additional information may help both of us solve the problem.

Prior to the discovery of my problem I had an infrastructure network consisiting of a Windows XP Professional SP1 system, a Windows 98 SE system, an older Netgear firewall/router, and a cable modem. Both Windows machines connected to the Internet through the router and they successfully shared files and printers with each other (i.e., everything worked as intended).

In December I changed the router to a Linksys wireless access point. The WAP connected device (a TIVO) and both computers have working access to the Internet. The two Windows systems, however, can no longer see each other's files or printers. While the obvious culprit is the WAP, the main user of the XP system thinks she might have accepted an automatic software upgrade on the XP system shortly before we noticed the problem. Furthermore, as the details that follow will show, the problem seems very similar to your problem, and I suspect something on the XP system is the cause.

Details.

1. The XP system can ping the 98 system by IP address (192.168.1.102) but not by host name (unknown host error message). The 98 system gets timeouts when it tries to ping the XP system by IP address. It gets the unknown host error when it tries to ping the XP system by name. Note that IP addresses are DHCP assigned by the router, and all systems' subnet masks are set to 255.255.255.0.

2. The Internet Connection Firewall on the XP system is turned off. Turning it on and enabling ICMP pings makes no difference.

3. Both systems are set to use the same workgroup name. Both systems have file and print sharing turned on.

4. I have tried recreating the network connection on the XP system and using the network install disk it creates to reinstall the connection on the 98 system - does not fix the problem.

5. The XP system still says it is SP1, but I am not sure if some updates and/or settings beyond SP1 have been installed or not.

6. The XP system cannot ping itself, even using its explicit IP address (192.168.1.100).

7. The 98 system can ping itself, by address or name.

8. The router can ping the 98 system but not the XP system. Both systems can ping the router by IP address.

9. On the 98 system, I can go into Network Neighborhood, expand the entire network, see my workgroup, expand it, and then see the 98 system. This is as it should be. On the XP system, when I expand the entire network, there is a long delay, then I see my workgroup. When I expand my workgroup, there is another long delay, followed by an error message "Workgroup is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact ... The list of servers for this workgroup is not currently available."

In addition to thinking that there is some setting in the XP box that has turned off ping responses, I am also wondering if there is some DNS problem that prevents the systems from seeing each other.

I look forward to any insight that anyone can offer.

[gdglass]

Hmmm...it does sound like a similar problem but, as it happens, I found the cause of my problem and I doubt that we share it. Nonetheless, I'll try to offer some limited insights.

First of all, for any of those that are interested, my problem turned out to be the Cisco VPN client that I had installed. Even though it WAS NOT operational at the time, it was still blocking traffic somehow. Uninstalling it made everything work.

Now, on to the issue at hand:

The fact your XP machine cannot ping itself, either by name OR by IP address makes me suspicious. Have you tried pinging the loopback address of 127.0.0.1? If that doesn't work, it almost points to a problem in the protocol stack or to some other, obscure XP security setting.

I know you said that you still have SP1 but, if your XP user downloaded an automatic upgrade, then she probably would have gotten SP2 by this point. In that case, the firewall is more complex but you should still be able to configure it. Hmmm...

The DNS problem is not surprising. If the XP machine is not communciating, then it's probably not registering with a DNS server, thus nothing can ping it by name. I have to admit, though, that I am guessing here as I'm not an expert on this stuff but this is how it appeared in my case.

One thing that I found useful was to watch the network connection status on the XP box -- the thing that tells you how many packets were transmitted and how many were received -- and try pinging the box at that time. If the received packed count increments, then you know that packets are being correctly routed to the box.

Another resource for you would be another forum that I've checked into called Annoyances.org. They have a Windows XP discussion forum with some pretty bright folks checking in. You might want to look at that.

That's about all that I can think of. Good luck and let us know what happens.

Cheers,
G

[Paul Berneis]

As it turned out, Norton Internet Security had somehow become re-enabled. It was delivered on the computer when we bought the computer, but disabled immediately as we have other firewall, etc. software running. So there was a firewall running after all, which I never noticed since I was looking for Windows-provided firewalls. I have since uninstalled Norton.

Thank you for your assistance - it did help me refocus my thinking.

Regards,
Paul

[gdglass]

Glad you found the problem. It's nice when it turns out to be something simple. How rare that is though!

G

Originally Posted by Paul Berneis

As it turned out, Norton Internet Security had somehow become re-enabled. It was delivered on the computer when we bought the computer, but disabled immediately as we have other firewall, etc. software running. So there was a firewall running after all, which I never noticed since I was looking for Windows-provided firewalls. I have since uninstalled Norton.

Thank you for your assistance - it did help me refocus my thinking.

Regards,
Paul

[Shane Burke]

I had the same problem described in this forum and a Google search led me here. As I read through the posts, I noticed one regarding Cisco VPN Client. The user said that, after uninstalling the client, s/he could ping the XP PC fine. I do have Cisco client installed and can't really uninstall it because I need it. So, I started digging around in the Options and I found an option labeled "Stateful firewall (Always On)". It was checked and so I unchecked it and now everything is great! Well, so to speak. As I've been troubleshooting this problem I've uninstalled just about every security application that I have installed, so now I have to go rebuild all that. It's really infuriating that Cisco would choose to automatically enable something that would inhibit performance of my PC even when their software isn't launched, especially when it's an obscure setting. They should make that an option duing Setup. Anyway, if you have Cisco VPN Client installed, I HIGHLY recommend that you disable the "Stateful firewall."

[morebob]

God Bless You Shane. I had the same problem. Talked to network guru's etc. but no one knew the answer. Spent hours doing the same as others; trying to fix myself and looking on the net. Finally found your answer, disabled the "Stateful firewall" and had instant access to the "unpingable" computer.

PLEASE - Someone, anyone (I don't know how): Post this Cisco Firewall atrocity, and its solution, on the internet so that it will be easier to find for all the others having the same problem.

[jenom]

Originally Posted by gdglass

First of all, for any of those that are interested, my problem turned out to be the Cisco VPN client that I had installed. Even though it WAS NOT operational at the time, it was still blocking traffic somehow. Uninstalling it made everything work.

Well this turned out to be exactly my problem. I was searching for a solution to this for over 3 months, because the VPN worked great before SP2 and there were no problems anywhere reported.

Thanks a lot!

[howie2715]

I have been trying to figure this out for some time now. Thank you but I have some more news. If you stop the Cisco Service it will fix the networking problem and allow you to keep the software installed.




QUOTE=gdglass]Hmmm...it does sound like a similar problem but, as it happens, I found the cause of my problem and I doubt that we share it. Nonetheless, I'll try to offer some limited insights.

First of all, for any of those that are interested, my problem turned out to be the Cisco VPN client that I had installed. Even though it WAS NOT operational at the time, it was still blocking traffic somehow. Uninstalling it made everything work.

Now, on to the issue at hand:

The fact your XP machine cannot ping itself, either by name OR by IP address makes me suspicious. Have you tried pinging the loopback address of 127.0.0.1? If that doesn't work, it almost points to a problem in the protocol stack or to some other, obscure XP security setting.

I know you said that you still have SP1 but, if your XP user downloaded an automatic upgrade, then she probably would have gotten SP2 by this point. In that case, the firewall is more complex but you should still be able to configure it. Hmmm...

The DNS problem is not surprising. If the XP machine is not communciating, then it's probably not registering with a DNS server, thus nothing can ping it by name. I have to admit, though, that I am guessing here as I'm not an expert on this stuff but this is how it appeared in my case.

One thing that I found useful was to watch the network connection status on the XP box -- the thing that tells you how many packets were transmitted and how many were received -- and try pinging the box at that time. If the received packed count increments, then you know that packets are being correctly routed to the box.

Another resource for you would be another forum that I've checked into called Annoyances.org. They have a Windows XP discussion forum with some pretty bright folks checking in. You might want to look at that.

That's about all that I can think of. Good luck and let us know what happens.

Cheers,
G[/quote]

[mcleang]

I have been having this problem for the past year and have had to live with it. I've searched different forums from time to time to try and find the answer but nothing ever helped. Finally I try again this morning and to my suprise someone found the answer! I really hate that VPN!

I need it for work but it causes so many problems. My home network has both a wireless router and a wired router. I use the wireless router as an extra form of security to protect my wired home network so if someone breaks into my wireless network my wired network still has some protection (not much maybe but it's an extra hurdle that someone would need to go through). The problem is the wireless router is not compatible with the Cisco VPN so I can't connect via my notebook. If I have to work from home I have to use my wired network which seems to work just fine with the VPN.

Thanks to the person that found this and posted his fix. I'm very gratefull.

Originally Posted by howie2715

I have been trying to figure this out for some time now. Thank you but I have some more news. If you stop the Cisco Service it will fix the networking problem and allow you to keep the software installed.

[breadmakerca]

Thanks alot guys , I confirm disabling "stateful firewall" on the cisco vpn client resolve the problem. I was not able to ping my xp machine and spent severall hours trying to figuring out why.
Thanks again

[5253h]

I had the same issue with an XP PRO SP2 system. I had uninstalled and reinstalled the nics and swapped out shells. This one setting worked like a change and resolved the issue. Thanks again!

[bwolmarans]

Originally Posted by Shane Burke

I had the same problem described in this forum and a Google search led me here. As I read through the posts, I noticed one regarding Cisco VPN Client. The user said that, after uninstalling the client, s/he could ping the XP PC fine. I do have Cisco client installed and can't really uninstall it because I need it. So, I started digging around in the Options and I found an option labeled "Stateful firewall (Always On)". It was checked and so I unchecked it and now everything is great! Well, so to speak. As I've been troubleshooting this problem I've uninstalled just about every security application that I have installed, so now I have to go rebuild all that. It's really infuriating that Cisco would choose to automatically enable something that would inhibit performance of my PC even when their software isn't launched, especially when it's an obscure setting. They should make that an option duing Setup. Anyway, if you have Cisco VPN Client installed, I HIGHLY recommend that you disable the "Stateful firewall."

Shane you rule! - Brett Wolmarans