Net adapter not working and issue with Windows update

[jkwheeler]

Hi! I just finished a topic on your "Malware Removal - HijackThis Logs" forum. After some detailed steps, your agent said I did not have a malware issue and suggested I post to the "PC Help" forum. So, here goes. Hope you can help.

The malware removal topic is at:

http://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?showtopic=95006

My issue is with Windows update and that my network adapter no longer works. I believe the first order of business is to get the network adapter to work and then worry about Windows update. So, please help me get the network adapter to work.

Here is a summary of my issue and where things stand now.

I am running:

XP Media Center Edition, Version 2002, SP3

Started with an issue with "Generic host process for Win32 has encountered a problem and has to close." Went to Microsoft answers. That thread is at:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_xp-windows_update/cannot-access-windows-automatic-update-after/aeaec175-01f4-47ed-8f97-55b854af4220

The issue seemed to be with Windows update. When I disabled Windows update, I did not get this error message. But, of course, I know I should keep up with any patches from Microsoft.

After several steps, the Microsoft agent thought one of my McAfee Security Center updates might have installed incorrectly. He recommended I uninstall McAfee using Add/Remove Programs followed by McAfee's MCPR tool. I did that and then my network adapter stopped working! After a few more steps, Microsoft agent thought I had a malware issue and recommened several malware help sites to choose from. That's how I ended up at your malware removal forum.

Your agent was very helpful and thorough. After many detailed steps, all in topic at the link above, he determined I did not have a malware issue and recommended I post here.

Here is a slightly-edited version of my last significant post on your malware removal forum. You will get a picture of where things stand now.

To get the network adapter to work, I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the driver. Got the same results whether in normal mode or in Safe Mode with networking as well as without networking.

So, I booted into normal mode and tried uninstalling and installing but I tried things in a bit of a different order. Going back to the PPT at

http://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_id=66336

I see the three network adapter entries shown on Slide 3. When I try to uninstall any of them, I get this message

"Failed to uninstall the device. Device may be required to boot up the computer."

I tried anyway to reinstall the driver using "Scan for hardware changes." For all three cases, I the message I got back was

"A problem occurred during hardware installation. Your new hardware might not work properly."

If I look at the "Properties" of the HW entry that does not mention McAfee in the name, I get the screen on Slide 2 of the PPT. That is

"The device is not configured correctly. (Code 1)"

BUT, when I look at "Properties" for either of the two entries that do mention McAfee, the message is

"Windows cannot start the hardware device because its configuation (in the registry) is incomplete or damaged (Code 19)."

It really sounds like there is a corruption somewhere. I keep thinking if we can fix the corruption and get a clean uninstall of all three of these network adapter entries, then I can use "Scan for hardware changes" and get the driver to install with no errors. But, I don't know how to fix the corruption.

Note that I uninstalled McAfee and ran the MCPR tool very early in this process. I've run MCPR several times since then. It does not get rid of the "McAfee" network adapter entries.

After I get my network adapter to work, then I want to reinstall McAfee. Hopefully, I'll get a clean install. Then I want to try to get Windows updating running again by following Microsoft's instructions.

[rgabbard]

When you uninstalled and reinstalled did you use the driver that is built into xp? Or did you grab a driver from Intel's web site? If you used the one from XP I would highly recommend grabbing the latest driver from Intel and trying with that. There is a good chance that the one integrated with XP won't work correctly.

[jkwheeler]

Intel's website does have a more up-to-date driver. But, Intel's site recommended if the adapter came with an OEM computer (Dell, in my case), then I should use the driver posted on the OEM site. Well, the driver posted on Dell's site is the same one that was already on the computer.

I tried installing the driver from Intel anyway. The installing gave me this message:

"The installed version of Intel PROSet is not supported for upgrades. You must uninstall it before installing this version."

The message coorborates Intel's statement on the website about using the driver on the OEM website.

The original driver from Dell worked just fine until I uninstalled McAfee. Is there a possibility that the McAfee uninstall corrupted something?

[rgabbard]

So are the McAfee network adapters still showing in the device manager? If they are let's try to get rid of them since you have uninstalled.

If you right click on My Computer and then click Manage, under Services and Applications there is a Services option. Click on that and look for any services that relate to McAfee, open up the properties for each and stop and disable them. Once you've done that try to remove the McAfee network adapters and see if that helps.

[jkwheeler]

There are no services listed with "McAfee" in the name. I did see one called "Security Center." But, I think that is Windows Security Center, not McAfee Security Center.

Apparently, my uninstall of McAfee did remove enough stuff so that the "Services" function could not detect any McAfee services running on the machine.

[Firefox]

Take a look at this article from Microsoft for resetting your TCP/IP protocol located Here and try the Fix It and see if it helps.

[rgabbard]

Have you tried booting into safe mode with networking and deleting the network adapters that way?

Edit: Also check your boot order to see if the boot to network option is on there at all. If so you may want to disable that if possible.

[jkwheeler]

I already tried booting into safe mode both with networking and without networking. Got the same results as I already described.

I would be happy to check the boot order. How do I do that?

If changing the boot order does not help, I'll try resetting the TCP/IP protocol.

[rgabbard]

You'll have to look in the bios for the boot stuff. Usually there is a splash screen when you first start your computer that will specify a key to press to enter the bios (setup). Most common ones are F2, F10, and Del. And in a lot of cases pressing Esc will bring up a menu of all your options.

[LDTate]

Not trying to hijack this topic but I had one like this after a ZA infection

You need to look in device manager and see if your network card is disabled

Right Click on My Computer > Properties > Hardware > Device Manager

Look under your network adaptors.

What do you see?

[jkwheeler]

Responding to LDTate:

Indeed I have checked the enable/disable status of the network card. It does not work when it is enabled. I've also tried uninstalling the driver when the card is enabled and when it is disabled. I get the same results each time. That is, the error messages that seem to indicate some kind of mis-configuration.

Responding to rgabbard and Firefox:

I still need to sit down at the affecte PC and try the boot changes and resetting the TCP/IP protocol.

Thanks to all three of you for your help so far!

[LDTate]

Is the card controlled by McAfee?

[jkwheeler]

I don't know how to answer whether the card is controlled by McAfee. When I first had the issue with Windows Update, the agent with Microsoft Answers thought that a recent McAfee update might not have installed properly, causing the Windows Update problem. He recommended I uninstall McAfee and then reinstall it. I uninstalled using Add/Remove Programs followed by McAfee's MCPR tool. After that, my network adapter no longer worked. I certainly did not expect that result. There was another time a few years ago I had to uninstall McAfee from the same PC with same network adapter and driver. In that case, the adapter still worked without McAfee installed. I don't know what the Device Manager showed at that time because I never had a reason to look.

That's when the Microsoft Agent thought I had malware. I then opened a topic on your Malware Removal - HighThis Logs forum. That agent was helpful and checked a lot of things and decided I had no malware. Then he sent me to this forum.

Not sure if you looked at the PPT I pointed to. It shows three network adapters, two of which refer to McAfee in the description. The McAfee part surprises me since I supposedly have McAfee completely uninstalled from the machine. The error messages keep referring to a misconfiguration and mention the registry. See my very first post on this topic on october 4.

[LDTate]

Yes that is what I had seen before. mcAfee took over control of your card.

I beleive I had the other person Delete both that had mcAfee (the two showing with the RED Xin your posted picture.

Then uninstall the regular card, reboot and lets see what happens.

[jkwheeler]

I've tried to uninstall all three of those entries. I get the same error message for all three

"Failed to uninstall the device. Device may be required to boot up the computer."

If I try to install them again anyway, I get

"A problem occurred during hardware installation. Your new hardware might not work properly."

Then, the properties screen says

For the regular card:

"The device is not configured correctly. (Code 1)"

For the "McAfee" cards:

"Windows cannot start the hardware device because its configuation (in the registry) is incomplete or damaged (Code 19)."

These are the error messages I get copied word-for-word, no edits or additions from me. The actual error message for the McAfee cards mentions the registry.

[LDTate]

I have no idea why McAfee is doing this.

Try restarting in Safe Mode and deleteing them.

[jkwheeler]

Already tried Safe Mode and could not delete them. I tried Safe Mode both with and without networking.

Perhaps something in the registry is hosed. Should I see if McAfee has a forum I could post to?

[LDTate]

Should I see if McAfee has a forum I could post to? 

Sure, good idea.

[LDTate]

Any updated on this,jkwheeler?

[jkwheeler]

Sorry to take so long to get back to you. I did open a thread on McAfee's community board. And, what-do-you-know but they pointed me to some steps that got my network adapter working again! That thread is at:

https://community.mcafee.com/message/209883#209883

They pointed me to some Microsoft articles. Did not seem to be a McAfee problem.

After I got the adapter working, I reinstalled McAfee Security Center so I am safe to surf the web.

I still don't have Windows Update working. But, now that I also have McAfee installed, I can pick back up with a couple more steps the Microsoft Answers agent recommended several weeks ago when all this first started.

Feel free to close this topic. I do appreciate your help and the help from screen317 on the other Malwarebytes topic. Thanks to rgabbard and Firefox for responding, too.

[LDTate]

Great

I'm going to save those links to MS.