Router, XP and BSOD - SOLVED

[Jeremiah58]

Maybe someone could help me with this strange BSOD on one of my home LAN PC's, please.

I have a home network of 3 desktop PC's and one laptop. All connected to a router Siemens 555 on ADSL.
The home network had all security measures (password, encryption, MAC addresses) - and everything worked with no problem for almost 2 years.
Now there is a problem with one PC, the only one which is connected to a router via LAN cable.
As soon as I click to enable LAN network, the Windows (all PC's are XP SP1) crashes with BSOD.
Restarting it, results in BSOD.
Only when I pull out the LAN cable from the router, the PC will boot up in Windows again and will continue to work in Windows normally.

Has anyone seen this before?
Is it a router malfunction, a LAN card or ...

Thank you in advance.

[redwudz]

I suspect it's either driver software, the LAN card or the cable. The cable is easy enough to exchange for another for testing. For software, you could install the latest LAN drivers, and check your network settings. If it's a separate LAN card, I would try a different one, or try moving it to another slot in case it's a IRQ conflict.

I don't know if you can ping your router, but in a command window, 'ping 192.168.0.1'. (Or whatever your router address is.) You should also be able to ping other devices on the LAN. And try 'ipconfig/all'. There's other options with those commands, but I don't remember them all.

[Jeremiah58]

Thank you, redwudz.
I'll try to do what you advice.
It is a separate LAN card, so I can try another.
I have reported this to my Internet provider, cause they provided the router, as well. They will send a technician to check the router.
I'm still puzzled why this can cause such a nasty BSOD, that even after a reboot, Windows wont start up. It starts up only when I unplug the LAN cable from the router.

[redwudz]

I'm not sure why it would be causing the BSOD either. That's what makes me think it might be the LAN card or software and not the router.

Depending on the BSOD screen information, you may be able to trace it down that way. But it's hard to capture a BSOD screen or understand the sometimes cryptic information there.

If your ISP sends a tech, he may figure this all out quickly as he should be more experienced with this sort of problem. At least a lot more than me.

[Dv8ted2]

The cable would not cause a BSOD. Normally you would get a warning in the bottom right corner that states that this computer is not connected. It is most likely a driver issue. He could try that network card in another computer to weed out if it is a network card issue.

I highly suggest that you update to SP2. SP1 had security holes big enough to drive an eighteen wheeler through.

[JohnnyMalaria]

I agree. Bad driver OR faulty hardware causing the driver to do something it shouldn't.

[Jeremiah58]

Thank you for your replies.
I will post back when I find what is wrong.

[Jeremiah58]

If your ISP sends a tech, he may figure this all out quickly as he should be more experienced with this sort of problem.

They sent a tech. all right, and he wanted to replace the router with new model.
But I demanded to diagnose the problem first. (I didn't want to go thru the configuration of a new router and wireless network if it wasn't neccessary.)
After tests, we both found out that the old router is not a culprit. All LAN ports were funktional.
The culprit was that Micronet ethernet adapter (a separate network card).
It was just slighly less than 2 years old, so still under warranty and I got a replacement.
I have installed it and everything is OK now.

Thank you for your help.
Cheers

[redwudz]

But I demanded to diagnose the problem first.

That was a good move. Too often they just want to change parts without finding what the real problem is.

Many of us forget how we set up a router in the first place and that can make it hard to set up the way you want it, or at least the way it was. And if you are like me, you may have not wrote down all the settings for future reference.

But I'm glad you got it going again.