DNS problem

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alec

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So one of my friends bought herself a Sony Vaio and then took wireless internet to go with it, but she is having problems with her DNS settings. In this screenshot you can see how it is set to "automatic", but that changes automatically into a row of numbers without her doing anyhting special. Why that is a problem? Because then she doesn't have internet any longer.

When it happens, she needs to go to this exact screen and change it back to "automatic DNS" + hit 'ok' ('cause that' all you can do), only to have it change again after an hour or so. The people who installed it don't know why it happens either and I've been googling the problem for two hours now, but I just can't find a solution, I'm really not that good with these sort of settings + it's a new Vaio with Windows 7 and it all looks weird and new to me (XP afficionado). It's an Intel i3 but I doubt this matters.

Help is very much appreciated.

 
That issue might be caused by malware. Tell your girlfriend to scan her system with an anti-malware utility, like Spybot S&D. It would be interesting to know the IP setting that the DNS changes to ($50 says it's somewhere in eastern Europe).
 
If the scan doesn't turn up anything, you could try doing a system restore. I haven't owned a VAIO since the late 90's, but I recall them always coming with a restore disk (instead of giving you the Windows CD).
 
Scan didn't turn up anything. It's basically a brand new pc and the internet connection is brand new as well, so it would have surprised me a lot. The provider consists of a bunch of retards, though (Telenet). First they managed to cut of her cable completely, so nothing even came in, then they show up again, repair that cable shit, but they can't explain why it changes it's dns address settings.

I'm home now, told her to text message me the DNS address when it shows up. It started with 160.

Could this be caused by avast? It's the only thing, apart from Office, that she put on there so far.

A system restore sounds like an option 'cause it automatically detects and installs internet, afaik, but sjesus, she just bought the damn thing.
 
one of the first things you should ever do when getting a pre-made computer is use the system restore cd to install everything.

then go through and uninstall all the crap you dont want.

then you will need to do the system restore cd and uninstall the things you dont want and that arent required by the computer
 
TheWesDude said:
one of the first things you should ever do when getting a pre-made computer is use the system restore cd to install everything.
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First time she used the pc, she was led through a wizard that installed everything, so I reckon it's just on the pc itself, not on a disc.

then go through and uninstall all the crap you dont want.

then you will need to do the system restore cd and uninstall the things you dont want and that arent required by the computer
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Planning on doing that soon, but this is an internet problem.
 
MediaMarkt?

Have you ever asked for tech support at MediaMarkt?

Damn, I really thought there'd be some computer whizzkid around who would just go: 'change that thingiewingie to § and that other lever thingie to off and problem solved.'



:roll:
 
I have never entered a Mediamarkt in my life..

They probably advertised it as 'internet ready' so just show them it doesn't work. Let their brains hurt they sold a product that doesn't function properly.

On a side note:
I had a similar problem with Telenet in a long distant past. Unplugging the modem or whatever it is makes it perform a reset and perhaps 'fixes ' the DNS problem.
But you probably already tried that.
 
All I can tell you that it's to do with a router not assigning the right IP, so Windows will fail to find it automatically. Use the router manual to find the router's IP, access it and see what you can find there (enable DCHP?).

Seems odd that it works for a while and then stops. And I don't really understand enough to give you any more constructive help :(

alec said:
she
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Tits/GTFO? :smug:

EDIT: if I understand it correctly, the 16x IP is her card's address an Windows goes to it when it fails to obtain one from the router. So it's not some malware forcing that IP onto her, it's something to do with the router.
 
I text messaged her to reset the router once again, but I think she already did that a couple of times. I'll check out the other options when I can do it myself.
 
alec said:
I text messaged her to reset the router once again, but I think she already did that a couple of times. I'll check out the other options when I can do it myself.
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This thread might have some relevant information - it seems like the guy has a similar problem (just Googled + TL-DR, but hey!).
 
alec said:
Scan didn't turn up anything. It's basically a brand new pc and the internet connection is brand new as well, so it would have surprised me a lot. The provider consists of a bunch of retards, though (Telenet). First they managed to cut of her cable completely, so nothing even came in, then they show up again, repair that cable shit, but they can't explain why it changes it's dns address settings.

I'm home now, told her to text message me the DNS address when it shows up. It started with 160.
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Has your friend installed any software from her ISP? Any auto-configuration utilities or such? I've never heard of such software making furtive changes to network settings, though I guess it's possible if it's running as a background process or a scheduled task.

Another possibility is that the system comes with preinstalled software from another ISP. Laptop crapware sometimes includes promotional stuff like that, and it could be auto-resetting the connection settings to some predefined configuration.

In either case, your friend has some uninstalling to do. And it might be helpful if you posted that IP address. You know, the whole address, not just the first three digits.
 
yes, all that 160 IP means is that the NIC isnt getting an IP from the DHCP of the router

1) she isnt actually connecting to a network. she knows she has to get an ISP account and pay for internet account/access right?

2) her NIC isnt grabbing one when it starts up, and you should try to flush dns and release/renew its ip
 
TheWesDude said:
1) she isnt actually connecting to a network. she knows she has to get an ISP account and pay for internet account/access right?
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She is using Telenet which is the largest provider in Belgium.
 
If I understood alec's post correctly, DHCP provides her with a valid IP initially, but something overrides that setting with a non-valid one. And we are trying to ascertain the nature of that mysterious Something.
 
alec said:
I text messaged her to reset the router once again, but I think she already did that a couple of times.
Click to expand...


It has to be unplugged for a certain amount of time. 15 minutes or so if I'm not mistaken.
 
i still say she doesnt have something setup correctly and its not connecting to her POP

either something is wrong with her wireless router, or she is losing enough signal strength to lose connection and it resets to a windows default IP

or she doesnt have her connection setup properly for her ISP.

if you do have an ISP account/service, they will recognize the device and give you an ip and other DHCP information, when it tries to verify the connection and/or login information and that fails, it will close the connection and then windows will default to one of its 160 default IPs
 
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