Tan and Steve mused: > > > Hey all, > > I just know that one of you out there will be able to answer this! > > Basically, I have my lappy networked to my PC via ethernet. All was working > fine when all of a sudden two days ago, I get the little yellow exclamation > mark over the network connection in the windows task bar near the time. > When I click on it it says that there is Limited or No connectivitiy. When > I click on "repair" it says that windows is trying to renew my IP address > but after a while brings up an error and says that it was unsuccessful and > to contact the network administrator (hehe, that would be ME! eek!). I am > able to view the hard drives and shared folders/files on each computer, > however, I am unable to access the internet or email on the lappy. > > I am running Win XP on both systems. Any assistance would be greatly > appreciated!
[Question: if you've lost internet access, how are you sending email?] Windows file sharing uses a different 'protocol' from Internet access; it's quite possible to share files, etc., with no internet connection. To get out onto the Internet you need an "IP address" (a quadruple of numbers - something that looks like like 192.168.0.100). This will be something you get from your ISP (either a fixed address, or one which is dynamically allocated from a pool when you dial up or otherwise connect). In order for two different computers to share a single internet connection you will usually need something called a 'router'. It's unclear from your message whether you can usually do this, or whether you only connect to the internet from your laptop. I'll assume the simpler case - access from the laptop only. If that is the case I suspect there is something wrong between your laptop and your ISP. It could be a connection, a faulty wire, or something beyond your house. If it's a dialup connection, is there a way for you to see whether the phone is 'in use' during the connection? Try disconnecting and reconnecting the cables. If you have an external modem (DLS modem, cable modem, etc.) try power cycling that, as well.
