Acquiring Network Address
by tdaxp ~ February 5th, 2005
My computer wouldn’t connect to the home network. It sees it just find, but hangs on “acquiring network address.” An hour of jiggering with various solutions, and nothing’s working. I reset the router, mess with the DHCP, restart miscellani, all to no effect.
Ultimately, in desperation I ran “Network Setup Wizard,” and it asked to restart. I clicked yes. Before it restarts it immediately connects to the network. This after an hour of work. All this for a machine that had previously been working on the same network weeks ago.
Windows XP is a very nice operating system, and Microsoft makes good products. As I tell my class, they make pretty good products that are pretty easy to use at a pretty good price. They are not the best in anything, but they are pretty good in everything.
But there’s still so far to go. Almost identical menus are strewn all across the Windows interface: some through control panels, some through the status bar, some through both, some through the help system.
I think this is your...
December 17th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Hey Joe, same thing here, can do it with WEP but not with WPA, i dont think the prob is in the router but Windows (XP), however have no clue how to fix it.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I'm sure he won't see it, but thanks to TavoLoco.
I had a non-wireless issue and was able to fix it by turning DHCP on!
December 22nd, 2007 at 12:00 am
This solution worked for me:
-Go to:
Control Panel – Administrative Tools – Services; make sure TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper and DHCP Client services are started
December 26th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I had this problem after adding a second wireless adapter to my network. Either computer would hang on the “Acquiring Network Address” part of its wireless connection. For me the answer was to change the Wireless Channel (it had 13 channels and an Auto option) in my router's settings, which I accessed through Internet Explorer.
November 3rd, 2007 at 12:00 am
Yeah I have the same “acquiring network address” loop as well. I can still get on the internet, but the Wireless Network Connection is constantly trying to find network address. Sometimes on my laptop I am able to turn off and on my wi'fi connection switch and it finds the network and address rite away.
JUST now though I ConfigFree for Wireless Communication – Toshiba, a seemingly worthless application for my Toshiba laptop, to find and lock on to my network.
December 27th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I just have to get on here and say thank you to TavoLoco, you saved my sanity, honestly (yes, a couple years later and this is still helping). How does the DHCP client get stopped to begin with? I had the same trouble, but with my desktop, we had just switched providers (from Verizon to Comcast) and up until comcast switched everything our dsl worked great – but my desktop wouldn't connect to the internet (kept saying acquiring network address). After spending about 10 hours on the phone between comcast and dell (each of which was saying it was one or the others issue), and doing my own research online, this is what it came down to – run, services.msc, going to DHCP Client and clicking on start services, magically it started working! (and maybe along the way there were some things that were done that helped resolve the issue – but this is the what worked) I knew it had something to do with this because when you go in to msconfig and click on the services tab, the DHCP was stopped among a couple of other things that i thought vital to being able to connect to the internet, but i didn't know how to fix it. Anyways, cheers TavoLoco, I'd buy you a beer if I knew you – after over 2 hours on the phone with dell, they said my computer was corrupted and wanted me to reinstall XP and they said it should take care of the problem. Didn't make sense to me, and thank god i didn't. Anyways, thanks again, i just wanted to let everyone or anyone looking for their own resolve to know this outcome below worked for me.
-Chris
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dude…. acquiring network address is basicaly translated to an ip address 0.0.0.0, if a winxp does not have the sp2 it will just say invalid ip and the ip is 0.0.0.0 here is the procedure to correct this
click on start, run, services.msc
look for DHCP client…. if it sess acquiring network address that means that the dhcp client is DISABLED OR STOPTED… highlight the DHCP client and on the left side you will see “START” the service, click on it and then it will say “STOP, RESTART” then double click on the service and on the startup type select automatic, apply
THAT IS THAT!!!! this shit works…
by the way.. also chk the tcp/ip properties, make sure that we have all to automatic
Posted by: TavoLoco | Wednesday, September 14, 2005
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October 19th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I'm having this problem of 'acquiring network address' loop, too.
I have no problems whatsoever when using a WEP key, everything connects just fine. However, when I use a WPA TKIP PSK I just can't seem to connect to internet.
I can connect to the router (linksys WRT54GS), but the router isn't giving me a private IP to connect to 'net. Which is odd, considering it does connect when I use WEP.
I even brought a new router (I had a WRT54G before) and a new wireless PCI NIC (the name escapes me, it's from the WRT range, though) thinking my old NIC could be the problem.
Which leads me to now believe it's a problem with Windows. I have everything needed enabled (obviously, otherwise I couldn't connect using WEP). It's a fully up-to-date legitimate copy of Windows XP. And all drivers and firmware are updated for my wi-fi hardware.
Why can't it connect using WPA TKIP? It's strange.
I would just use WEP, but WEP is so badly broken now (it can be cracked in a minute) I want something much more secure.
Any solutions? I have tried everything. Including nearly jumping off a cliff.
Thanks guys.
October 6th, 2007 at 12:00 am
NB when i try and repair it it stays on renewing IP address and just does nothing… I think the IP address is the problem because it is just zeros…
October 18th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I got through a little more than half of this total page trying to fix this problem. Just thought I'd add what fixed my particular issue because I didn't see it addressed in the posts I read:
Connection limits. Some routers have defaults for numbers of machines that can be connected. For those of you that have one computer that's fine and one that doesn't connect, disable the wireless connection on the one that works, then try to connect on the one that doesn't. If it works, there's your problem.
September 18th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Hi I recently had my computer fixed and when i tried to connnect back on to the wireless network it didnt seem to work all it keeps saying is aquiring network address and then says limited or no connectivity. I have entered the WEP key correctly and still nothing seems to work could somone give me some advice about resolving this problem?
September 28th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Error:
Could not inialize communication Profile TCP/IP wrong IP Address DNS name not found
Always saids acquiring net address although you can receive packets you cannot send any…
my final fix was installing the winsock2 first i uncheck tcp in network properties ran the winsock2.exe which do a google search and you can find it, then rebooted went back to network properties and check TCP/IP back and went into the advance tab and check enable Netbios over TCP/IP and then i could add the pc back to the domain and no more acquiring signal…took be a day to figure this out but it worked….i know some of you have a different issue but the acquiring signal is the same.
October 6th, 2007 at 12:00 am
My laptop has never connected to the internet through a wireless router it just says 'acquiring network address' and everyone else in my house with laptops can connect fine… i have tried trawling through all hte information on this page but none of it seems to work for me, i don't think it is a DHCP problem or a NLA problem… can anyone help!!! Lack of internet is killing me!!!
August 30th, 2007 at 12:00 am
i m using broadband connection in my laptop.iwant to share this connection through wireless lan.i m able to connect but laptop is not recieving packets.please send me the sollution to my mil id
September 10th, 2007 at 12:00 am
my hp says connected but the internet explores says it's not. need help
September 11th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Same thing happened to me (on 2 occasions!) where my wireless cards were just sitting there forever trying to Acquire Network Address.
I tried the whole tcp/ip, network setup wizard, update firmware, uninstall/reinstall everything…but nothing worked.
My problem was that I was already running a wireless-g network using WPA-PSK (TKIP) setup & was just switching out the routers. I do not broadcast my SSID & use a very long passphrase. You think just replacing my old pci-card with something better or switching out my router would be easy, but it took forever to figure out (hours, including some collateral damage, a.k.a. an upset girlfriend who wanted me to get to bed already).
Ultimately, the eternal “acquiring network address” screen was resolved by first switching all of my network security off (that means no WPA, WEP…only fully unsecured wireless access). Then I set all my wireless network to that security (or lack thereof) & allowed them to all connect.
Then I logged into my router & turned WPA-PSK (TKIP) on & followed suit with all of the computers/laptops I wanted to go wireless with. THAT DID THE TRICK!
It seems that after a device has “learned” to connect to a WPA-PSK network & then the router/cards are switched out, Windows XP craps out and can't figure out how to acquire a network address for the new devices.
Allowing them to connect unsecurely (no WPA/WEP) & then turn security on allowed it to acquire the network address for a first time & then it remembers it forever.
Here are a list of devices I'm currently using for SEO purposes (I'm running 2 wireless networks, don't ask why…it's complicated).
Routers:
NetGear Wireless-G Router: WGR614
Linksys Compact Wireless-G Broadband Router: WRT54GC
PCI/Laptop Adapters:
NetGear Wireless-G PCI Adapter: WG311
IBM T42 Laptop: Intel PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mini PCI Adapter for Windows XP/2000
Linksys Wireless-G PCI Adapter with SRX: WMP54GX
June 11th, 2007 at 12:00 am
The enabling DHCP client worked for me.
June 18th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Hi… just got some really great feedback from Sky support regarding this issue….
“Re-Boot the router. If that does not work try connecting with the yellow eithernet cable instead.”
way to go Guy's at Sky support… that really solved the wireless connection problem !!!
Then I found this thread… I hope I can find something here that works for me
June 18th, 2007 at 12:00 am
GT's comment on disabling TCP/IP did the trick – god knows why but as soon as I disabled TCP/IP I connected immediately.
July 11th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I was struggling with this problem on an acer notebook that had been fine for about 18 months. Admittedly, I had recently been messing with the wireless settings when I was on vacation, but I'm sure I did NOT change the WPA shared key…. or did I? Because when I re-entered the WPA shared key for my home network (open the Wireless Network Connection Status / click on Properties / Select the Wireless Networks tab / select the relevant network from the list under “Preferred Networks” / Select properties / Re-enter the Network Key — note: I found my network key in my router's settings after connecting by wire to the router and visiting 192.168.2.1 — the IP depends on your router), … then all was immediately solved. I had tried many of the things suggested above without any luck.
Actually, there's one thing I did not try: I did NOT re-run the Windows network setup wizard…. but if I had, I presume that would have solved the problem, because, I think, the wizard would have prompted me for the WPA key…
This was a really tough problem for me… for days, I was connecting to my router by wire just because as hard as I tried, I could not find a solution.
July 26th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I had the same problem that began right after I renewed my Trend Micro subscriprion for another year. Turns out Trend Micro installed the “Trend Micro Common Firewall Driver” which was causing this. I found this in the network connection properties and duly uninstalled it.
After rebooting the problem was gone for good!
Hurray!!
July 28th, 2007 at 12:00 am
If you are trying to connect to a wireless network with win xp and hangs on “connecting to network” it may be the MAC filter on the router.. You must add your wireless adapters MAC to this list before connecting..
Collin
August 3rd, 2007 at 12:00 am
I just re-checked my password and realized that it was a simple case of one letter being the wrong cap. I would first and foremost re-check the password. For some reason, entering the wrong one resulted in the incessant message “Acquiring Network Address”
May 16th, 2007 at 12:00 am
After more than a year on this “support group” I am thankful to say my problem was solved. My brother in law had a netgear router sitting around and he gave it to me. I tried it out and Windows seems to have no problems with the Netgear router.
I think that the last explanation I found a few months sounds plausible in my case. The D-Link router doesn't refresh its address table unless you turn it off and on. That means you have to always go to your router and turn it off in order to reconnect your computer. This is beause Microsoft is more closely aligned with the wireless spec than D-Link is.
Anyway, it appears that the router and my laptop was a bad marriage. I'm happy it's rectified.
Cheers,
Steve
August 18th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Thank you thank you thank you for all of you who take the time to post this informtion. I spent hours trying to aquire network address. I ran network setup wizard and still had no internet access. I disabled the tcp/ip and left the tcp/ip version 6 enabled and presto I was finally on line. As if I had the time to do this all day. I would never have solved this problem without help and am glad to find you guys.
August 18th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Jeez, well now I have internet connection. Status connected, network callahome, signal strength excellent and yet I can not display web pages even though all other computers in my home can. I keep getting id cannot display webpage or not connected to internet when I am.
Look forward to some help.
Lisa
August 18th, 2007 at 12:00 am
How can I have a wireless connection and yet can not display web pages. Keep getting working off line message yet I am on line. Yikes.
August 27th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Hi All
I have a simliar problem like above. I had Insight Broadband before and DLink router and Dlink Card, everything worked fine.
Then 1month before i moved to yahoo DSL and then the probs started. My computer hangs and says network cannot acquire address.
I have tried a lot but i didnt work. I reinstalled the router and created a new internet connection, but no luck.
Can anyone help me out.
Thanks
Venki
August 28th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Check your time zone setup on the ruter. Should be correct with your time zone and CMOS time.
August 28th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Venki,
I had to reenable both tcp/ip's (one is a version 6 and the other is not) connections. At first I disconnected the tcp/ip and only left the version 6 enabled and got a connection but then it failed again. I finally reenabled the tcp/ip and presto I have been on line since. go to control panel, network connections, click on the wireless connection you are connecting to, click on change settings of this connection, under general tab scroll down and make sure all tcp/ip's are checked. This worked for me although some would recommend agains. Also, not all computers have a version 6. Your computer just may have trouble finding the ip address.
August 9th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I read way up there, around half-way through this post… I tried a ton of stuff… but “curse of war” saved me. For those having this problem on a home network, check your router, I had the same thing happen on my lynksis, the internal IP of the router changed from 192.168.1.1(pretty typical IP for those worried about putting it out there) to 192.168.1.100 exactly as he'd said.. so I change the 100 back to a 1 and away we go. The laptop is back in business, the only strange part for me is that my psp was able to connect the whole time….. hmmm
August 14th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Hi TavoLoco, You responses are really great mate, thanks,
Actually, I bought a nomad wireless internet modem, is really basic etc, in Mauritius, but since I tried installing it, nothing, couldn't do anything, when the IT guys in my office tried fixing it, they could do it through DNS server but connecting to my nomad wouldn't work, stayed on acquiring network address.
Well this worked what you said TL, thanks a lot.
One question though, how come the DHCP got disabled? what might have cause that?
August 3rd, 2007 at 12:00 am
Thank you!!
June 11th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Thanks to everyone. Tried all the suggestions above but nothing worked. Then a flash of inspiration. I had three XP machines going one of which wasn't working, the other two were. One is a Dell laptop, the other my son's machine with a good desktop card and the one whihc wasn't working had a Belkin card. But I'd added a new (fourth) Vista machine with a cheap dongle which was working fine. Took out dongle from that and installed it and drivers into the XP machine which wasn't working. Uninstalled poxy Belkin card and took out the card. Lo and behold it all began to work. So my conclusion is that the Belkin card somehow conflicts with the others and the router. So if this is your problem try a diferent card, and IMHO not a Belkin
May 26th, 2007 at 12:00 am
well after trial and error of bits and pieces from this forum it now works. very bazzar though lol! ah the world of networks and computers combined with Microsoft, where would these forums be without problems
cheers everyone!
May 25th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I was having the same problem yesterday ie. hanging at acquiring network after 1 year of problem free connection. I am using a wireless notebook with the network encrypted. I realised that the wrong password was entered while connecting to the network at some point yesterday. Though the status was shown as connected to the selected network, it was in actual fact not connected. Resolved the problem from the cue whereby someone suggested to change the network encrypted password. The whole is a better place if everybody offers a hand to those in need. Thanks guys!
May 22nd, 2007 at 12:00 am
Thank you to those who have taken the time to post on this thread.
I have suffered with this problem on an intermittent basis with only one of the PCs on my network. In the end I get the system to work, but am never really sure how or why.
So top effort to you all and for the record the thing that resolved it for me was after setting the IP and mask, which never fixed the problem in the past I went one stage further and followed someone's advice and set the gateway – BANG! instantly logged on!
I am SO GRATEFUL!
We all know how soul destroying IT issues can be. Again thanks for your efforts people.
March 6th, 2007 at 12:00 am
hi everyone,
i've had these troubles now again for reasons that vary from router firmwares to signal noise to god only knows. yesterday i went through it again and so to add to the list of possible sources of / solutions to the problem:
i've got a dell inspiron 8600 xp svcpack 2, with intel 2200 internal wifi running only g and (as always) letting intel's software manage the connection (better specific control, i think, and i like the ui), eh… wpa personal pre-shared key, mac address restrictions were good, whatever other details
… and running zonealarm sec suite fire wall and AV. regular ip configuration, dhcp active- get everything auto from the router, which is a linksys wrt54g v5. (if you can AT ALL help it do NOT buy this model router 'v5').
it was just me and another laptop running on wifi and the other one had no troubles connecting at the time.
problem: had 'excellent' association with the router but couldn't get a valid ip address (o.o.o.o).
solution: because of a possible virus infection on the problem machine, i had set ALL zonealarm security settings to high, and reset all of zonealarm's previous memory of which programs and components are permitted to access the internet or each other. now normally when one does a clean zone alarm install, one sets the firewall to a kind of medium-ish learning mode, where when various internal 'guts' of windows talk to various other 'guts' of windows, and decide what they want to do about things and go forward and associate with the internet, zonealarm lets them and says something like 'found new internet connection what security zone does it go into'… one sets it all up and can then modify security how one requires…. so i lowered the za security to medium 'learning mode', restarted, association- ip acquired- reset various security things- and now the saltwind's in my face one again!
i hope this helps some of you with this VERY frustrating problem.
good luck !
May 15th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Thanks all for the advice but non works for me.
I find my way to fix it by upgrading the firmware.
My story is like this: Wireless worked well until one day, it said “acquiring network address” forever and could not connect. After 2 weeks trying everything for nothing, I decided to upgrade the linksys firmware. It works!!! All you need to do is find out your router's model # at the back of linksys router and go to its website to download the firmare and upgrade it from your router admin page. To be safe, re-generate your WEP key and copy it over to your wireless profile. Good luck!
May 8th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Sky broadband, now there's a joke. Been on to there tech department as I cannot connect. Everything appears fine and you can log into router but you just don't connect to the internet.
It works sometimes and other times nothing, bring back BT
May 8th, 2007 at 12:00 am
TRY THIS: I JUST GOT THIS TO WORK
Start > Connect To > Show all Connections
Right Click Local Area Connection > Properties >Advanced (tab)
Make sure that BOTH of the squares under “Internet Connection Sharing” are UNCHECKED
April 25th, 2007 at 12:00 am
My problem is also that the network is constantly saying “acquiring network address.” I have a DSL modem that goes into a Linksys router which then goes directly to two PCs with Windows XP and an apple wireless router. The network has been working perfectly fine for many many months until recently. Now, both PCs get the exact same message from the network and will not connect to the internet. When trying to repair the network, a message comes up saying “The following action cannot be completed: Renewing your IP Address.” The exact same problem had happened a while ago before when my power went out and everything reset, which also happened again recently to cause this new situation. I have no idea how the network began working after the first power outtage since I wasn't the one trying to fix it at the time and the person who did fix it did it by accident and doesn't remember how.
The DCHP is running and on automatic. I have tried enabling NetBios over TCP/IP, but that doesn't work either. I have also tried manually putting in what i thought was my IP Address, but i either missed something or was misinformed about the IP.
I have one way to connect to the internet and that is through something i know nothing about and is labeled “at&tis.” I don't know if that means something or if that is simply what the other person decided to call it, but the process only allows this one computer to connect.
I am also unable to connect to the router through the browser. I have a linksys router and tried putting 192.168.1.1 into the browser, but it acts as if I'm trying to connect to an internet web page and merely tells me that there is no connection and the server is unable to be found. If connecting to the router is necessary to fix the problem, then i could also use some help on how to do this properly.
I could really use some help on these problems. It is vital that all of our computers are able to connect to the internet, so any suggestions will be welcome.
Thank you
April 14th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Clap, Clap, Calp very well done areg
April 25th, 2007 at 12:00 am
hey there,
OK im getting really annoyed with this, ive tried everything to get my wireless working but nothing seems to work.
I am using Sky Broadband and router, i have a usb netwrok adaptor which allows me to connect wirless with an old laptop and this works fine, however with my desktop upstairs i cannot connect at all. I am using a Belkin pci wirless card – the strange thing is that it lights up saying it has a connection but when i load up internet explorer it says o ahve no connection, ive tried using the wirless usb connector that came with the sky router adn once again it says it has a connection as it light up green but still no internet.
in the bottom left of the screen it just sasy aquiring netwrok address and does nothing,
im not really a tecky person so if any can help with an idiots guide i would very much appreciate it.
April 11th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Windows XP is a very nice operating system, and Microsoft makes good products. As I tell my class, they make pretty good products that are pretty easy to use at a pretty good price.
**********
My god, how ignorant a person can be!
“prety good products”?? >200 people are discussing
this issue, and nobody can come up with a single
comprehensive explanation! And you know why?
Because Microsoft is closed source — nobody can look
up the code and find the bug!
Pretty good price?? Compared to, what, Linux? Which is
free. And stable and efficient. I bought my WinXP laptop a year ago, and a month later it was working at half the speed.
March 30th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Another thing that may fix the acquiring issue is on my dell I couldn't connect to my router w/ wrt-firmware unless I disabled afterburner on router.
April 8th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Well, My problem follows the same pattern as the ones listed (aquiring network address); however, I have a laptop from work that do not allow me to change the suggested settings above (re-start DCHP). The weird thing is that last week I had no problem connecting so I know for sure there is something that can be done so I can connect. Any help is certainly welcomed.
March 26th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I did some digging around recently also and I found some good info on this. From what I read, the problem we are experiencing is often caused by two points: many routers only reset their DHCP wireless connections upon reboot of the router, 2) windows xp sp2 has follows security protocols more stringently and therefore cannot circumvent #1. The simple solution for me was to use the Alternate DNS configuration tab in Windows XP, which will use some default settings if the IP address is not acquired. This takes a bit longer, because the computer sits tries to first acquire the IP address using DHCP, and only then uses the Alternate Configuration, however, this has worked without any problems. The other option may be to get another router, one which resets the wireless DHCP connections more frequently, but I don't know which routers have this problem, and which don't.
sorry that i don't have the links that i read on this a while back, i tried to take a quick look but no luck there.
cheers,
steve
March 26th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Well, glad I came acrross this thread. Finally solved my wireless problem, and that's after wasting 3 long evenings on this issue.
Basically, had the same exclusive problem of 'acquiring network address', but never succeeding. I was trying to go wireless for the first time with a relatively new laptop (Dell Inspiron 6400, with Centrino and built-in Intel(R) Pro Wireless 3945 ABG network adapter, Windows XP SP2 as the OS on it. Not sure if this matters or was it Orange Livebox broadband (for those living in the UK)? It's too late (or already early in the morning) for me to figure it out, but all I can say is that “David | Thursday, July 27, 2006″ and “Lee | Saturday, November 12, 2005″ are kinda geniuses…
Am so glad that many who visited this site found a high tech solution to their problem: I wish I were among them… I tried everything, I checked all the settings (and to my frustration every single was correctly set by default!), all those dependencies, netbioses over tcp/ip, DHCP trouble etc etc etc., I had tried other suggestions not posted here, u name it, but all in vein.
And guess what? When nothing worked, I tried to once again read into what the two geniuses mentioned above had posted. And did that stupid thing – I just unplugged for seconds the router and then restored the power supply (I was connected with the ethernet cable to my router during this, and the internet connection was faultless via the cable). And all of a sudden the miracle happened and the wireless connection went alive having acquired the IP address. I just afterwards unplugged the ethernet cable from the laptop, and everything seems to be working!
So, to cut it all in one sentence: if nothing else works when you first try to set up the connection (or, even more importantly, before you try anything “serious” and waste your time like I did), do this dumb thing and fiddle a bit around with power supply to your router.
March 26th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I have resolve my problem by going into Internet Explorer Properties – ADVANCED tab and then selected RESTORED ADVANCED SETTINGS and I am able to connect to the internet.
March 24th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Hi, i have sky broadband, i have tried disabling the TCP/IP settings and enabling the netbios, my connection works but i cant access the internet or msn or communicate with any other computers, pleaase help thanks so much
March 26th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Can anyone help. I have a similar problem with my PC. Basically, I am unable to launch Internet Exporer, the progress bar just sits there, the web page does not respond, when clicking on the page, it just beeps, if I disable and then enable my LAN connection, it just sits on acquiring network address and doesn't do anything. However, if I restart my PC in safe mode with networking, I am able to launch internet explorer. I have already reinstalled IE7, have also re-installed my network driver, but this has made no difference at all. My PC was working 2 days ago, I have also done the restore point where my internet was fully working, but this also made no difference. No hardware have been changed and nor the application has been installed. I have ran Virus scanner (thinking my PC may have been affected), but no virus/spyware/trojan was found. I am running XP Home Edition.
March 23rd, 2007 at 12:00 am
I had the same problem as most others here. Network ok. Laptop ok. All xp2 with Netgear WPN824 AP and WPN311. All good. Suddenly one of the PCs stops working with “Acquiring network address”.
Worked on it for hours trying router configs and checking every little setting and all the things suggested here. The problem was another user had turned on “Halt internet traffic” in Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security.
Could strangle someone……
March 15th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Hi guys. Interesting to see your expert comments. I tried several of your suggestions which did not work. Then I switched it off and tried next day and lo and behold it worked fine! So I had to change all the settings back again but I guess I learned something in the process: Describe a problem exactly with all the relevent info otherwise a general response is inevitable which may not fit your problem. Now I have a problem with Outlook which shows during account setup “Test account settings was cancelled.” On normal send receive it shows code 0×8007007E unknown error. Outlook version 2002. Otherwise my wireless internet connetion is fast and fine and networking too! Can anyone help, please? Mike
March 14th, 2007 at 12:00 am
“click on start, run, services.msc
look for DHCP client…. if it sess acquiring network address that means that the dhcp client is DISABLED OR STOPTED… highlight the DHCP client and on the left side you will see “START” the service, click on it and then it will say “STOP, RESTART” then double click on the service and on the startup type select automatic, apply
THAT IS THAT!!!! this shit works…
by the way.. also chk the tcp/ip properties, make sure that we have all to automatic
Posted by: TavoLoco | Wednesday, September 14, 2005″
I worked on this problem with a linksys wireless WMP54G, a linksys router, XP Home with SP2 for about six hours yesterday and had no luck till I Googled for “Acquiring Network Address.” That led me to this site and tavoloco's comment I've copied below. Thank you to tdaxp and tavoloco.
March 9th, 2007 at 12:00 am
OK I had the same problem when connecting to the wireless access point at my college and here's how i solved it…
First of all this network i'm using has no encryption,no security features and it works with DHCP so you should check in the proprieties of your wireless connection to see if it's set to obtain its TCP/IP settings automaticaly from the server.
And now the most important part…if you use winXP…see if your DHCP client is set to start when win starts this way:
Click Start->Run->type msconfig press enter->go to the Services Tab and see if DHCP client is checked;if it isn't then check it,save the changes,restart and it will work;if there is no DHCP client in the Services list then install it from the proprieties window of your wireless connection…
That should be it…hope it helps…
Ceau
March 6th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I don't know if my problem fits any of the above- but it involves “acquiring network address”
I have a Dell Inspiron 600m – with proset wireless. Yesterday i was working on the internet – no problem- then i got kicked off of my connection and now it just sits in “acquiring network address.” I tried repairing the connection – and it then sits at “renewing the IP address.” I know that the system still works because i have a 2nd computer and it can connect- no problem (it's a mac). I also took my computer to school – and it could connect to that wireless system.
I wanted to delete my wireless connection and restart a new one- but i don't see a delete option. My situation is a little tricky- because i work off a free wireless hotspot – kindly provided in my neighbourhood – i have no customer support to call. I don't know what to do.. I hope that someone can help. I'm at my wits in end.
March 7th, 2007 at 12:00 am
tw: i'm not sure what you're using to manage the wireless but try deleting the 'profile' that applies and then creating a new one… try disabling tcp/ip, okaying everything, restart and then come back and turn it all on again… try various ways of getting back to a zero profile to completely clear any local ip address and then try again from scratch. if that doesn't work, think about if there is anything that was changed on your machine just before you lost the connection. maybe there is some setting that seemed to be irrelevant but has now made it impossible to complete the connection… i know these are all no brainer things, and i'm NO expert. but i know when i get frustrated with this PARTICULAR problem which is so maddening i can forget to try all of this… GOOD LUCK
February 23rd, 2007 at 12:00 am
I recently did a clean install of xp on my laptop and now i am not able to connect to my wpa protected wireless router. It just sits saying that it is trying to acquire a network address. It is able to connect to my neighbors unsecured wireless connection but not my protected connection. My other laptop is able to connect to my wpa protected router as well. Any suggestions?
February 23rd, 2007 at 12:00 am
Hi there,
I'm not very sure if the problem is the same as i had with sp2 of windows xp which blocks the DHCP service. If you have sp2 on windows xp Read the following. It helped solve my issues.
http://www.helpwithwindows.com/windowsxp/troub-13.html
Also the patch to be installed to unblock DHCP is available here
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/thankyou.aspx?familyId=17d997d2-5034-4bbb-b74d-ad8430a1f7c8&displayLang=en
Hope that helps
Martin A
October 4th, 2006 at 12:00 am
[i]Windows XP is a very nice operating system, and Microsoft makes good products. As I tell my class, they make pretty good products that are pretty easy to use at a pretty good price. They are not the best in anything, but they are pretty good in everything.[/i]
What brand of crack are you on?
October 4th, 2006 at 12:00 am
“What brand of crack are you on?”
The kind that lets me boot up a computer and simply install commonly used after software applications, unlike Mac, Linux, etc.
PS: Balan, Rew_Klip, Mikitukka, Pai Abu, et al: Thanks for keeping this technical help forum going!
October 5th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I have a Zonet ZEW2500P wireless adapter and it initially worked for about a month, but then overnight it went into “limited or no connectivity.” In trying to re-establish the connection I am told that “the network has not assigned an address.” The modem can always view available connections within range, but it will hang on “acquiring network address” and then fail to connect and provide a notice that “this connection has limited or no connectivity.” I have tried re-installing drivers, using windows service, using the software that came with. The one thing I have yet to try is starting up the DHCP through services.msc. I know DHCP is listed as enabled in the wireless settings so I doubt that is the problem but I will give that a try tonight and hopefully that will work because I am running out of things to try.
Nice forum, thanks for the making it available.
October 7th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Having a problem with my computer acquiring an ip address- I am using netgear wireless nic card and it just sits on “acquiring an ip address”. I tried connecting the computer directly to the modem and that still does not work. I also took the computer into my work and it still does not acquire an ip address – Any suggestions?
October 12th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I have the same enigmatic problem “aquiring network address” rather ironic as it will do anything but.
I have had a go at all the possible solutions outlined above to no avail.
I would rather not overite or re-instal windows, I have even tryed the Winsockfix prog that cleans up the reg.
If it try to start the DHCP service it gives me error 1068
If I had hair it would have been pulled out by now.
any clues would be greatly received.
October 26th, 2006 at 12:00 am
SOLVED: My situation required a simple change.
Everyone probably has a little different situation. In mine, the WZC automatically tried to logon everytime and was constantly 'acquiring network address'. Although I have wpa/tkip and MAC filtering enabled, WZC never asked for my key. I realized that it must have been a setting. I went to the wireless connection properties, clicked wireless networks tab, advanced button and deselected the 'automatically connect to nonpreferred networks' button. SOLVED!!!
This problem started when I removed my Belkin 54g card and installed a MIMO card. The MIMO card gave me blue screen errors on xp so I decided to go back to the belkin. The MIMO card must have switched my automatically connect to nonpreferred networks to 'on'.
November 9th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I went to the “exceptions” list and disabled a listed program which no longer existed. That solved my problem with “acquiring network address”. Before that, executing a restart also solved the problem.
November 23rd, 2006 at 12:00 am
This seems to be a common problem with Dell laptops. Add me to the list. I am trying to set up a wireless network in my home and have come to a stopping point on TWO dell lap tops. The network is present but when I attempt to connect, it sits at acquiring network address forever. I have tried a couple of the things listed in this thread with no luck. Not sure what details are needed to provide assistance, but I would definitely appreciate anyone willing to help!
December 10th, 2006 at 12:00 am
for anyone struggling with getting thier livebox to connect, it is well worth trying Lee's “Another Possible Solution”, added Saturday November 12 2005. I had been trying for hours to get past the “acquiring network address” brick wall and his solution sorted it out straight away.
also entering your WEP with the spaces can cause it not to work sometimes.
December 11th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I too had the same problem stopping at “Acquiring network address” but not connecting, it is solved now.
what i did is,
1. i connected my system through LAN
2. i logged into my router by typing http://192.168.1.1 (it may vary in some cases).
3. i created a new wireless set up or network i.e. new SSID, after logging in the router
4. Then i found the wireless connected with this new wireless network (SSID)
I even secured it using WPA-PSK key
Now it works perfectly.
December 14th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Thanks Paul | Friday, December 02, 2005 . Have spent weeks trying to solve this……. Had an extra dependency, deleted it and it works
))))))))))))))))))))
December 16th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I just got a new Sony laptop, and I bought a Linksys Router to be able to connect onto my home internet. Everything was fine when I connected to an unsecure network, but now that i have added a WPA network password, it just stays on “Acquiring Network Address”… NOTHING WORKS! I've been pondering on this forever.. what to do?
December 18th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Gread info guys
December 20th, 2006 at 12:00 am
make sure you are not forcing b or g or g+ on the ap. the client maybe unable to connect using the foreced protocol.
December 22nd, 2006 at 12:00 am
Hi folks,
Great information here although my problem seems to be related although subtly different from all I've seen described.
I have one computer that won't acquire an IP from my wireless router most of the time; all others in the house are just fine. The one that fails to get the IP has definitely succeeded in WEP authentication (I know because I've seen what happens when that is the problem, and it does not even get to DHCP negotiation). So, what puzzles me more is not that it fails, but why on that rare occasion, without me changing any configuration on the client or the router, it actually succeeds.
The one thing I've noticed that is different on the failure to connect computer vs. the others is that it has an “extra” Packet Scheduler Miniport driver visible in Device Manager.
So on a system that works all the time in Netowrk Adapters tree I see:
Belkin 802.11g Network Adapter
Belkin 802.11g Network Adapter – Packet Scheduler Miniport
and in the one that does not work, I see:
Belkin 802.11g Network Adapter
Belkin 802.11g Network Adapter – Packet Scheduler Miniport
Belkin 802.11g Network Adapter #2 – Packet Scheduler Miniport
Is it possible that this second driver is causing my grief? And if so, how does one get rid of it? I've tried reinstalling the card, the drivers for the card, and even tried uninistalling the second miniport driver itself, and nothing works. The uninstall of the second miniport driver fails because it says the device may be required to boot up the computer.
March 3rd, 2006 at 12:00 am
I have a Belkin Pre-N router and have a Belkin Pre-N card in my desktop and have had this issue for months although the Intel card in my laptop connects instantly.
Finally fixed the problem by changing the channel in the router, now the Pre-N card connects instantly just like the laptop.
March 6th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I've gone through all of these suggestions to no avail.
My situation is weird. I live in a hotel during the week on the job, and they proved free wireless internet. They have like 8 connections depending on what part of the hotel you are on. I have been able to access it with no problem, then all of a sudden, it stopped working. At work, my laptop connects no problem, but when I get to the hotel, all I get is acqurining network address. What is weird is that I have been able to connect for the past few weeks NO problem to whatever signal happened to be strongest.
What can I do??
TIA!
March 16th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Similar problem with Dlink WAP. It worked for a couple weeks then quit with 2 laptops. What I discovered was when they connected and were stuck in acquiring mode if I went into the “View Available Wireless Networks” and did a disconnect/reconnect they went right in without a problem. That is not a good way to fix the problem on a daily basis but it does allow a fix short term till I can figure out the problem.
March 20th, 2006 at 12:00 am
'acquiring network address' problem: first, turn off windows firewall. disable or exit out of any anti-virus app. click on wireless icon. view wireless network. is your network appearing? highlight and disconnect. do u now have option to connect? if so, connect. if not, turn wireless switch on laptop to off. then to on. should see option to 'connect.' hit 'connect.' type in network key twice. it searches for available networks and then connects to your home network. use internet connection, or (advised), turn back on windows firewall and open anti-virus app, then use net. though before using net, i prefer to reboot. wireless connection should come right back on.
March 20th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Also, one thing to keep in mind, is that when this fails, a lot of times it simply means that the network failed to assign an IP address to your computer. This can be because your MAC address has been put on a filter list. In public domains, this can be caused by using up too much bandwidth. So always check the network by making sure your MAC address is not on a block filter, or if needed, is on the accepted MAC address list.
THis has caused problems for me in the past.
March 20th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Glad I ran into this blog but unfortunately nothing seemed to solve my problem. I have an intel pro 2200BG network card and was connecting to a comtrend +536 router with Windows XP SP2. Was having trouble connecting for some time until it occurred to me to change the channel of the router. It was on 11 and I changed it to 6. From then on everything ran fine. Then I decided to secure my network to prevent others from getting it. I setup the router to use WPA-PSK but had trouble connecting from my laptop. Windows XP would try to connect for 2 minutes or so and then eventually say it was connected with limited or no connectivity. I didn't get an ip address from the router or anything and I couldn't browse the web. Every now and then after trying to connect it wpud connect and then start working from then on however if I restarted my computer it would go back to having trouble again. I tried the various things that people listed here and I even downloaded and installed the Intel ProSet/Wireless tools from intel but nothing worked. So it dawned on me that since my earlier problem was solved by changing the channel that maybe I could try that again. So I changed the channel from 6 to 1 this time and guess what.. worked like a charm. Restarted my computer several times to make sure it worked and it still does. I can connect and my network is secured. Figured I'd make a note for others out there who might run into the same problem. Sure is a pain in the ass when this stuff goes awry and just doesn't work. Good luck!
March 26th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Hi there, I have a wireless network, but not good access for downstairs, so I got an access point.
My two laptops can locate the access point, but when trying to acquire access to network, it can't.
I don't know why this is happening and help is very much required at this stage.
Thanks
March 27th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I had the exact same problems…I ran the wireless network wizard, and fixed.
March 28th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Hi all. I upgraded the firmware on my D-Link DI-524 to 3.20. I then added WPA2 support to my Windows XP Home Edition Laptop, which was running SP2. After that, when I try to connect via either WPA/WPA-PSK/WPA2/WPA-PSK (both TKIP and AES) the connection sequence seems to halt at the “Acquiring network address” stage.
What's weird is that I've found a way around it. I can plug into my Ethernet port and connect that way. At which point the wireless card does acquire the address. Note that each card has its own address. Once it's working this way I can unplug from my Ethernet and just use the wireless.
Still, this is only a workaround and I don't know why the problem is occurring. I used to use WPA-PSK fine until I upgraded the firmware and added WPA2 support. If anyone has any ideas I'd appreciate it.
Thanks.
March 30th, 2006 at 12:00 am
It's not just a WinXP problem. My home network is Win98, one machine with an ethernet connection and one with a Belkin wireless USB adapter. Router is Addon GWAR3000. Everything worked perfectly up to 2 weeks ago, with WPA-PSK security and MAC address list filtering. Then the WLAN stopped working; the wireless-connected machine had somehow got the wrong IP address and was unable to collect a new one by DHCP. Ultimately I found that turning off encryption allowed me to get and IP address and get back online. However if I try to put WPA back on, it won't work – can't log in. Bizarrely, I can however continue using it with WEP encryption switched on.
I suspect some setting in the router has been changed (by an incoming cosmic ray, perhaps) but I am damned if I know what.
March 30th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I've had this problem for a few days now. I had a laptop working perfectly and then one day it just stopped working after I moved the modem into another room. The laptop is connected to a Wireless-G Linksys and it keeps saying “Aquiring network address”. Any help?
March 30th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I had the same symptom and spent over 2 hours trying everything that seemed reasonable. Using the Network Setup Wizard fixed it in a flash. BTW, I had just this week gotten a Comcast Cable Internet connection (after some “issues” with THAT installation). And my very able wife today tried to set up the wireless router I'd gotten with a Toshiba laptop. Awful frustrating for both of us to not have it work (esp after having had ZERO problem “borrowing” a nextdoor neighbor's wireless connection since Christmas!). Anyway, using our connected desktop to Google the phrase “acquiring network address” got me to this blog — and your marvelously simple and direct advice. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
March 30th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I want to thank everyone for making the tdaxp blog part of a community help program. Thank you.
Kurt, that's how I'm connected right now.
I have broadband access, but for moving my laptop about you can't beat wireless. I remember the first day I held a functioning laptop — I even remember the first day I used telnet. Computer network technology is a marvelous — and increasingly human — thing.
April 3rd, 2006 at 12:00 am
I've have a PC running XP connected (ethernet) to a D-link ADSL modem/router, and the Asus motherboard came with a wifi card. I then recently purchased a notebook with wireless built-in… so I thought, rather than replace the current modem/router, which is working fine, with a wireless version, I'd set up the PC's wireless connection in “soft ap mode” and bridge the ethernet/wireless connections to allow the notebook internet access.
All was fine until recently got the “acquiring network address” problem, which brought me here. After lots of pulling hair out though, I believe I've got it fixed… “IP Broadcast” packets were being filtered in the router's “Layer 2 Filtering” options. Allowing these through seems to have fixed the problem – makes sense I suppose since this is how DHCP communicates?
Anyway, thought I'd post this in case it's useful & helps resolves others' problems, as I know how frustrating this little problem is!
April 4th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I have a new HP Notebook that I'd like to use at work. When I try to find the internet it asks me to make sure my wireless switch is on. How do I find the wireless switch. I've looked everywhere that I know about? Thanks in advance. Snoozin
April 10th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I am having the same problem with my Acer centrino laptop. It accesses the network, but displays “acquiring network address”.
Now, I have two desktops and a printer wired to the router which is setup as DHCP. They have no problems getting an address. It's only the wireless notebook which has the problem.
I have another notebook which has no problem getting an address assigned to it, but it's using a wifi card and its own access software istead of WZC.
My solution was to assign an ip address manually, but that's the easy way out.
April 12th, 2006 at 12:00 am
If you have a WAG54GS Linksys ADSL modem router Access Point, then I suggest you push the RESET (with a unbent paper clip) located behind the unit , holding it down for five seconds. This resets the WAG54GS to factory defaults and you will have to re-enter all your ADSL user id and password data again, as you did when you first setup the WAG54GS, but it will sort out the DHCP acquiring network address problem.
I realised my laptop DHCP client was fine when it immediately acquired another previously functional access point in a separate location.
Good luck
April 13th, 2006 at 12:00 am
This is my setup and problem.
I have a Dell XPS M140 laptop with the Intel Proset 2200BG, Linksys WRT54G. I have WPA2 enabled and Mac address filtering. I only have the “B” portion enabled seeing as on a home connection even cable you would be lucky to get 4-6 mbps download even though it says it is connected at 11 mbps. Anyway there have been multiple times even though it says I am connected the connectivity is lost. Proset is managing the wireless card, I have read that the Intel 2200BG has problems. I have yet to see if I have the updated driver, does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do to make sure the connection isnt lost and maybe speed up the connection. After running multiple speed tests at testmy.net it states I am only connecting at about 56% of ISP's norm. Will disabling PSP on wireless card fix these issues? I dont have the time to spend on properly troubleshooting the issue since I already work 12-14 hrs a day. I have spent a few hrs already trying to resolve this, any professional advice would be helpful. I have the current driver for AP and I can connect it just drops and I am not getting my full speed. Thank you in advance.
April 13th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Savino said:
“I am having the same problem with my Acer centrino laptop. It accesses the network, but displays “acquiring network address”. Now, I have two desktops and a printer wired to the router which is setup as DHCP. They have no problems getting an address. It's only the wireless notebook which has the problem. I have another notebook which has no problem getting an address assigned to it, but it's using a wifi card and its own access software istead of WZC. My solution was to assign an ip address manually, but that's the easy way out.”
Actually it's not easy for me. If I assign a fixed IP address to my (Belkin) wireless adapter, it can connect to the (Addon) router but the router won't let it connect to the Internet.
April 16th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Hi,
I have an intel proset wireless 2200BG installed on my dell inspiron 6000.
i also have a linksys wrt54g router beside me.
my problem is not like the usual ones i've read here.
initially i had no problems, signal is good, and the rate is relatively stable/constant. but when i shut my computer and rebooted, i can no longer detect the wireless network or any other wireless networks for that matter. i thought there was a glitch with the router but the thing is, my brother and mom are both able to see and connect through it.
after reading through a lot of post, (and after a lot of installing and uninstalling the driver) i still can't get through. i tried managing it both from microsoft client or from intel proset, but still with no luck. Till i read somewhere that i have to restart my wireless zero configuration service. True enough, after 1 whole week without conection, i was able to see the network again (and signal i get is still good). Unfortunately, the same incident happened, when i closed my laptop and rebooted the next day, i can no longer see the wireless network (lest connect to it). It only says “no wireless networks were found in range”. To think that the router is right beside my laptop. i tried all the suggestions here but still to no avail…
hope someone can enlighten me…
thanks.
btw: my laptop's running on winxp pro with sp2.
April 26th, 2006 at 12:00 am
My Dell Inspirion6000 Laptop is experiencing the Acquiring Network Adress issue. Its IP Adress is 0.0.0.0. WHY!!! PLEASE HELP. More details:
This is my work computer. Sometimes it gives me this problem, sometimes it doesnt. For example, it worked all day yestereday, but today it is “Acquiring Network Adress”, and the day before yesterday it was not working either. It is connected directly vie ethernet to a switch, and I have checked to make sure those services are running, and automatic. I connect that same ethernet cable to the desktop beside the laptop and it works just fine. Somebody please help. Thanks.
April 26th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I forgot to mention that it works at home every single time. No problems there whatsoever, i connect via ethernet.. and bingo im in. Just not at work.
May 2nd, 2006 at 12:00 am
Thanks for the blog.
After having a perfectly good wireless connection for ages, one day my connection decided to die. Hanging on “Acquiring network adress”. The thing is I had just been clearing my computer of ad ware, viruses etc….
What fixed it for me was to re-install my wireless network drivers (in this case Intel). So for those who have tried everything else, try re-install your network drivers. might help.
Thanks
May 6th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Just thought Id say… I had the same problem and this Blog help me fix it.
Ive got 2 3com usb connections to a 3com wireless router. One connection worked the other did not … “acquiring network address” [rpblem even though both were configured the same.
I fixed the non-working one by enabling “netbios over tcp/ip” as suggested above, then I had to re-enter the wpa key in my router, then I re-did the key in my network adaptor.
Unfortunately the other adaptor stopped working. I did the same to that one (enable netbios and then re-did the wpa key) and now both of them work
June 28th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I have had this problem thrice, and every time the cause and solution were different (lost three days of my life). This time when the I kept getting the message “Acquiring Network Address”, I had to go to http://192.168.1.1 (I use WRT54G wireless router), clicked wireless tab, and then wireless security tab. Somehow (only god knows how) my WPA Shared Key had been reset. Anyway, I got the new key, Opend My Computer on my laptop (the one that couldn't find the Network Address), open Nework Connections, right-clicked Wireless Network Connection for properties, clicked Wireless Networks tab, clicked on my wireless network name and properties, and finally entered the reset WPA Shared Key in the Network Key section. I'm back on line!!
July 16th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I too have a dell inspiron 6000 that is stuck on 'acquiring network address'.
After trying many of the mentioned solutions on here it suddenly started working, but only for about a minute. Then it disconnected, then reconnected… etc etc. When it is connected i cant browse the internet (but this might be because its not connected long enough for it to find a page!).
Basically, the network connection is constantly detected, but connected on and off!
Does anyone have any further suggestions?
I've tried the DHCP start/restart suggestion but it still wont connect constantly.
Any help would be muchly appreciated
Thanks!
July 18th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I've been connecting purrfectly fine wireless to a Netgear router for about a year, and then all of a sudden I started getting the Aquiring Network address problem. Nothing has been changed, on router or laptop. But around the same time I did introduce another wireless router into the same vicinity that I was previously connecting to in another office. The two routers have WPA-PSK security however each have a different key and SSID, in one case SSID is broadcasted the other is not. I got frustrated with the problem so I then found this blog board to find out how to fix the problem. The extra router is now gone but I think I started to get the acquring network problem straight after I took the other router away. Anyway after trying everything I could think of including the couple of extra things from this board, I hadn't yet looked at, it still didn't work. In fact nothing seemed to be out of place through all of this, it was a case of redoing and rechecking all the settings and I still was getting the network acquring problem. And a little while before writing XP was using the Intel Proset software to manage the wireless card, so I decided to switch back to Windows Management (I have already done this a few times) then buggered if I know why but it is now connecting without any problems.
Anyway the problem seemed to kick off due to the combination of the two Access Point's and then one leaving. There does appear to be some sort of bug in XP (SP2)..
July 25th, 2006 at 12:00 am
i have a simular problem, I just bought a new laptop and have been setting up the wireless network for it. my home has has an intergrated system of CAT 5 and wireless networking from a linksyes router. Anyway i installed a belkin wireless router downstairs so could extend the range of my wireless. My downstairs Desktop works fine with the LAN line plugged into it, but once i run it into the belkin router and back to the desktop there is limited or no connectivity. It cants renew the IP address when i renew it for awhile it just says aquiring network address but nothing happens. My laptop cant pick up any signal from the downstairs router, and to mention this same thing occurs when i plug the the cat 5 cable into my notebook. im basically trying to use the second router as a range extender for my current network but it just doesnt seem to be happening. Any advice?
July 27th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I have a brand-new Dell XPS running the latest Windows XP with SP2. This “Acquiring Network Address” bug hasn't been fixe. I read through most of this blog and tried a bunch of the things suggested, including:
Disabling TCP/IP
Enable NetBios over TCP/IP
Running services.msc to re-start my DHCP (it had not stopped, but I restarted it anyway)
None of these things worked.
But before I started trying to manually change the IP address for the DHCP to agree with the IP address of the router (how do you do this?), I tried SteveO's wonderfully elegant suggestion.
I just plugged straight into the Ethernet port on the back of my router and (without re-booting) the internet connection started working fine. Then I unplugged the ethernet cable and (again without re-booting) the wireless worked perfectly. I don't know how it worked or whether the wireless card has acquired the correct IP address somehow. But this is a fix I can live with.
Just like whenever anything weird happens you just re-boot and somehow magically the weirdness disappears. I agree with Lee's opinion of Bill Gates. MS Pig is destroying innovation in the computer industry. Not only that, we are all forced to live with a permanent reduction in efficiency having to continually deal with this crappy software and all these work-arounds.
They should have busted the Microsoft monopoly up. Bill Gates is worse than John D. Rockefeller!
February 18th, 2007 at 12:00 am
It could be that the laptop has a static or fixed IP address left over from a previous config; or if DHCP is being used, maybe it is disabled … I am no expert, and I'm sure others will chime in when they can, but try this URL out and see if it helps: Setting up a Wireless Network
at http://www.aicpa.org/PUBS/jofa/nov2004/peterson.htm
Good Luck!
February 18th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Just tried this:
Check your firewall settings.
Control Panel -> Security Center -> Manage Security Settings for Windows Firewall -> Exceptions Tab -> Add Program -> and add your wireless connection program or utility.
That should work in some cases. FIREWALL! Gotta check what's being blocked by the firewall.
February 18th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I have a question and please if anyone can help me please post a comment back. I just bought the linksys wireless-g router and i hooked it up according tot the setup wizard. Now my interent works fine on my home base computer but on my laptop it will not work. It keeps saying it has an invalid ip address. This is about all the info i can give so if someone has any advice please do share!!!
February 13th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I have been following this thread for some time without comment (not very comfortable with commenting on technical issues on which I know next to nothing about), but I too have had the issue “acquiring network address” on my wired home systems as well. I use the Zonet ZSR0104DE router, have 3 systems (all XP SP2) and each with a different network adapter. The only thing that worked for me was the one originally posted by: dyna on Friday, July 01, 2005:
The real answer is to set netbios to Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP in het TCP/IP settings (advanced, wins tab).
On all 3 systems I had “default” selected (maybe that is the installed default). Selecting “enable”, and the network address was resolved instantly … and there after.
My 2¢
January 22nd, 2007 at 12:00 am
After an hour (at least) on the phone to BT in India, asking about the same problem, we tried absolutely everything. The only info I could get from the BT guy was that it was a DHCP problem, and he wasn't qualified to help. That's where this forum really helped. I went via the system 32 drivers/dependency route and behold! A rogue entry in the registry. Edited, restarted, connected first time.
A million thanks, everyone.
Stephen.
January 27th, 2007 at 12:00 am
This(hangs at acquiring network address) happens SOMETIMES to me with wireless router during start-up. I changed network authentication type to WPA-PSK from WEP open. But i do not think it is a security key issue.
As it is seen, it is related to XP SP2 because many of users had affeted from the same problem.
Note: DHCP is ON and it is not IP retrieving related.
February 4th, 2007 at 12:00 am
–WPA2 support for XP has not been of high priority, annoying because Microsoft takes ages to cull the bugs from new software. This particular bug seems to manifest a multitude of possible problems in one generic message and no warning. My own situation, AES-CCMP on XP MCE through a good old Linksys WRT54GS, required the Control Panel->Network Connections->Wireless Network Connection->Properties->TCP/IP->Properties->Advanced->WINS (tab)->'Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP' solution described by dyna, above, in his idiomatic way. NetBIOS is ancient, and Microsoft relies on it for who knows what reason; I never would have found this on my own, so, thanks. Now I just need to get it working on Gentoo.
February 13th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I had problem with my laptop constantly “Acquiring Network Address”. When i had my security enabled for my Linksys router (WRT54G), I could connect fine. But when i enabled any sort of security, i got “Acquiring Network Address”.
I found that I had a program running that managed my connections for my network card (this software came with the card). So connections were being managed by windows and this software. I removed the software, enabled security and it all works fine now.
Thanks for posters to this thread for all the help.
December 27th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I have the answer yo the QUESTION!!!
Just set the Network Location Awareness service to automatic,
start it and hey presto no more problems
December 28th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Indrek, your solution worked for me!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!! I am so glad people like yourselves post solutions like this and glad I found this site because I had an appt this afternoon for GeekSquad to come out and charge me $200 to do what you guys have already found a solution too and it was an easy one! I knew it would be something small I could fix but just couldn't put my finger on it. Again, THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR POSTS AND ASSISTANCE! *Now, let me hurry up and call geeksquad to cancel my appt!
*
December 28th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Something you should notice in common with this thread is that when you get the “acquiring network address” error you typically see a wireless authentication problem (WEP or WPA or WPA2). I strongly suggest you ensure that your computer's wireless drivers are up to date (both Windows as well as the computer manufacturer's drivers – like going to the HP download site). You should also ensure that your wireless router has the lastest firmware (I often use Belkin and find that with the latest firmware these kinds of problems don't exist). It is also helpful to see whether the connection problems are with any machine or just one device – one device shows that it is a configuration problem on that device – if no device can connect it is a wireless access point problem.
January 2nd, 2007 at 12:00 am
I thought I'd post my solution to this problem in case it helps Amanda (posted on 2612/06) or anyone else.
I too have had this “acquiring IP address” problem intermitently on my Dell Laptop. I was able to connect fine to my Livebox fine at home, then went to a friends and tried to connect to his BT Voyager wireless router, put in WEP key etc but had the problem. Seemed to solve it by putting WEP key in again in lower case not in caps. But I'm not sure it was that that solved it. Then when I got back home I had the same “acquiring” problem.
MY SOLUTION
=========
was to stop the Dell Wireless Lan Utilility from managing the settings and let windows manage the settings (I think at some point I must have changed this at my friend's place). This then worked immediately (and if I change it back to the Dell utility managing the settings it stops working, so this seems to be the solution for me).
To find out which prog is managing your settings double click on the wireless network connection in the system tray and where this takes you depends on which program is managing the settings. If Windows is managing them it shd go to a page entitled “Wireless network connection properties”, but if the Dell utility is managing them it takes you to a page entitled “Dell Wireless WLAN card Utility”. Untick the box “Let this tool manage your wireless settings”. Then you'll probably have to enter the WEP key in again in the Windows program. This worked for me. (My wireless card is a Dell Wireless WLAN 1450 dual band WLAN mini PCI Card).
Hope this helps someone!
January 8th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I have found the solution to this problem!! Just go to my network places… click set up a wireless network for home or small office (on your desktop with wireless router).. follow the instructions… i used a usb flash drive when asked in order to save your setting (it'll save your desktop settings i guess then unplug and connect to your laptop)… connect to your laptop and open the flashdrive and run whatever was created on it via the desktop wireless setup. Plug the flashdrive back to your desktop when its done installing and it will tell you that you have successfully installed the wireless network. It may ask you to restart… dont remember, but no more acquiring network address crap. hope this helps.
January 9th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I was having the same Acquiring Network Address problem with both of my sony vaio's .
Tried doing clean installs of xp pro , updated my wireless drivers but the problem persisted until i decided to upgrade my video card driver .
Dont know why this works but it did on my pcs with intel centrino processors & intels 2200b/g wireless card.
Anyone running any of the following chipsets , Intel® 852/855GM,915G, 945G, 945GM, 915GM/GMS, 910GL,and 910GML should try updating their graphics driver to Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator Driver version 14.19.50 found at http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts-df-external/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=N&ProductID=939&DwnldID=10099&strOSs=44&OSFullName=Windows*%20XP%20Professional&lang=eng
January 12th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Hi,
Those who are still having this issue after doing all the stuffs given above please try this too…
1. goto Network Connections
2. Select your wireless network connection
3. Select it, right click, select properties
4. Click on “Install” Button
5. Select “services”
6. Select “QoS Packet Scheduler”
7. Click Install
If, your acquires the network then Hurray.
If after rebooting you face the same issue then Uninstall the “Qos Packet Scheduler”. Do this evrey time you reboot.
I know its crap but this method works for me and I need to do the same every time I reboot (or if wireless connection goes off for a second) my system. If, anyone know another good method please let me know.
January 17th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Fabulous thread. I would like to make a small contribution. You may all already be aware of this so please excuse the “idiot's contribution”. I have been plagued by the same problem using Dell Inspiron 8200 which has a Truemobile 1180 mini PCI card (b only). It is apparently essential to let Windows manage this under WXP (which I have) rather than use the Dell utility. Using Windows it would never get the correct IP under my (64 bit) WEP setup. I have now worked out that it required the actual 10 digit generated key (it is set to Key 1) so this is the “password” I have typed in the box and not the 5 digit ascii text. I couldn't understand why when I typed the ascii 5 digits OKayed it and then opened it again it had 8 digits! So……5 digit ascii code – no good; 10 digit key 1 code – instant connection!! Hope this helps similarly idiotic persons out there.
December 27th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Wow.. so much info…
Haven't seen anyone with exactly my problem though…
I have a few wireless networks around, and i can connect to most ok – unsecured.
This hting is, i want to connect to one that is WPA2. I have the passphrase, i punch it in, and i get the “aquiring” adventure. i do not have access to the router so i cant do much there – any ideas?
December 26th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Amanda,
I've used both Belkin routers and cards in the past, and have bad terrible luck with both. I do not think that Belkin is an honest company. You may have to go into wireless network settings on your computer and set up things for the Belkin router, but my guess (unless other computers are able to work with it) is that Belkin fleeced you.
I hope I am wrong.
December 26th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I have a dell laptop that I just received for christmas and it has a wireless card already built into it. I have a belkin wireless router and it picks up the router, had me put the wpa key in but is stuck at “acquiring network address”. I called the dell technical support and weve done everything from going back to factory settings, uninstalling and reinstalling my wireless card and other things but still it wont work. I went to the neighbors house to see if it would pick up his wireless because he doesnt have it secured and it did perfectly. Could it be my router becasue it is secure or what? plz help!
October 3rd, 2006 at 12:00 am
Hi Everyone,
I went through the same kind of problem “Acquiring Network Address” in my Dell Inspiron 1300 laptop with “Dell (US) WLAN card”. Tried many solutions suggested here and they did not work. However, finally tried a combination of something suggested here and some on my own and the combination worked. Here is the sequence:
1. Down loaded the driver for this card from Dell.com using my wired LAN
2. On control panel, through Add/remove programs, removed the driver for the wireless LAN card
3. Rebooted the system (just to be sure)
4. Installed the new driver
5. Rebooted the system
6. Double clicked on the wireless “status bars” icon. (This is the most important different step so far different from all the other things I tried earlier, including re-installing the drivers). It asked me whether it could be the default setup wizard. I said yes. Then asked for the WEP key. Gave my key and went through the process. Boom, the connectivity worked.
You could try clicking on the “status bars” icon without even re-installing the driver and it might work.
This makes me believe that the Windows Wireless Setup Wizard is screwed up.
Hope this procedure helps everyone who has the problem here.
With regards,
—–Balan
October 2nd, 2006 at 12:00 am
For all the people who tried all the steps suggested by people, but didn't work (like me):
After trying everything here, I had the bright idea to re-install my integrated wireless cards drivers again using the driver recovery cd that came with the laptop.
It worked! The solution was as simple as that, yet I had spent hours trying to find the solution while it sat right under my nose.
September 28th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I know im abit late to the party but I was having the same problem and this page rates so hoghly on google that i tryed it… I was reading for a while trying everything nothing worked… As silly as this sounds when i got to lees post on November 12 2005, i just tryed exactly what he did and this might sound stupid but it worked… so try it you might have luck as well… PS My mack has never had a problem but my room mate and my windows xp laptop stopped working at the same time!! stupid Windows MAC RULE!
September 20th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Hey TavoLoco,
Thanks for the info… It worked for me. When I turned on my PC all of the administrative tools got disables. I don't know I someone did it or just an error in the software. Anyway, I tried to enabled some which I know is needed for network connections but I still got ACQUIRING NETWORK ADDRESS. I've enabled DHCP client and it worked! Thanks!
Gotta go… I have to continue on my thesis LOL..
=)
dude…. acquiring network address is basicaly translated to an ip address 0.0.0.0, if a winxp does not have the sp2 it will just say invalid ip and the ip is 0.0.0.0 here is the procedure to correct this
click on start, run, services.msc
look for DHCP client…. if it sess acquiring network address that means that the dhcp client is DISABLED OR STOPTED… highlight the DHCP client and on the left side you will see “START” the service, click on it and then it will say “STOP, RESTART” then double click on the service and on the startup type select automatic, apply
THAT IS THAT!!!! this shit works…
by the way.. also chk the tcp/ip properties, make sure that we have all to automatic
Posted by: TavoLoco | Wednesday, September 14, 2005
August 14th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Same message – Acquiring network address. On running services.msc Dhcp services will not run on my machine. Error message is 03 System cannot find the path specified.
Any help from anyone?
September 3rd, 2006 at 12:00 am
I had this…but I didnt read all the posts here because I found if you right click on the wireless icon in the tray there is an option 'Repair'. I clicked this and it did some stuff like stopping the wireless connection AND wireless card and then restarting them all.
It fixed it!
All the best
September 3rd, 2006 at 12:00 am
hi there, i was frustrated, for this problem, but i just thought i should share as I got to fix this problem.
Just try changing your SSID channel to 6 and that could work. as It works for me.. you can try 11 if it was originaly 6. good luck
February 22nd, 2006 at 12:00 am
==========================
“dude…. acquiring network address is basicaly translated to an ip address 0.0.0.0, if a winxp does not have the sp2 it will just say invalid ip and the ip is 0.0.0.0 here is the procedure to correct this
click on start, run, services.msc
look for DHCP client…. if it sess acquiring network address that means that the dhcp client is DISABLED OR STOPTED… highlight the DHCP client and on the left side you will see “START” the service, click on it and then it will say “STOP, RESTART” then double click on the service and on the startup type select automatic, apply
THAT IS THAT!!!! this shit works…
by the way.. also chk the tcp/ip properties, make sure that we have all to automatic”
=============================
THAT WORKED PERFECTLY FOR ME!!!!!
February 22nd, 2006 at 12:00 am
I am having a similar problem just like everyone else here. I have a brand new Toshiba Satellite laptop. I can connect if it is wired but if I go wireless I just get “aquiring address”. My signal is great, I have double checked my pwd key. I changed some settings in tcp/ip, advanced, wins, enable netbios over tcp/ip. The dhcp services are running correctly. I even have 2 other laptops on the network running wirelessly and they are working just fine. All of the laptops are WinXP SP2. I also noticed that my speed is bouncing around from 11mbps to 54 mbps. I really need some help, I been googling up info all day on this and have probly wasted 10 hours on this POS. Any ideas?
Thanks
February 27th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I had a similar issue with a new Linksys Router (WRT 54GS) and a new toshiba Laptop. After reading the comments here I upgraded my Router firmware from ver 2.07 to ver 4.70.6 many new features and security improvements. Selected WPA personal on router and WPA TKIP on Laptop. Entered key and all problems solved. I used a non standard address and shut off brodcast of the ssid. It immediatly connected and acquired an IP address. Also now has greatly improved overall preformance
Hope this helps someone
February 28th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I fixed my problem, I changed the router back to the basic settings so that there was no security or password key. I then deleted the wireless settings that my laptop had tryiied connecting to. Then I was able to connect without any problems once this was done. But this is not a safe way to network with other computers so I then recreated the security settings on the router to wpa-psk and created a password 15 characters long. I then was able to connect to my wireless network. Don't know why this worked but it did.
November 12th, 2005 at 12:00 am
goto administrative Tools>Services then make sure your DHCP client is running!!
November 12th, 2005 at 12:00 am
My final solution ended up being childish: registering my connection against with UNL. I'd done it already, and because of that I was able to connect to the internet wireless at one location — but for some reason the second time enabled it campus-wide.
I want to thank everyone for this thread, and I hope it keeps going. A lot of people find this page looking for help — let's keep this page as useful as possible for all those who need the help!
November 12th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Hi,
I am back. I posted on Oct. 14 regarding “aquiring network address” problem with my laptop: it worked for a few weeks, then all of a sudden, no matter how hard I tried, it just did not work anymore. Finally, I figured out what my problem was (not sure if it applies to your case). I think what happened was that one day, my connection dropped, then I tried to sign it again, but unfortunately, with a wrong security key, and acidentally, I let the laptop to remember this wrong key. I reset the router and generated a new key, this time, I mistook the “Passphrase” for the key. Later, I realized that the passphrase was just a hint and the real key was what the setup page generated based on the passphrase. I therefore enter the correct key, and bingo, everything worked.
doclee
November 15th, 2005 at 12:00 am
I tried “dyna's” advice here:
Friday, July 1, 2005
“The real answer is to set netbios to Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP in het TCP/IP settings (advanced, wins tab).
Most people don't even have IPV6 installed in their windows…and i doubt cheap wifi ap's have it enabled by defaut.”
It worked for me…
I hope you get your running soon.
jp
November 21st, 2005 at 12:00 am
i had the same problem with my hp laptop aquiring network address over wireless by a linksys, found that windows firewall started itself, and since i am running trend securtiy sweet i disabled windows firewall again and it found the address imediately.
November 26th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Hi guys- I've been having the same problems with my laptop ever since I switched over to satellite internet ( I moved to an area with no other alternatives). Prior to this, with cable, I have never experienced this 'acquiring network connection' problem. I am wondering if this isp change has anything to do with it since my network settings haven't changed other than connecting to a different modem. Also, the problem seems to occur erratically- sometimes from the moment of boot-up or else later in the day. Also, the signal strength from the satellite is all over the board – running speed tests one right after the other will give me dramatically diferent readings. My complaints to Direcway fall on deaf ears. I have also been able to get the problem to go away by rebooting my router and/ or the modem- I guess I am confused as to whether the problem lies with my router or their modem. I am no expert- if what I have read here makes sense to me- it sounds like the problem is with my equipment. Could one of you pros let me know if my conclusion is correct or could it be caused by Direcway's equipment?I have instituted the fixes sugested here and hopefully these will help. Also, TavoLoco- is your site still up? I am unable to reach it by the posted URL and would love to read what tips you have there. Thanks for any help you can give me.
November 26th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Just a footnote to my last post- after rebooting my laptop today with the new settings (having left it off for about 4 hours)- I was back to the same old connection problem. After messing around with the settings and stuff, I found the only solution was to reboot my router and then suddenly it was working again. Also, I forgot to mention that my wife's laptop (which is wireless too but not running sp2 which I am) failed to get a connection also until I rebooted the router. Could this be a symptom of a failing router or could it be locking up from some input from the satellite modem? Other than buying a new router I don't know how to take this to the next level. Help!!!
November 27th, 2005 at 12:00 am
I had the exact problem on my Belkin wireless Pre-N router.
No problems for months but then suddenly would not log in
even though signal strenth was excellent. “aquiring network address” would not go away.
My solution: just downloaded a FIRMWARE update for the router and everything works fine now.
December 2nd, 2005 at 12:00 am
Acquiring network address is basicaly translated to an ip address 0.0.0.0, here is the procedure to correct this:
click on start, run, enter 'services.msc'
look for DHCP client….
if it says acquiring network address that means that the dhcp client is DISABLED OR STOPTED… highlight the DHCP client and on the left side you will see “START” the service, click on it and then it will say “STOP, RESTART” then double click on the service and on the startup type select automatic, apply
Symptom
DHCP Client Service may not start automatically. When you attempt to start the Service manually, the following error may be displayed:
Error: Could not start the DHCP Client Service on local computer
Error 1068: The dependency service or group failed to start.
Resolution
The DHCP Client Service in Windows XP, depends on these three components:
* AFD
* NetBios over Tcpip
* TCP/IP Protocol Driver
If one of the above drivers fail to start, then the DHCP Client Service may not start.
Step I – Make sure that the three driver files are present
Open Windows Explorer and navigate to %Windir%System32Drivers folder. Make sure that the following files are present in the folder:
* afd.sys
* tcpip.sys
* netbt.sys
If one or more of the above driver files are missing, extract them from the Windows XP CD-ROM or from the ServicePackFilesi386 folder, whichever is the latest version.
Step II – Verify the number of Dependencies
From other sources in the Web, I've found that some versions of Norton Antivirus (NAV) adds an entry to the DHCP Service Dependencies, and removing NAV does not remove the appropriate value from the DHCP Dependencies.
To quickly determine the Dependency services for DHCP Client Service, type the following command in Start, Run dialog:
CMD /K SC QC DHCP
Verify the output. It should be exactly as below:
[SC] GetServiceConfig SUCCESS
SERVICE_NAME: dhcp
TYPE : 20 WIN32_SHARE_PROCESS
START_TYPE : 2 AUTO_START
ERROR_CONTROL : 1 NORMAL
BINARY_PATH_NAME : C:WINDOWSsystem32svchost.exe -k netsvcs
LOAD_ORDER_GROUP : TDI
TAG : 0
DISPLAY_NAME : DHCP Client
DEPENDENCIES : Tcpip
: Afd
: NetBT
SERVICE_START_NAME : LocalSystem
If additional entries are listed under DEPENDENCIES…
If any other additional drivers or Services are mentioned in the DEPENDENCIES section, you need to remove them via the registry. Follow these steps:
* Click Start, Run and type Regedit.exe
* Navigate to the following branch:
* Backup the branch to a REG file
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SYSTEM CurrentControlSet Services Dhcp
* Double-click DependOnService MULTI_SZ value and set it's data as follows:
Tcpip
Afd
NetBT
* Close Regedit.exe
Step III – Verify that the Dependency Service / components are running
Next step is to verify that the three dependency components are running. As the three components are actually the Kernel Drivers (Driver Service), you need to manage then via the Device Manager. Follow these steps:
* Click Start, Run and type DEVMGMT.MSC
* In the View menu, click Show hidden devices
* Double-click Non-Plug and Play drivers section
* Double-click the entry -
AFD Networking Support Environment, and
click the Driver tab
* Set the Startup type to System.
* Start the service. Note down the error message if any.
* Similarly start the two other drivers namely:
* TCP/IP Protocol Driver
* NetBios over Tcpip
* Close Device Manager and restart Windows.
January 29th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Regarding the enabling of DCHP, This actually sorted my own wifi problem out, Thanks to Tweak XP messing it up, Thanks TavoLoco, good to see someone knows how to use windows ;D
February 18th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Interesting article:
I had similar problem with Linksys G Wirless Router and spent more than a day for this frustrating issue that “acquiring network address”. .. Every thing was working normally and all of sudden it stopped.. My problem was wrong password (key) make sure you guys use the correct network name (SSID) and password… I changed my channel to 11 from 6, it is working although I am not sure it is good or bad..
January 28th, 2006 at 12:00 am
i got the acquiring network adress problem solved by enabling NetBios in wireless connection (on my pc and laptop) and most importantly on my adsl connection
with that solved, having pc and laptop wirelessly connected i now face another problem, both are invisible to each other in my network places and sharing adsl connection doesnt work (i cant surf over the internet on my laptop)
so whats the point of having them wirelessly connected if i cant do anything… blody windowsxp..
i have windows xp sp2 (on pc and laptop), i use ratlink utility to connect my 2 asus wl-167g usb adapters in ad-hoc (tried using asus utility and windows own drivers but no go).
P.S.
stumbled on this thread using google
January 16th, 2006 at 12:00 am
OMG! 3 1/2 hours on the phone with linksys to no resolution. 3 secs on this page and dyna's solution worked THANK YOU!@#!@# ENABLE NETBIOS OVER TCP/IP! THANK U !@#!@#!@#!@#!@#
January 27th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Paul, Many thanks! My afd.sys file had a size of 0KB instead of 136KB. I copied the file from another computer and I am now back online.
January 11th, 2006 at 12:00 am
What a great thread….find it quickly will hopefully save me weeks of mind-numbing google-clicking. Hope it works. Our problem is a bit different in that the desktop machine doesn't work wirelessly OR via CAT5 – just that well-documented “acquiring network address” message. I'm going to start running through these items and see if anything works.
December 20th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Just another guy that surfed into here through Google. I wanted to say thanks to everyone that helped. TavoLoco's solution of running services.msc and setting DHCP client to “automatic” worked for me. I have no ideal how it got disabled in the first place, but this isn't my computer. So for those of you who are not on a wireless network and are stuck on “acquiring network address” this might be your first thing to try.
December 27th, 2005 at 12:00 am
A big thanks to this forum for helping me resolve my “acquiring” issue. ran the services.msc, clicked as above and everything is working GREAT! Thanks again everyone!
January 7th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I was having the same problem with the “acquiring network address” message. I finally realize I was using the wrong password for the router. Double check that, just a suggestion.
December 19th, 2005 at 12:00 am
“The real answer is to set netbios to Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP in het TCP/IP settings (advanced, wins tab).
Got it to work with this workaround at work
Will test it tonight at home
December 5th, 2005 at 12:00 am
I have a domain and i want to add a pc with XP sp2. I´ve to put this pc to automaticaly recieve ip from server. So saw this message : “acquiring network address”. I want to disable this, to receive ip from server.
December 11th, 2005 at 12:00 am
I finally resolved the 'aquiring network address issue.' This was an issue with the TCP settings holding onto an incorrect router IP. I resolved my issue by hard coding my IP settings. Wha La…
I tried setting netbios over TCPIP but that didn't work.
Does anyone know how I can get dhcp to work properly?
December 16th, 2005 at 12:00 am
I just had this 'acquiring network address' problem for a couple of hours with the Atheros Client Utility.
I eventually solved it simply by re-entering the WPA passphrase in the Atheros profile configuration, even though it still showed a passphrase in there (and the only passphrase I ever put in there was the correct one).
October 2nd, 2005 at 12:00 am
This has already been posted before but I'd just like to mention it because it worked for me.
I was also stalling at “Acquiring Network Address” using a WEP key. I solved it by switching to WPA-PSK and setting a Pre-shared key on the router and adapater.
It seems like the WZC has problems with WEP keys, so if the router + adapter support WPA-PSK (Which is apparently more secure) go for it!
October 2nd, 2005 at 12:00 am
I am having a similar problem. I have recently purchased a Wireless PCI adapter for a Windows XP pc and my adapter cannot acquire a network address. I have tried manually inputing IP, subnet, mask, and default gateway but then it just didn't display anything, still getting a connection but when i opened firefox it wouldn't read anything. Any advice?
October 4th, 2005 at 12:00 am
yes….
we cannot manualy put the ip's on the tcp/ip properties because it will show a false connection, it will say connected but no luck at all
if we get aquiring network address it's basicaly an ip adderss of 0.0.0.0
i mentioned these steps earlier on this forum OR, since i recently updated my mini website there are the steps to try to correct the ip 0.0.0.0 or in your case aquiring network address
the site is http://geocities.com/tech_tips1
and select the first topic (only 3 for now)
and let me know if it worked for you ok
my mini website is updated dayly or when i got time
good luck
October 7th, 2005 at 12:00 am
You need to make sure the Service “Dhcp Client” is running, and make sure it is on Automatic startup, so when you boot, it will automatically start the service, giving you DHCP goodness.
Control Panel> Admin Tools> Comp. Management> Services
October 9th, 2005 at 12:00 am
the easyest way is Start, Run, services.msc, double click on DHCP client select startup type to automatic click apply then ok, that's it
October 12th, 2005 at 12:00 am
I have the same problem in my dorms. My powerbook g4, and my roomates powerbooks are able to connect to the network and internet, but my PC running Windows XP pro cannot.
At first the computer could connect to the internet, but one morning, I started it up, and it was “Acquiring newtwork Address”, with a statement of Invalid IP address and a 0.0.0.0 address and 0.0.0.0 subnet mask. I've tried going into the service.msc, but the DCHP was running and was already set on automatic. Even restarting it did not work.
The hardest part about this problem is that I cannot understand or find an explanation for my computer to start doing this all of a sudden. If anybody could provide more possible fixes that would be great.
October 12th, 2005 at 12:00 am
I am extremely, extremely happy for all the help I've received with my networking problem at UNL. Thank you. The interim solution: I stole a cat 5 cable.
October 13th, 2005 at 12:00 am
When this comment is listed in the comments bar to the right, it stops just short of the number 5. So it looks like your solution to network problems was to steal someone's pet.
October 14th, 2005 at 12:00 am
I have the same problem as Nick did. My dell laptop was able to connect to my home wireless network via Netgear 814 router before. All of a sudden one day, it kept aquiring network address and finally said limited or no connection. I reset the router and re-created the SSID, but it still did not work. It would work though if I left the wireless network unprotected (disable WEP encryption). Can someone tell me what to do? Thanks.
October 16th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Dan,
Amazing how much activity is on this thread.
Since you state that your office wireless LAN doesn't require credentials (no WEP, etc) and since you say you work elsewhere on campus then the problem is in the configuration on that particular access point (also others in the office vicinity are failing as well). It is probably an esoteric setting on the AP (anything from preamble length to enabled custom extensions used by manufacturers like Cisco which are incompatible with other cards).
Doclee – difficult to believe /something/ did not change. Perhaps an automatic firmware update to the access point (my AP is set to this). Or perhaps after you patched (auto update?) your laptop? One of the problems I often see with WEP keys is the use of incompatible configurations (such as ASCII vs Hex keys; WEP keys vs WPA-PSK passphrases; 64 bit vs 128 bit encryption; as well as enabling other attributes such as EAP and 802.1x authentication).
Some basic tips:
1) Check to see if there is a newer firmware update available for your Netgear AP.
2) Check with Dell to see if there is an update for the WLAN driver for your laptop and OS.
3) Check to see if you have updates for your OS (Windows XP SP2 has the only decent drivers for the latest WLAN features within the Microsoft family)
4) Are you using Windows to manage your WiFi connection – or are you using a third party application (technically called a WLAN supplicant)? With XP SP2 I find the Windows driver to be best. Years ago I would always use the custom application like Atheros, Cisco or Avaya client…
October 16th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Stuart,
Agreed! I am so happy that so many people have contributed!
I have to agree that it's something esoteric. I'm relatively competent at it (I have an MA in CompSci), and checked through the standard issues. Other people report the same or very similar problems, though Apples work without a problem.
I want to thank everyone for their help. Thank you. Please, feel free to offer ideas to people who might find this page and try to solve their own problems, but I think “esoteric” wraps it up for me.
Thanks again!!!!!!
Dan
October 1st, 2005 at 12:00 am
i'm still working on my mini website……..
seeya soon!
October 2nd, 2005 at 12:00 am
Usually, this points out a timeout issue with the wireless settings on the driver.
1. If you are at the point of actually “acquiring network address”, this really means the wireless transaction has happened.
a. Mac Address AUTH
b. Key exchanged
c. associated/forwarding
2. If you call someone who has access to the event logs on your wireless bridge/access point, they can ascertain if this is correct. In any event WINDOWS thinks so, and it is probably correct.
3. The PC or Notebook probably is using WZC (Windows Zero Configuration) for wireless. A number of Intel embedded wireless cards (Centrino chipsets) usually have outdated drivers, so go to your PC manufacturer and update the ones that came with your model. If you bought the wireless card separately, update the drivers from the wireless card manufacturer.
4. Especially IF you wireless card manufacturer has a wireless card management program, it is much better to use that than WZC. So if you have that, use it instead. Windows WILL NOT display multiple MAC ADDRESSES for antennas on a microcell WLAN, so Windows picks one. If multiple signals are close to you, WINDOWS will drift between the two. Your MFR's wireless management utility will resolve this.
5. If this is a notebook, go into the driver details through Device Manager
START>RUN>devmgmt.msc>[ENTER]
Expand network adapters, double-click your wireless card.
Click your advanced tab. Change any power related settings to MAX and not auto. UNCHECK auto on preamble length. Change it to LONG and try to connect, if not working change it to short (LONG should work). If there is a channel setting, leave it at AUTO.
If this were me, I'd uncheck all the auto settings (except channel) and leave them all at their highest levels, and I'd try to do this with the management (i.e. Intel Pro Wireless program if I have Centrino inside) instead of with Windows.
It sounds like a preamble length duration issue OR roaming stickiness. It's only an IP lease issue if everyone else is having the same problem. You are authenticating to the wireless array, which means your connection from the wireless array to the DHCP server is not communicating to your PC because of a timing issue brought on by a configuration in your driver settings. I've seen this a million times.
November 8th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Nevermind. I figured out the answer to my own question: http://www-jerry.oit.duke.edu/pc/xp_dhcp_client_wont_start.html
November 12th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Another Possible Solution
I finally got the Acquiring Network Address to go away and get connected. I tried most of the solutions in the above posts. Including, enabling Netbios over TCP/IP, changing power settings and preamble settings, made sure DHCP Client was set to Auto in services.msc, made sure MAC filtering was disabled, ran the Wireless Wizard (this step, you will find out, took away hours of my short life), made sure I didn’t have any Norton DeathWare, but it was just not able to acquire a network address. I restarted the router (Linksys WRT54G), restarted the computer, restarted my wireless card (Atheros AR5004G), restarted the cable modem but no luck. I updated my router firmware. There were no driver updates for my wireless card.
This is strictly a Windows XP problem from what people have contributed in this forum. The Apple PowerBooks don't have this problem. My Tivo which runs Linux didn't have a problem connecting to the router. (I am using WEP just because Tivo only supports WEP and not WPA. I was able to CONNECT though WPA). Despite trying all the technical adjustments from the suggestions contributed from others, I persisted by doing a combination no brainer things thinking there was probably a quirk in Windows. I'm not sure if all the things I did were even part of the solution but I will give all the details.
1. Powered off the router for 20 seconds.
2. Ran Wireless Network Setup Wizard on my laptop
Chose Add new computers to my SSID network
Chose Setup Network Manually
Chose Print Settings
When a Notepad file opened, it gave me the network settings with some obscure WEP key that was not mine. I copied the WEP key.
3. Tried double clicking on my SSID in Choose My Network and pasted the obscure WEP key I copied. Well, obviously it didn't work because this is not the WEP key I entered into the router.
4. So then, I had to retype my own WEP key back in with the confirmation and then I tried reconnecting and then it CONNECTED in like 5 seconds.
5. Subsequently, I tried using the “Wizard” again, without copying and pasting the obscure WEP key, and I tried connecting into my SSID and got the Acquiring Network Address CRAP again. Again, I retyped in my own WEP key and it connected without a problem.
6. This leads me to conclude the “Wizard” is changing the WEP key and screwing us over and wasting hours and days of our time because people at Microsoft are lame. Have you ever heard Bill Gates speak without using the word “innovate”? He hasn’t innovated anything. He’s only strong armed great companies with his lawyers, stole technologies, destroyed any innovative companies and bought the good ones. What a jackass. Apple – now that's a company that innovates.
7. Of course, your setup is different than mine and there may be some other quirk that Windows has “installed” for you. Good luck.
November 8th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Tavoloco: What if I try starting the DHCP client, but get an error, indicating all the dependencies are not available? Any ideas?
I'm having a problem “aquiring network address” too, and all the other suggestions have failed. If I can get my DHCP client working, that may solve my problems.
Thanks!
October 31st, 2005 at 12:00 am
I'm also a member of the not-so-exclusive club of 'limited or no connectivity' with IP of 0.0.0.0. I have at home 2 laptops and two desktops. One laptop and one desktop (both wireless) connect fine to my Netgear ADSL wireless router and are instantly assigned addresses. The other laptop (wireless) and the other desktop (ethernet connected) refuse to acquire an IP address no matter what I try. All systems SP2, wireless security is WEP 64bit.
Is there any way to trace the DHCP conversation?
November 2nd, 2005 at 12:00 am
Hi there – I have found a fix to the problem and it is MAC Address filtering.
The router filters out any MAC addresses (Unique machine ID’s) that are not saved in a special list of “Allowed Machines”. This is really for use with large networks for security. You can disable MAC Address filtering in the router setup or if you HAVE to keep it – you can do “ipconfig /all” in DOS to see your machines unique Mac address and then add it to the list of allowed users.
Disabling this has fixed my problems and enabled my machines to “Acquire Network Addresses!” Hope this helps someone else!
October 23rd, 2005 at 12:00 am
oooops!! the site is http://geocities.com/tech_tips1/main.htm
October 28th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Hi, I just found this site… and I've tried all the suggestions with no luck. I'm REALLY stuck here!
I've got XP SP2 with all the updates.
I've tried both a USB DLink wifi dongle (DWL-G122) and a DLink PCMCIA card (DWL-650+) all with the latest drivers. Other people around here can connect to the wireless network but I can't…
DHCP is active…
The wireless network config settings mirror those of working PCs…
WZC is running… I've also tried the Dlink applications that came with the two wifi cards.
It continually shows “Aquiring IP address” with the current address of 0.0.0.0
It also appears to disconnect and then reconnect ever few seconds. When in the network connection page, having highlighted the adapter, the IP address comes up (0.0.0.0) along with the info on the site name and signal strength. A few seconds later (about 5-10) the details disapear and it states “not connected”. It then reconnects and away we go again. It acts this way on both network adapters.
The machine is a Panasonic Toughbook, PIII-800
The DHCP works, because when I plug into the hard-wired network it picks up and address and lets me spend hours online searching for solutions to this infuriating problem!
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!
Thanks
Darcy
October 23rd, 2005 at 12:00 am
hello there….. remember me?? guess not… any way since i started my mini website a lot of people are getting connected here is my mini website http://geocities.com/tech_tips/main.htm home it works for you, there are a few tips to correct the most common connection issues
home it works… good luck
October 19th, 2005 at 12:00 am
I'm having the same problem. I have a new laptop with the Atheros wireless adapter built in and using XP2. I'm also managing my connection with the Atheros Client Utility. I'm set up with a WPA Passphrase, Infrastructure, and Short & Long Preamble. I'm running a Belkin F5D 7230-4 router. I finally got the desktop and laptop seeing each other and sharing files. Several days ago I turned the laptop on after not running it for 1-1/2 weeks and I cannot get an IP address. The desktop is getting an address just fine. The laptop just says it's acquiring an address. It's getting excellent signal strength, but no IP address. Under service.msc the DCHP is running and set to automatic.
October 19th, 2005 at 12:00 am
I am having a similar problem.
Router was working fine, stopped working. I reset to factory, re-configured and my laptop waorks fine with wireless USB.
My desktop however doesn't. Just getting 'Acquiring Network Address' then Limited or No COnnectivity.
I have no WEP activated. Is this the DHCP problem?
September 30th, 2005 at 12:00 am
TacoLoco,
Nice site!!!
Everyone: visit TavoLoco's site at http://geocities.com/tech_tips1
TL, have you considered writing it in blog form? blogspirit (http://www.blogspirit.com) is free, has less annoying ads than geocities, and some neat community features available for free. “Live bookmarks” (RSS feeds) and other automatic features would also make it easier for everyone to keep updated on your newest tips and tricks
July 1st, 2005 at 12:00 am
Disable TCP/IP? are you crazy…what kind of advise is that to give to the world, plz think before you say something like that.
The real answer is to set netbios to Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP in het TCP/IP settings (advanced, wins tab).
Most people don't even have IPV6 installed in their windows…and i doubt cheap wifi ap's have it enabled by defaut.
July 3rd, 2005 at 12:00 am
Before giving advice, a few facts really should have been given. What were the AP's IP and netmask and what were the individual PC's IP, netmask and gateway? If you don't know that, you're very likely to guess wrong.
August 24th, 2005 at 12:00 am
I am having a similar problem.
My own username hangs on Acquiring network address and does not move past this stage; however the other two usernames on this computer can access the wireless network fine.
I am using XP Pro SP2 with a 3Com ADSL wireless router and 3Com USB wireless adapter in the PC
August 24th, 2005 at 12:00 am
I also have the same problem on with a completely different set-up (a Dell Inspiron 6000 with the UNL wireless network in my office). No luck on figuring out how to fix it, yet.
In my case other people were getting the same waiting-for-network error on other computers (macs, etc), so I don't know.
August 25th, 2005 at 12:00 am
TM Lutas is so right – give us more info!
Are you using a wireless AP? Did you configure WEP/WPA or some such?
Wired? Switch or hub? Speed set or autosense?
I can think of way too many reasons for this to happen – but that has also allowed me to live pretty comfortably for a number of years…
Kind of reminds me of calls from the help desk that start, 'the whole network is down…' (roll eyes – probably got someone who can't print because they are out of toner…)
August 25th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Stuart, TM,
Indeed.
The original purpose of this post was to save me some trouble, as before I posted it the top google results resulted in the same answer, but after 30 minutes of trying to piece together disparate messageboard comments.
I have no knowledge of UNL's “tsunami” network, but so many people experienced problems simultaneously (an actually small number for such a tall building — http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2005/06/06/new_office.html) — because the offices are for humanities, not scientists) that I imagine it was something real.
Fortunately, my life in the dorm lounge (http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2005/08/24/a-piechart-of-tdaxp-s-week-in-the-dorm.html, http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2005/08/25/more-improbable-awesomeness-from-unl.html, etc), that I don't think about my office too much
August 25th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Just asking for basic context and info – there is too much information that is inferred. Is this accurate so far:
1) You are using a wireless access point in a college dorm which doesn't allow you to connect.
2) You are using Windows XP (sp2?) and using the built in Windows management utility.
3) You have never been able to connect (other than a short 'burst' during a setup procedure)
4) You have no instructions and are trying to 'wing it' (meaning that you are unaware of the University or Dorm procedures or config requirements)
5) It still doesn't work
Setting up wireless from your own home AP is easy and simple to troubleshoot. Connecting to an enterprise class system is a wholly different matter – issues can be non-broadcast SSID, EAP authentication and MAC tables.
August 25th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Seems like you are referring to the University's WLAN in your new office. My best advice is to log in to their network with your (new?) account from an already networked system and check out their FAQs for their IT department. It probably has a nice guide for connecting to their WLAN. (Alternatively ask at their bookstore.) [The rare 'burp' or a connect before completion sure sounds like an authentication attempt and rejection.]
August 26th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Wow — it is the blogosphere, when renowned computer experts spontaneously provide technical support!!
UNL's IS, like all university IS's, is striken by the fact that (a) most of its employees are undergrad students and (b) more of its customers are absent-minded professors. They have been less than helpful.
For now the lack of connectivity, and the fact that I need to steal someone else's ethernet cable to conect, has been keeping me from using my office as a place of work.
(Happily, the wireless works perfect in other places, so I am able to get a lot done in the lounge while with friends.)
For now, it's not serious enough to get emotionally involved with IT about. We'll see how it goes
Except for IS, though, UNL == awesome
August 26th, 2005 at 12:00 am
So you can get on their network in other areas?
In other sections of the tower?
If so, then you are probably simply in a dead spot – no good coverage.
To test this try connecting in other areas and then walking around while checking signal strength.
If you are using a wireless card then an option could be an external antenna.
September 11th, 2005 at 12:00 am
I had the same problem accessing my secured system with my wireless untill I decided to re-set the WPA-PSK
Network Key for both computers. I must have had an error in one of the entries because I have had no further problems with access since. Remember to set the Data Encryption to TKIP.
September 14th, 2005 at 12:00 am
dude…. acquiring network address is basicaly translated to an ip address 0.0.0.0, if a winxp does not have the sp2 it will just say invalid ip and the ip is 0.0.0.0 here is the procedure to correct this
click on start, run, services.msc
look for DHCP client…. if it sess acquiring network address that means that the dhcp client is DISABLED OR STOPTED… highlight the DHCP client and on the left side you will see “START” the service, click on it and then it will say “STOP, RESTART” then double click on the service and on the startup type select automatic, apply
THAT IS THAT!!!! this shit works…
by the way.. also chk the tcp/ip properties, make sure that we have all to automatic
September 16th, 2005 at 12:00 am
TavoLaco,
Thanks for the comment, and I hope it saves some of the people who find this page from google, but no luck for me
On my laptop it was running but still “acquiring network address” …. *sigh*
September 17th, 2005 at 12:00 am
on your laptop… do you use wireless connection or normal ethernet cable… also i forgot to mention to change the linkspeed and duplex on the advance properties of the network card or the wireless adapter, many times it works by selecting 10 half duplex i mean come on no isp has 10 mbps (i may wrong but…..)
also try to clone the MAC address if possible
let me know if it works, hope it does
TavoLoco Verizon online Tech support Level3
September 19th, 2005 at 12:00 am
TavoLoco,
In my office I can use the ethernet cable just fine. It is the wireless that gives me trouble.
In my dorm I can use both without a synch (but while both wireless networks connect to the time wired network, my dorm has a different wireless net than my office).
I am familiar with the concept of MAC cloning, but how do you wish me to do that? Clone my ethernet card's address to my wireless card?
Thanks!!
September 19th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Dan,
Cloning is used on access points and bridges to proxy MAC addresses – it won't apply to your situation.
On your laptop can you determine which SSIDs (wireless networks) are available? If there are some – do they show 'protected' (often a closed padlock appears)? You can't access a protected network without the proper credentials (WEP key or digital certificate or RADIUS account). From earlier notes it sounds like you either aren't in range (no signal) or don't have the credentials to complete a connection. I don't advise 'hacking' the AP since that might be considered illegal.
September 19th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Stuart,
The 'tsunami' network doesn't have credentials of its own (it hooks into the wider UNL network, but I can hook up to that through another wireless network just fine). The signal strength shows 'very good.'
For now I can use a cat5 cable in my office, so it's not a problem. If it gets annoying enough I'll just contact IT Services and badger people. Or say to Professor X that it's preventing me from doing Y, and get him to badger IT Services for me
September 20th, 2005 at 12:00 am
ok, if it's a wireless network and it's saying Acquiring network address… like the gentelmen Stuart Berman says, it's probably the SSID's or the WEP keys… but… are you using the software that came with the card to control the connection or letting windows configure the conection…. any way, if you want to do it the easy way just let windows control the connection if for some reason the “wireless connections” tab does not apear on the properties, go to start, run, services.msc and start the Windows Zero Configuration service…. also… some times the wireless channel may not be too compatible for example wireless B or G normaly they use channel 6, normaly i setup all wireless to channell 11 for better compatibility it there is a way to configure the channell maybe you can connect with the wireless and making sure that the WEP keys (if any) are both the same, and also try to configure the infrastructure to see if its an access point or an ad-hoc, because some wireless connections are pretty complex and they all have to do with the security the WEP/WPA keys the channell the SSID… etc etc… all those details if ther are configure properly the connections should work fine.. but any way i home this information is use full and also it helps to know the brand of the wireless adapter on the laptop because i'm very familiar with westell, linksys, belkin, dlink, trend and i may know a fiew things depending on the brand to make the connection work
TavoLoco L3 tech
September 20th, 2005 at 12:00 am
sorry for the spelling…. not bad for a guy living in mexico right?
September 22nd, 2005 at 12:00 am
TavoLoco,
Yes, your spelling and grammer are perfect — certainly better than mine!
Still no luck, but I think the problem here is pretty universal — no one seems to be able to connect to it. IT Services at universities seem to be universally incompetence and unconcerned. I'm not sure anything I do can make a difference when up aganinst that.
At least I have my cat5 cable…
September 23rd, 2005 at 12:00 am
damm…….if only i can be there so i can gather information about the wireless signal.. so i can find out to see it's infrastructure, ssid, wep/wpa keys, the signal strength, encryption methots, loopback frequencies… etc etc. because i have tools in my laptop (hacker tools you know….) so i cam be able to force some kind of connection but i always say that becaue i live in mexico and i cannot be where the REAL action is… here in verizon dsl tech support over 97% of the wireless connections are no match for me, the other 3% are eather very STUPID customers or the wireless adapter and/or router is not working at all or the customer is in a cave LOL!
and yes… there is a verizon tech support here in Tijuana mexico and level 3 techs can kiss my ass!!!!!
home there are other issues so i can share the knowledge….
September 25th, 2005 at 12:00 am
TavoLoco
LOL — good to hear that tech support is the same the whole world over!
Perhaps Aaron can ad his experience from the other side of the customer-ISP war?
Thank you very, very much for all of your time & effort. I appreciate it very much, and I am sorry that my limited skills prevented me from using your wisdom & exerience to their fullest. Thank you.
September 26th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Hi Guys, here is how I fixed my. My problem was my 2 desktops, and 2 laptops all do the “acquiring network address” crap… it works just weeks before but don't work no more. My 2 Desktops was on LAN to LinkSys Router, and the 2 lappies are on Wireless to the same router.
After hours of trying, I read what previous posting mentioned about DHCP stuff not working correctly, I looked into it, sure enough, some how, on my Router Configuration Page (where you setup the router) the IP of my router's DHCP server got changed. My router is located at 1**.1**.1.1 (IP Address) and DHCP was at 1**.1**.1.100, I changed the DHCP IP to what the router is located (1**.1**.1.1) and everything works like a charm now… =) Just for inspirations…
September 29th, 2005 at 12:00 am
hello… i'm back… according to linksys the default gate way ip is 192.168.1.1 (it's a free world, i put the ip address so what!!) for example… some routed modems (westell 2200, 6100) use the same gateway ip address, normaly if we connect a router to a modem and they are using the same gate way ip 192.168.1.1 it is recommended to change the ip eather from the modem or the router that way we can accesss both the modem and the router at the same time because some times if the gateway ip is the same the internet access is not working…. this does not happen with belkin of netgear because (for example) belkin uses 192.138.2.1 and netgear or dlink uses 192.168.0.1 but linksys uses 192.168.1.1 that is why with other routers it's easy but with linksys we have to change the gateway ip form .1.1 to .2.1 or .0.1 or any numer.1 and just for kiks my belkin router i change it to 1.1.1.1 and it still works because 192.168 those two numers are fcc regulated numbers something like that…. any way….. if we use a linksys with a routed modem we need to change the gateway ip so that the internet can work good
seeya soon with more tips
September 29th, 2005 at 12:00 am
oohhh by the way… please chk out my mini website i just started it yesterday….. it's not a fancy website with flast animations bull shit…it's a tech tips website with screen shots updated every day or weekly (whenever i got time), since i just start yesterday i only have 2 links but let me know or sugest any tips and information to put there so that my knowledge can be shared to the workd and hopely resolve many issues out there…. ok
http://geocities.com/tech_tips1
next time i'll put wireless bullshit tips too
March 1st, 2005 at 12:00 am
GT
Thanks for the tip! For me the solution was just re-running “Network Setup Wizard,” but maybe NSW did what you suggested behind-the-scenes.
February 26th, 2005 at 12:00 am
I had the same problem. Here's what I did: open up 'My Network Places' and find your network adapter (it's the one that is your Local Area Connection. Go to properties and disable your TCP/IP connection. Do not disable the TCP/IP Version 6 connection. There is apparently a conflict with the two; either that, or the registry commands for Version 6 differ from those for the normal TCP/IP. It's still somewhat of a mystery why this works – but it does. Let me know if this works for you.
December 28th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Acquiring network address can take years off your life. Do this instead. Go to Control Panel/Admin Tools/Services. Be sure that DHCP is started. Be sure that WZC is stopped. This is Microsoft's Wireless Zero Configuration and it fights with other installed wireless controllers. STOP WZC. Enable your computer's other wireless controller. It's probably displayed on the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. On your wireless router disable MAC filtering. It's unnecessary. Then be sure that your passwords are entered correctly, whether you use WEP or WPA. I did the above and it all started working. This was true on an old laptop and on a new one. Both had the problem. Now they don't. Good luck. Oh and then you can do the victory dance!
December 29th, 2007 at 12:00 am
windows xp service pack 3
laptop – toshiba satelite pro (australia)
motorola router at mums house
I tried just about everything here, and then it turned out to be that someone here had printed out the WRONG KEY which i was using repeatedly !! To eliminate this source of error go to the url in the web browser hooked up to the wireless router or the modem that has the antenea on it , and copy the key off that web page (the home page of your router) on a piece of paper along with the SSID and check them twice. then IMMEDIATELY enter the key and SSID onto the laptop or computer you are trying to connect to. What happened was that the the key i was using for 16 hours was OBSOLETE.
I did not have a problem with windows xp connection wizard, but i dont know if service pack 3 fixed it . I installed SP3 as part of the effort, but it turned out to me using the wrong key.
Don
December 31st, 2007 at 12:00 am
Hey guys, maybe you can help me out. Just like the rest of you I recieve the message “Acquiring nework address” I have tried most of the fixes you have all recomended but I have not reached the internet as of yet. Some info i can give you is that my internet stopeed working when my friend ripped out my wireless adapter in a fit of rage…it stopped working after that. Something may have gone bad or reset. When i run the services to find the DHCP service it says automatic but when I try and start it it gives me the error
Could not start the dhcp service on Local Computer
Error 2: The system cannot find the file specified
I have a Dell Precision Workstation 380 and my router is a Linksys Router WRT54G.
If you need any more info just ask
Thank you in advance
December 31st, 2007 at 12:00 am
I have a huge problem. My internet and network just stopped working. It says acquiring network address but nothing.
1st: I tried resetting my router and my laptops still work but my PC doesn't. (1 laptop is a Mac and the other is a PC and they both work no problem)
2nd: Windows is slow on start up and Zone Alarm (that's the firewall and AV i've been using) doesn't start.
3rd: I checked in Services an DHCP says “Starting” and I can't stop or restart it.
4th: I tried running “Network Setup Wizard” and nothing.
5th: I tried “ipconfig” cmds and nothing. When I type /renew, it says, “An error occurred while renewing interface Local Area Connection: The RPC server is unavailable.”
What do I do… Can anyone help? I'm stuck and I haven't had Inet for a few days.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Hey TPS,
Your RPC service is disabled. To enable, click on start, run and type services.msc when a dialog box opens look for “Remote Procedure Call (RPC)” click and select properties. In the properties box make sure that the startup is “automatic” then click ok. Once you do this, you can click on the start so the service will run automatically. Also while you are in the Services, find and start “Routing and Remote Access”, “DHCP Client” Good Luck
January 7th, 2008 at 12:00 am
pls am having d same problems wit my router i've tried to remedy d situation but to avail its still showing “Acquiring network address”, pls help me and what do i do?
January 7th, 2008 at 12:00 am
pls am having d same problems wit my router i've tried to remedy d situation but to avail its still showing “Acquiring network address”, pls help me and what do i do?
January 30th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Having the exact same problem with sky
dno whats up wid it :S it just stays at aquiring network address but sometimes it connects very rarely.
February 13th, 2008 at 12:00 am
I got a brand new extra PC today – with windows XP – with a wired connection to the LAN. It seems to work fine but I get that 'acquiring network address' error.
I tried several different cat 5 cables, different router ports, checked that DHCP Service is working, several PC restarts, . . . but no luck in resolving the error.
Maybe it's a hardware problem. . .
February 24th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Had this problem with a brand new install. Wireless was working fine for a day, then started giving the now infamous “acquiring network address.” I tried EVERYTHING on this page, reinstalled every driver, firmware, firewall, etc. Finally gave up and reformatted.
After formatting, the very first thing I did was install the NIC drivers. Rebooted and, surprise surprise, the error is back. I closed the manufacturer's NIC utility and turned on the WinXP one, and it connected just fine. I have no idea. I don't even feel glad that it's working because I still have no idea what was wrong. I spent 8 hours today working on this and I want to bash my head in.
If you're having this same problem, god help you.
February 29th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Thanks TavoLoco, starting the service worked a treat!!
March 7th, 2008 at 4:44 am
I found this blog and tried pretty much everthing written hier without success.
Finally everything works again and I’d like to share the solution:
The problem is a conflict between Windows’Zero Config service and the clientmanager that comes with the wireless card. You need to manually remove the client with XPs program removal tool.
After that install the drives through Windows and not through the installer of the wireless card.
After that my card connected instantly
March 7th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
that was a definite WOW moment, everybody says “windows Zero Config” that never worked, ive spent hours trying to fix my wireless rolled back drivers, deleted drivers and reinstalled, was seconds away from formatting my HDD, then i stumbled upon this “deactivate tcp/ip” instantly computer connected to the wireless. stupid? sure, did it work? instantly!
March 8th, 2008 at 7:53 am
Here’s a question for you guys? My roommate and I have a netgear wireless router WNR834B. Everything is connected and all but whenever he turns his p.o.s. on and connects to the internet, websites do not load slowly on my pc. When I turn his off, everything works fine and is fast. Could it be he’s on limewire too much downloading porn?
March 17th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
thanks GT your tip really helped
March 18th, 2008 at 8:13 am
I had the issue with Belkin wireless G router where it worked via hard-wired to computer, but wireless connection said “acquiring network address” no matter what. It could not obtain an IP address.
I read the solutions, but none worked for me. The following steps worked for me:
1. Go to Start > Run,
2. Type CMD to go to a command prompt,
3. Type ipconfig /all and write down the IP address of your wireless adapter card, along with the gateway and subnet mask from the same.
4. Go to Start > Connect to and right-click on your wireless connection and choose “Properties”
5. On the “General” tab, select the TCP/IP connection and choose “Properties”
6. Choose “Use the following IP address” and type in the information from step 3 above.
This worked for me. I think for everyone it will be a different resolution as the wireless connection has a lot of different components to make it all work.
March 26th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
I just solved this exact same problem on a new laptop. The Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Broadband Router is configured with a WPA-PSK password.
When I try to access my network, it prompt me for the key. I enter it yet it still hangs as it tries to acquire the network address.
So I click on start/control panel/network connection. Right-click the wireless driver, select wireless networks tab, select the network authentication type (WPA-PSK) enter the network key and click OK.
This seemed to fix my problem.
March 27th, 2008 at 6:09 am
YAAA WHOOO! Finally got mine sorted, mine was on a Sky Netgear router and running XP. I tried everyting listed here and was about to reformat when i tried changing the router channel again to 7. It connected straight away and has not droped or not connected ever since!
April 2nd, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Thanks TavoLoco
Just read something you wrote on this from 05. It worked. I too have been having trouble connecting to the internet where I was getting messages “acquiring Network address” with the 0.0.0.0 IP address. I did the Control Panel>Admin Tools>Comp Mgnt>Service and Applications>Services then Started the DHCP Client & Immediate Fix. I’ve spent hours and hours of trying to trouble shoot this problem with my IP provider who BTW send their calls to the philipines with no result. Thanks – I’ll have a mojito in celebration
April 6th, 2008 at 11:16 am
hi tavoloco, you are my hero, i changed router, network adapter, cut off the wireless and and..so, now your 10 half dubplex worked..I can’t believe it…thanks again..
April 11th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I had this problem and I changed the channel on the wireless to channel 11 as someone suggested about half way down .. worked a treat! Obviously didn’t like channel 6 too much
April 20th, 2008 at 9:04 am
I have 2 laptops, and a LAN connection which work on one laptop but not on second. It says ‘Acquiring Network address’ and then get ‘Not Connected’ bt this laptop works on wireless connection without any such error.It gives error only when I try to connect LAN on that laptop. I have checked my adapter it is working fine.
I have tried most of the above given solutions but they didn’t worked.
Kindly suggest me how to solve this problem.
Thanks
April 26th, 2008 at 7:46 am
I’ve come across this problem several times over the years and each time it was the same cause: outdated drivers. And I am talking about brand new equipment straight out of the box. Make sure your router has the most recent driver installed and the same for the network card of the PC/laptop. Get the latter preferably from the support site of the manufacturer of the computer (Toshiba, say), or from the network card manufacturer (Intel, say).
May 22nd, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Well, disabling TCP/IP V6 and leaving the regular one enabled worked for me. im not stupid enough to disable both, as that is necessary for your computer to talk to the internet.
disabling the regular and enabling V6 didnt work tho… it said connected network wise, but the net didnt work
May 28th, 2008 at 1:23 am
Hi ,
enough with all this , I had the problem and I resolved it by disabling the 3com program and using Microsoft wireless tool instead of 3com.
June 11th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
I reallyyy need someones help!!
I moved into a complex and me and my roomates were all sharing the same network well i went home for a weekend and brought it back to my apartment when i did, it wouldnt connect anymore. i figured out its my IP address doing the 0.0.0.0 thing and anyways its reallyyy irritating me that no one can fix it or knows what im talking about so if you could email me or help me id reallyyyy appreciate it!
oh and i use linkys and connect to networks through windows
thanks so much
June 18th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Well I found yet another solution to the problem, in my case I did not have IPv6 installed, but it solved itself as soon as I disabled Windows Firewall.
June 20th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
This all shuts … Now i am telling u the solution of this problem100% accurate
1) start > run > cmd and type ping 127.0.0.1 — if 4 time replied ur network card is working and u have to reinstall windows … thats all
2) other wise replace ur card
July 5th, 2008 at 6:45 am
Paul, I want to thank you for your December 20th advice. It worked for me. When I looked at the dependencies, I found SYMTDI was there in addition to what you said should be there. Disabling and rebooting this was the key.
July 22nd, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Thanks Dyne
August 14th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
BIG thanx to tavoloco for telling us to active the dhcp it worked for me… I´m from costa rica and racsa’s tech support reaaaally sux
August 22nd, 2008 at 5:34 pm
I tried almost evrything on this page but nothing worked for me. Then I went to msconfig and under the tab services disabled all the services where the manufacturer was not Microsoft Corporation…restarted the system and guess what it worked…
September 1st, 2008 at 11:48 pm
My problem is three computers on a network, two will sign on perfectly. one will register an ip address, it will not connect to the network. however it has no default gate way address listed when i do an ipconfig. is that my problem and how to fix. thanks for the help
September 21st, 2008 at 5:25 am
I had this problem and it was a major pain. I even bough a new router and NIC before realising that it had to be a problem with Windows, here is my solution:
>> Open up network connections (In Control Panel)
>> Right click on your network (Your wireless connection)
>> Click Properties
>> In the “General” tab click “Internet protocol” (TCP/IP)
>> Click “Properies”
>> Click “Advanced”
>> Click the “WINS” tab
>> Click the Enable NetBIOS Over TCP/IP button (This is NOT the default option)
>> OK
Hopefully problem solved!
Handy diagram for you:
http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/6685/interhelpwm4.jpg
October 4th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Paul you are awesome genius. Hats off, you saved me another day.
October 10th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
After trying all that, it seems that the key I enter is case sensitive!
November 19th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
I tried all those things mentioned above, but nothing helped. I was
not able to start a WPA secured WLAN connection. WEP was no problem.
All I got was this “Acquiring Network Address” Message (in german “Netzwerkadresse beziehen”).
Now I found out, there is a conflict between the Ethernet-LAN and the WLAN drivers. As soon as I deactivate my (Kable-)LAN Card in the Device Manager, the WLAN Connection works.
In the end I uninstalled the Ethernet-LAN driver and installed an old one of 2004, the WLAN driver can be the newest one. My WLAN works great now.
I don’t understand the conflict of Ethernet an WLAN but in my case the problem seems to be solved.
Maybe it helps other ones.
November 21st, 2008 at 5:16 pm
If you have a netgear wireless router, this is what worked for me.
Connect a computer to the LAN port of the router using an ethernet cable.
Open up a browser and type in the following URL: http://192.168.0.1 or http://192.168.1.1 (depending on the model number of the router)
Type the Username as admin, and Password as password. Then click OK.
You should have a wireless connection within seconds
December 7th, 2008 at 8:23 am
Thanks TavoLoco! had the same issue as the others and your tip worked for me.. started the dhcp client in the services.msc and boom! i was connected to the wireless network! thank you so much!
December 19th, 2008 at 7:25 am
[...] Interestingly, it doesn’t seem to be an issue just for Ubuntu… [...]
January 14th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Sry i need somebody help, i’m using wired aztech modem and my local area connection was stuck on “acquiring network address” , what to do
January 29th, 2009 at 10:48 am
I have a Dell Ispiron 6400 and I recently reformatted my hard-drive and I’ve had a problem ever since. I tried reinstalling all the drivers and I’ve read through this entire thread and tried just about every method that was suggested, but still the acquiring network address forever. My problem is different than most because I am able to connect to all wireless networks that are not secured(password protected) but I can’t connect to any wireless networks that are secured. When I try to connect to a network that is secured I am able to type in my password and everything, but it gets stuck on “acquiring network address” forever. It doesn’t make any sense that I am able to connect to unsecured networks but not secured ones. If anyone knows why this is happenning or how to fix it, I would really appreciate it.
February 25th, 2009 at 11:10 am
My laptop, having previously connected to a neighbour’s network without problem, suddenly gave up one day and began all this “acquiring network address” rigmarole. I tried all manner of advice offerred above, but only finally succeeded when I disabled windows’ configuration of the network and used the wireless card’s own software to manage the connection (which I installed from the Drivers and Utilities CD that came with the laptop). Try this is nothing else seems to be working and good luck!
March 25th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
I wasted an hour on this only to find out my firewall was blocking the wireless connection!!! >.<
All good now though.
Thanks to everyone!
April 20th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
You need to make sure you have the latest drivers installed, which most of the drivers address problems like this. I have XP Home SP3 and had a 2004 driver and the WZC had to be started each time, so I went to the manf. website and downloaded the latest driver which was from 2005 and I deleted the old drivers and installed the new drivers rebooted and that resolved the problem! I will be getting a PCI Wireless NIC, but this will serve as temporary solution.
April 25th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
check out this page and maybe it will work for anyone who still has this problem, it was the only thing that worked for me after trying everything else. Goog Luck.
May 6th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
I had this same issue for 2 nights now…. tried many different suggestions.
Solution: I had missed a CAP in the WEP password. Double check your connection passwords!
May 17th, 2009 at 1:51 am
Same problem on two occasions. One still unsolved, other solved. Our set up is a peer to peer home network. Mix of CAT5 and wireless. All Windows (XP and Vista). With Netgear modem running WEP or WPA (not WPA2) could get all but one machine to wireless. All settings we could find on all machines were the same. If you switched all security off… that last machine also worked. Once security put back on, that one machine (a Dell Inspiron 9 netbook) wouldn’t connect again. All the others did. Problem unsolved because we then hooked up a newer DLink DIR300 instead. Same problem at first, except Dell worked and two laptops and one PDA didn’t. Two other laptops did. This one is fixed. EASY SOLUTION (I am stupid): there are two passwords. One to log in to the router to configure it and a DIFFERENT one for wireless. I was endlessly trying the first when it wanted the second. What I’d love to know (or maybe not) is why two other laptops work happily with the router log in and not the wireless log in. I am not complaining, I suppose! BTW, huge thanks to the many people who have contributed to this – you are wonderful people.
June 6th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Didnt bother reading the above wall of txt but I had a laptop also not moving past “Acquiring network address”. I changed the WPA – Shared key on both router and laptop and works fine now.
June 8th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
Thanks for the advise “TavoLoco”..
it helped me a lot…
God bless….
June 15th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
yeah all the above is what im experiencing..
help me!
john
June 25th, 2009 at 5:14 am
My setup is Windows xp, Livebox – 57F8 supplied by Orange. I experienced the same problem as most people here. I had a Desktop & a Acer Aspire Laptop. Desktop was permanently connected via Local Area Cable. Laptop, I used via Wireless connection. Everything worked fine for years. I never actually powered up or used the desktop for months – in fact I can’t remember using it last. Everything was fine, until I dismantled and threw away the desktop. Just to check, I connected my laptop to the Livebox router via cable and all was fine for a whole day, but next day my Wireless Connection failed. Came up with same error as most people here: “Acquiring network address”. Then that would fail. I tried all sorts of solutions suggested on this forum. With some it would connect for a minute or two then fail. Finally I resolved the problem in the following way: Do the following:
1) Start, Connect To.., Show all connection, Right click on “Local Area Connection, Properties, Advanced (tab). Here make sure th two boxes in “Internet Connections Sharing” are ticked. If not, ten tick them. Click on OK.
2) In a word document, type your WAP key. You can obtain this from you router configuration document – e.g. 4EBBD043AE1442BFCBA216FA14
(Don’t worry – this is not my genuine WAP key)
Make sure it is all in CAPITALS and there are no gaps.
3) Again do this.
Start, Connect to, Show all connections.
This time right click on “Wireless Network Connections”, Properties, Wireles Networks (tab), Livebox – 57F8 (Automatic), Properties.
Now copy & paste the WAP key from your word document, to here in “Network Key” and “Confirm network key” areas. Click on OK.
This worked for me. I hope it works for you too. Good luck.
July 6th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Martin’s solution worked for me, I found the ASD services were not running. The links to Microsoft fixed the problem. I had to re-install hidden files from the XP disc. Thanks for the web links Martin!
August 2nd, 2009 at 3:22 am
turning off tcp/ip has worked for me
August 13th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
I tried everything here to get a client’s laptop to connect. Had the same ‘Acquiring Network Address’ message (0.0.0.0 IP).
Solution was to change the WPA cipher type from AES to TKIP. I guess the internal NIC is too old to use AES (have the latest driver) even though it is an option in the NIC settings.
DOH!
August 13th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
To clarify: I changed the Wireless Router setting to TKIP
September 29th, 2009 at 6:56 am
Start-settings-network connections= double click network connections- click properties-click Microsoft TGP-IP-click install
October 30th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Many thanks Chris (7th from top)
After weeks of trying other suggestions, I ran services.msc, wireless connections and found DHCp was disabled, I enabled it and set it to automatic and all was well. (I had previously set WAP password to 6 digits and 4 letters after an expert had told me that 8 digits was not enough even though my router said 8 to 64 characters)
George
November 17th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Most of the time deleting the “wireless profile” and starting over will fix this issue,
Article here shows how to delete wireless profiles in windows xp or vista:
http://mgmcc.forumotion.net/networking-tutorials-f17/removing-an-existing-wireless-profile-t109.htm
Other than that its likely DHCP is stopped/disabled and so should be started and set its startup type to Automatic.
To do that:
control panel/administrive tools/services/locate and click once on DHCP Client, use the panel on the left to start the service, double click the entry to change the startup type, save the changes made.
February 20th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
I suffered this problem too, tried many things in the site. Had a good connection for a month with new wi-fi, then all at once got the dreaded message. Solution for me, actually came from another board – From Rick at Techspot.com:
___
Sounds like your TCP/IP might be damaged in Windows.
To fix this, repairing your Winsock might work. You can do so by opening the command shell (Start > Run > cmd.exe) and type netsh winsock reset and restart your computer. This command only works in Windows XP with service pack 2 installed.
Alternatively, you can use a program such as WinsockXP http://www.snapfiles.com/get/winsockxpfix.html, which makes the process fool-proof.
___
I used the command, didn’t download anything and it worked. I also have XP with service pack 3. Thanks to Rick (message was posted September of 2006) and good luck to all!
March 3rd, 2010 at 7:59 pm
startting the “DHCP client” service worked for me.
wallaaa…….. thanks for the advices…