Laptop loses network connection

Point value changed by question poster.

I assume hibernate and power saving modes are disabled.
Replaced NIC?

Just gueses

Re: Answer 1:

Yes, all hibernate and power saving modes are disabled. (Both BIOS and Windows)

Have I replaced the NIC? No, because it's built in. It's not a NIC card that slides into a PCMCIA slot. I have suspected the NIC as the culprit, but it would involve sending it away to have it replaced. (And the user - the boss - doesn't want to do it unless everything else has been tried.) This would be a very last resort, even after reloading Windows. (Unless, of course, opening the laptop to replace it myself would be possible. I've never opened a laptop, and I'm not sure I want to.) And in regards to reloading Windows, all I have from the laptop purchase are "recovery" CDs. (And I wouldn't want to "recover", I'd want to reload from scratch.) I don't have the Sont CD that was used to originally load the o.s. (Unless it could be done with the recovery CDs.) I suppose I'm not sure if there are some features unique to this Sony laptop that would be lost if I didn't use the original CD to load it.

I suppose what I'm really looking for is any and all possible causes (except the NIC). I have other Win2k machines that don't have the problem, so I'm leaning towards something that was configured when Sony preloaded the operating system. But at this point, after looking at so many possible settings, I'm open to anything. I want to go over a "check list" again.

Perhaps I could disable the on-board NIC, buy and install a NIC card into the slot, and see if that solves it. Have youever done that with a laptop?

I heard you saying you don't want to open the laptop and change the card but when a pc lose the connection and it has to be rebooted to get the nic access bro sorry i am like nike today Just Do It "change the NIC'

I would think that it would be easier to replace the nic card at this point rather than reinstall the operating system. As you suggest, put in a pcmcia card and connect to the network using that card rather than the built-in one.
AS for your recovery cd's, they will do a complete install if you do wish to fdisk and reformat this laptop.
I have experienced similar problems with desktops that have had built-in nics and the problem was solved....I know that a desktop is easier and less time consuming for this task but this was my best solution.
I would shy away from opening it up unless you know your way around in there. I worked on one once and as soon as the back was off, it kind of exploded on me with little parts (it is what makes yourlaptop shockproof from dropping it...must be spring loaded ;-) )
Good luck!

Mike

Maxwell:
Will your boss let you completely remove, and then reapply, the entire TCP/IP stack?
The reason I ask is that on Monday, I had a very similar problem. A Toshiba Tecra laptop would not stay on the network. In the morning, it got its new DHCP lease and was fine. By 11am, it stopped talking to the network. Releasing/renewing the IP did not work; it would not find the DHCP server to get a new IP (yes, my DHCP server was ok). I put in a static IP; no luck. Couldn't PING or anything.
I put SP2 back on the machine (haven't started rolling out SP3 yet) just in case, and still no joy. I also did not get anything of use in Event Viewer.
At 1PM, I was stumped. I was pacing around the office, muttering, trying to think of what to do next.
Eventually, I removed EVERYTHING from the NIC. Every Client, Service and Protocol listed under the NIC. It was the first time I had done this in Win2k. Basically, I removed everything, then rebooted. The NIC was still listed in Network & Dialup Connections, but when you went to the Properties of it, there was nothing there.
After that, I then added Client for MS Networks, File and Print Sharing, and TCP/IP. I set the IP to be on DHCP.
A reboot, and it all came up.
So, try deleting everything from the NIC, then add it all back in again, and cross your fingers! For me, the Toshiba was good Tuesday.

Just a thought, have you replaced the dongle or network cable? Laptops are harder on cabling since the equipment is portable. Desktops seem to stay in one place. Hope this helps.

I am not expecting points on this, but it can only be 5 possibilities, you need to try them all.

The NIC Drivers
The NIC
The Wiring (Patch Cables, jack, patch panel)
The port on the switch/hub
The OS

It can be any of those. It's your job to test one at a time, doing the less expensive and less time consuming first. Good Luck.

perhaps you could try tell me what is your nic card model? 3com? or intel ..?

Hi,
I think that the first issue is to check if you have a hardware (NIC) or a software (OS) problem without any modification/installation of additional software or hardware.
You can try to exclude in your troubleshooting the Win2k using a boot diskette with network support.
I make some searches on net and I find this free source: http://www.nu2.nu/bootdisk/network/#niclist
Also I used this diskette, I tested it on a desktop computer and worked with no problems after I configured logon andTCP/IP options (exist a wizard which will guide you on all necessary steps when boot from this diskette).
Since you have network access you can run/schedule a batch which will test the network connectivity.
If in this conditions you lose the network connectivity then I think that you have a hardware problem.

As suggestions come in, I might say, “I tried that already”. Nonetheless, rest assured that any and all suggestions will be verified and/or tried again. I’m at the “triple check” stage, and I will try everything again.
Answer number 2:
If the laptop does eventually get opened to replace the NIC (which may involve changing the motherboard - I don’t really know.) I’ll elect to send it in to the manufacturer to perform the surgery. There are a couple of things I just won’t open up and tinker with – televisions/monitors, laptops, automatic transmissions, a person’s body, etc. I’ll leave those things to others more qualified than I.

Answer number 3:
If installing a PCMCIA card does indeed solve the problem (and I do have one ordered), then I’ll know the on-board NIC is faulty and I’ll then send the laptop in for the repair.
Are you certain about your suggestion that the recovery disks will indeed perform a clean and full install of the operating system if the disk is repartitioned and formatted? I would hate to lose those integrated Sony functions. (And I too am leery of the “boing” factor if I open the laptop. That’s why I won’t do it.)

Answer number 4:
One of the first things I did was to (logically) uninstall the device. I did this in device manager. In fact, there were two network devices to uninstall. One was a Sony device and the other was an Intel device. Since there were two of them listed (and only one, presumably, physically installed) I initially thought that this was the source of the problem. At the same time I also uninstalled all services and protocols. After rebooting the computer, I detected and installed the NIC (Windows detected the Intel device), and I installed Microsoft Client as the only service and TCP/IP as the only protocol with DHCP enabled. (Is that what you m

Answer number 5:
Yes, I replaced the network cable. I even ran a different cable into his office (from an adjacent office). The problem still occurred. This verified the functionality of the cable, patch panels, switch ports, etc. The dongle? I must admit that you caused me to look up the definition of a dongle. No, it doesn’t have a dongle installed.

Answer number 6:
As I’m sure you know by now from the answers/comments, I’ve tried all of the possibilities you listed except the NIC and the operating system. As I said, those are last resorts after all other possibilities have been tried.

Answer number 7:
The NIC is an Intel PRO/100 VE Network Connection (As defined in device manager)

Answer number 8:
That’s a very interesting troubleshooting scenario and a good link to have. Thanks for providing that suggestion and information. In order to do this kind of troubleshooting, however, I’d have to have the computer for several days to verify various things. This user is very reluctant to go without the computer. (They’re almost joined at the hip.) For example, I suggested that I use the computer for a week or so, and in the meantime I would give him a regular desktop computer. From the reluctance he showed to losing his laptop for an extended period of time, you would have thought that I was asking if I could pull his wisdom teeth with rusty tools and no drugs. If we have to send it to the manufacturer for repairs, I think he may go bonkers without his precious laptop.

My reply to answer number 4 was cut off. It was intended to continue as follows:(

Is that what you mean when you say the TCP/IP Stack, or am I missing something?)

One other thing to try is run Norton's windoctor and see if cleaning up the registry a little helps out or see if it finds any other problems.

Answer number 9:
That's an interesting solution, and it's something I haven't tried. I'll load Norton Utilities 2002 on the laptop and give it a try. Thanks for the suggestion.

Couple of things:

Couldn't get to your previous psoting to see what I answered there (says 'thread has been withdrawn), so I can't see if I already suggested this:

I actually found this quite by accident one day. I know you mentioned that youhad aldready disabled all hibernation and power saving settings. There is also a power management setting specifically for the NIC in device manager. Double check this.

Reference the "Recovery CD's": I have found that the capability of these can vary from vendor to vendor. Many times all this may be is a vendor-branded copy of the the normal OS install CD. Sometimes it may include a routine to not only reinstall the OS, but also other vendor included software and drivers. Usually whatI find is the the OS is on one CD and vendor software and drivers is on a second CD. I haven't seen any that will NOT allow you to do a fresh install. If anything, it's usually the opposite - it will ONLY let you do a fresh install.

BTW, my money is on a PC card NIC solving the problem. It looks like you have every other base covered (short of an OS reinstallation - yuch).

Answer 4:
As you probably saw from my previous comment, I did indeed try what you suggested - three times - although I also removed the NIC from device manager. I wanted to make sure the correct driver was installed.

And yes, SP3 was also something else I tried. In fact, I lost a lunch bet over it because I was certain that installing SP3 would fix it. I was certain because of Microsoft article Q303339 which described a problem "similar" to mine. I say similar because, even though all the circumstances weren't exact, the error message was. And the fact that SP3 was released in August 2002 was encouraging.

-------------- NEW INFORMATION -------------------

>>> ERROR MESSAGE RECEIVED AFTER LOSING CONNECTION <<<

Microsoft Windows Network: The local device name is already in use. This connection has not been restored.

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Answer number 10:
REMOVE SPACES from the pasted URL

-------------- NEW INFORMATION -------------------

>>> ERROR MESSAGE RECEIVED AFTER LOSING CONNECTION <<<

Microsoft Windows Network: The local device name is already in use. This connection has not been restored.

--------------------------------------------------

Did you check to see what speed and duplexing you are using on that connection? Make sure that it is not Auto-Detect and that the options you choose match the hub or switch. Some cards have a problem syncing to the hub/switch. Does the speed and duplexing on the hub/switch match the speed you running at? What about an updated driver? How old is the driver?

This may be way off but are you using a windows 2000 or nt4 server with dhcp? Check your licensing on the server to see if your are exceeding the user limit. It will have exclamations if you are. Also check the dhcp time limit for the ip addressesyou are handing out. The computer name of the laptop may be accidentally specified with a short time period or something. Another possiblilty is the laptop is releasing the ip number for some reason...the tcpip stack is not holding...there should be a registry entry for the ip settings that may need to be checked. I couldn't remember if you tried static ip numbers. If it does the same with static ip numbers I would lean towards a registry problem.

The error:
Microsoft Windows Network: The local device name is already in use. This connection has not been restored.

Is familiar to me, I have seen it on my own notebook before. It was a result or having mapped network drives, and when I joined the network I would click on a disconnected drive and it would not connect. I would usually have to un-map all the drives (so I had no cached credentials to the server) and then try to reconnect.

Does this user use his modem to dial out to the internet, or to another network? Is he using a VPN or something to change his network environment? Has he always had this problem, or when did it start?

I don't remember the root source of the problem, I left that a company a while ago. But it was not a hardware/driver problem when I had it.

Hope this helps.

Almost sounds like a Socket Error. Is there anything else running that could affect it like screensavers, backups or antivirius programs running for long periods?

Hi Maxwell,

seems that every solution is being tried here, so I'll add some more.

I looked up the error on microsoft's website, and found two articles. One is related to saving a file from a w2k pro machine to a network drive in an NT4 domain.

The other article referrs to referss to saving a file in an offline folder.

try it if you run out of ideas.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q303339

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q319075

good luck,

Wow, look at all the answers! Ok, here are my 2C. I once had the ole 'local device name is already is use problem.' It baffled my whole staff and a consulting company including a some CCNA's, a MCSE, and a CCIE for about 3-4 months. I called it a gremlin in the computer system. The error message comes from this. Your connection is established and communicating with the server. The client is disconnected, but somehow the server does not know it. When the client tries to reconnect, viola "error". Part two of the problem is to figure out why. In my case it was the firewall interface the traffic was going through did have transparancy enabled. So as multiple connections came through the firewall could not reroute from NAT properly.This is NOT your problem, since you never mentioned a Firewall.

Hi Maxwell...

I have a couple of thoughts that you may want to take a look at. Have you put a packet sniffer on the laptop and monitored it's network traffic/packets? Ethereal is free (if you don't have something like sniffer Pro or EtherPeek).
When the system disconnects, look at what packets were transferring and look for errors. This will quickly help you detect if its a hardware issue etc.

I think the next thing I'd try is inserting a PCMCIA adapter temporarily and connect up withthat. See if the problem returns. If not, it's likely something specific to the built in NIC (the hardware itself, its driver, etc). If it suffers the same issues, then start tracking back toward your server. Maybe run a homerun line with new cables. Connect to a different hub/switch, etc (I'm sure you know all this already...)

Another thing you may want to do is make certain it is not a timeout/keep alive issue. Set the laptop to ping in the background or something to continuously broadcast. See if this keeps the connection live. When you do lose connectivity, can you ping your loopback okay? Can you ping anything else? If your switch can be set for an IP address can you still see it?

I was suffering through an issue like this not long ago and was stunned when I finally came across the problem. A power flicker had caused trouble with my switch and I needed to flash it back to factory settings...but it only affected one port. It was bizarre.

Anyhow, not sure I've offered much here, but here's hoping it may help.

Good luck!

Hi
When your lap top goes into hibernate condtion the network disconnect, then after a mouse click or a key press the network will reconnect.
No need to change any hardware the error message is erroneous and you can safely ignore it.The win/nt/2k redirector under many conditions has issued these messages do to numerous problems. Check your event logs you will find many messages from the component Mrxsmb.
So as you mentioned eraler that MS has released new version of the components Mrxsmb.sysand Rdbss.sys on August that may eliminate the problem (Q303339).

Apply this fix and hopgfully you are fixed.

Good luck

Mohamed

I have a similar problem with a laptop running W ME and uses a PCMCIA card. Occasionall the nic will stop working [W ME will lose the nic, re run winipcfg and the default ppp connector shows up and not the NIC). I would have to reseat the NIC and set it up all over again. What I found was the server would disconnect the connection after a certain period of time (security measure for W2K server)where no packets were being transmitted across the line. Also the NIC itself would not refresh it's self to the server [the "Wakeup on link change" for the NIC was disabled. ] I solved all these problems with the W ME laptop by making up a undocked hardware configuration profile [startup profile for the laptop when connected to the network] that thelaptop uses INSTEAD of the original configuration startup profile. This resolved my problem of the laptop Nic seemingly to disconnect itself and W ME losing the NIC card in it's hardware profile.

In diagnosing a NIC card in a laptop, I suggest trying a plug-in NIC such as a USB connection or a PCMCIA card adapter. Configure the laptop to use the alternate adapter, and if the problem goes away, then send the laptop for repair (or continue using the plug-in adapter. I have had very good luck with USB adapters, and they are inexpensive and easy to configure.

Are you sure that the Laptop has a unique IP address from all other machines on the network. I've seen similar probs here with a conflict

HTH

Regards

Maxwell - The Sony Vaio, like the Dell C610s, have 'built-in- network connections. The NICs, are, however, under the system board, and generally bundled with the modem. If you take off the memory board cover and can see the memory chips, next to that should be the NIC/Modem connector. Just ensure that is tight and that should help. Also, as stated in another answer I think, make certain your TCP/IP is active in Network Neighborhood, ensure that the LAN connection is "enabled".

Answer #21 (graham) is right -- somebody is logging on to the network with the same computer name or ip address, which is bumping off your connection. you need to find out where the other computer is, and rename it, or reassign the ip address. tryrunning netstat from the wkstation next time it happens -- that should be informative (think that's the one you want) -- think it has some switches you can use. i'm not good on syntax, but you can use ? for syntax. hope that helps!

First you do not have to open the laptop to hookup a different ethernet card. If the laptop as most do have a pcmcia just insert pcmcia card and let the pc run for at least 72 hrs, to see if it is working correctly. If you do not have a spare pcmcia slot on the pc then you could use a usb nic on the pc to hook to the network.
Also does a simple release/renew correct the issue on the laptop or do you have to reboot the pc. If you have to reboot then there are other steps that I could recommend but some of them will require reconfiguring the registry entries and disabling certian windows applications.
I have seen in some case where the router does not give out enough ip addresses so that when one computer gets online it will steal theip address of a current item on the network. Does this happen to any other device on the network.
Also have you checked to see if this happens when anyone else uses the computer. It may be something to the location, (EMI or RFI)

Well, here's what I've been reading. It seems
to me that possibly it's related to a drive
mapping? Is the user trying to access a file
on a certain drive when this happens or does
the user notice anything in particular they did
right before they receive the error? Are the
network drive assignments conflicting with
something? Possibly try other letter
assignments for the network drives? Just
some thoughts to pass along. Most every
item I've read with that error states problems
related to drive mappings.

Update on network disconnection problem:

I attempted to change the NIC. I say “attempted” because it was not as clear-cut as taking out one NIC and installing a new one. The NIC that is built into the laptop cannot be physically removed. I opened the laptop – no “boing” disaster, by the way – and discovered that the NIC is indeed built into the motherboard. Therefore, It was not possible to physically remove it.

But being determined, and not to be denied, I then went into the computer BIOS looking for the setting to disable the on-board NIC. Much to my chagrin, however, no such setting exists. I must say, this is the first time I’ve seen a system with an “on-board” NIC that did not have, in the BIOS, a function that allowed the user to either enable or disable that particular hardware. But there’s a first time for everything, I suppose, and there was no such setting in the BIOS. (Yes, I’m sure.)

Nonetheless, Icontinued to install my new NIC – a Belkin card that slides into the PCMCIA slot. I configured the new card with Client for Microsoft Networks and TCP/IP – no more, no less.

The new card worked just fine. However – THE SAME DISCONNECT PROBLEM still occurred - still random, still with no rhyme or reason.

Thinking it was perhaps a NIC conflict, I logically removed the built-in NIC from device manager - but after rebooting the computer it would reappear.

Rats, Drats, and all those other expletives. Why won’t this Sony laptop let me remove – either physically or logically – their stupid NIC?

(I guess I now have two questions, don’t I?)

Try to re-map your networked drives. You might even want to re-map them with different drive letters.

I assume that you have tried an update to the bios which is one of the first thing I would try. Also you can disable the inboard nic and install the pcmcia card and set that as the active one. Otherwise all of the other answers sound very good Diagnostics I would try the simple first Good Luck

Yes, if you remove the device in device manager, and it is still physically present, Windows will reload the drivers and reinstall the device.

Try disabling it in the hardware profile.While it will still be physically present, Windows will in essence turn it off.

No need to reload Operating system.

Simply uninstall network adpater, protocol etc from netowkring option in control panel.
Then go to ADD/REMOVE software remove all networking components from there and reboot the PC to update the registry.
Then re-install the network adapter, networking components, protocols again rebooting when promted.
hope this helps.

Answer 11:
All aspects of the hub/switch/NIC connection are verified to be working correctly. The drivers are the correct and current ones.

Answer 12:
No, I haven’t exceeded the licenses. In fact, I have more licenses than users. There isno time out/disconnect on any of my users. The laptop (or server) does not appear to be releasing the IP address. And yes, I have tried the static IP address – same problem.

Answer 13:
You may be are on to something. I too think it may be an issue related to drive mapping. (But I’m not 100% certain.) I’m presently looking into some related issues. Perhaps someone can expand on this possibility. As far as your other questions, no, there is no VPN, no modem, no other network.

Answer 14:
I’ve not seen any indication that there is a socket error, but I’ll keep this in mind. How would you suggest I make that determination? And there’s not much of anything running in the background. I don’t think that’s an issue.

Answer 15:
In article Q319075, it does indeed refer to the same error message that I’m getting. However, it goes on to say that the error is caused by InoculanIT Advanced Antivirus Software V4.53 build 631, and I’m not using that product. In addition, the article claims that simply clicking OK will ultimately save the document, but this is not the case. The user loses any unsaved changes to the document. This suggestion has, however, compelled me to look at the programs loaded on this computer. There are a lot of installed programs. I’ll have to look at these programs one at a time, and perhaps I’ll find something there. I’ve seen Q303339, and thought it may provide some help. However, it relates to saving to off-line folders, and that is not the case. However, there still may be a clue in this article that has, thus far, been elusive to me.

Answer 16:
No there is not a firewall. Hub/Switch/ NIC – all check out ok. (See previous comments.) I agree with your comment about Norton “taking control” of the computer. I don’t like it either, and don’t usually useNorton utilities any more for that very reason.

Answer 17:
Per previous comments, I’ve eliminated the possibility of a network infrastructure cause.
Re: the NIC suggestion, I thought the same thing, and I did indeed install (temporarily) a PCMCIA adapter, but no luck, the same problem with the new NIC. Also, I’ve eliminated all possible timeout/keep alive issues. You said, “Anyhow, not sure I've offered much here, but here's hoping it may help.” I assure you, all answers are helpful. Thank you.

Answer 18:
There are no hibernate issues, as I’ve disabled them all. I did look at the event logs, and traced the errors that were present, but they all led to dead-ends. I did look at Q303339, applied recommended fixes, but still had no luck. (See my comment to answer 15.) I also installed SP3, which was documented to fix a similar problem, but still no luck.

Answer 19:
A new hardware configuration profile is an interesting idea, and perhaps one thatI will try. Perhaps you or someone can elaborate on the advantages of doing this. Thanks for the suggestion.

Answer 20:
I did try the PCMCIA card adapter, but not the USB. However, since the problem still occurred with the PCMCIA, I eliminated the NIC as the culprit.

Answer 21:
Yes, the Laptop does indeed have a unique IP address. Thanks.

Answer 22:
Thanks for the suggestions, but the NIC is built into the motherboard, and therefore can’t be removed. However, your suggestion helped convince me that opening the laptop was a fairly safe process. But I think I’ve eliminatedthe NIC as the culprit.

Answer 23:
If someone else is logging into my network with the same name or IP address, they’re doing it in “stealth” mode. There is absolutely no indication of that happening. If I look at the Active Leases in DHCP Manager (on my NT 4.0 PDC Server) there are no indications of a name and/or IP conflict. All IP addresses are assigned dynamically, and the total number of addresses available is adequate (34% more available – which I’ll never use).

Answer 24 thru 29:
I’ll get back to you on your suggestions and questions.

I could only skim many of the other answers. I saw no comments as to weather or not if the laptop is generating a broadcast storm ie vast amounts of network traffic. My suggestion is disable the built in NIC since it is 99% certainly built into theM/B, then install a PCMCIA NIC and see if that resolves the problem.

Something else you might try. I read once where the CTRL-ALT-DEL option at login, when disabled, might cause some security issues. Do you have this enabled? Have you disabled it?

Answer 24:
Yes, I know that the internal NIC doesn’t have to be removed in order to install a PCMCIA card. But the problem still occurs with the new card. A simple “release/renew” (disable/enable) does indeed correct the problem, but only temporarily. A reboot seems to keep the problem from occurring for a longer period of time. (~45-90 minutes for disable/enable, ~6-12 hours when rebooted. Note: Times are not consistent, just averages.)

No, it does not happen to any othercomputer on the network, just this laptop. (The only laptop on the network) As far as this happening at a different location, I thought about that as well. To test it, I ran a different network cable from an adjacent office, and the problem still happened. I also tried a different port and a different switch.

EMI or RFI – I don’t think so. Having the LCD display, The power regulator on the provided cord, and going thru a UPS should rule out most of that kind of interference. But I suppose it is possible I’m missing something.

You might have a registry suggestion? Go ahead, editing the registry in not a problem.

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Answer 25:
Drive Mapping – I kind of think it maybe related to this as well. However, I can’t find any conflict – either internal to that computer of a duplicate name on the network. The error, “The local device name is already in use” would certainly point in this direction, but I’m running into dead-ends. Review al the previous answers and comments. Have I overlooked something?

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Answer 26:
Been there, done that. See the previous answers and comments. Any other ideas?

Answer 27:
No I have not tried a BIOS upgrade. I don’t think that’s the issue – unless an upgraded BIOS would allow me to disable the onboard NIC (just in case it’s causing some sort of weird conflict.) As I stated earlier, this current BIOS doesn’t have a disable/enable option for the onboard NIC. See the previous answers and comments regarding the PCMCIA NIC.

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Answer 28:
I have disabled it in the hardware profile. The problem persists.

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Answer 29:
You suggest that I uninstall the network adapter, protocol etc. from networking option in control panel. Yes, I did all that.

However, you went on to suggest that I remove all networking components from Add/Remove programs and reboot the PC to update the registry. That’s something I haven’t tried. (Add/Remove Programs - Add/Remove Windows Components – Networking Services) I’ll try it. That’s a good idea.

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Answer 30:
Yep, I tried that. Review the previous answers and comments (If you care to take the time.)

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Answer 31:
CTRL-ALT-DEL is disabled. I don’t remember if I disabled it after this problem started, but I will enable it again to see if that is the cause. (I think I, too, remember reading a Microsoft article about this login option, and how disabling it may cause some security problems.)

An update:

At this point in time, the laptop in question loses the network connection about once a day – but not at the same time every day. But this is certainly better than several times a day – and perhaps it's even a clue.

So on it goes, and I’m still searching for the definitive answer.

Other suggestions:
Have you set the laptop so that it does not participate in the Browser elections?

When plugged into another location, does the problem persist?

When the connection is "lost" can the laptop be pinged?

Can you assigne a static IP to the laptop?
(sorry if any of these are repeats)

Have you tried setting the laptop up in a peer-to-peer environment with a cross over cable? Run ping between the two computers with the -t option, and see if the conection still drops off.

I'll make this short and sweet. Check the time on the server and compare it to the time on the laptop. If the time is not syncronized to within three minuets, the network connection will disconect. I know it sounds off-the-wall but I had the sameproblem with an XP desktop connected to a W2K server and this fixed it.

Here are a couple of things to try.

Firstly, Can you ping the server after loosing connection? If you can, then there is no problem with the hardware at all, and best pushing that aside to focus on software/protocol setup.

If this is not the case, then you can try one of two things. In NT4 DHCP, it lets you reserve a lease on an IP address, you may want to reserve the lease you currently have then set it as static on the laptops tcp/ip settings. It may well be that you're getting disconnected, and NT4 is trying to re-issue the lease, but seeing as you were never physically disconnected in the first place, you still own the lease (MS logic, go figure) Its basicaly trying to give you something you allready have, and getting confused in the process.

If that fails, then check the settings for microsoft networking on the laptop, in the domain settings whether your set for quick logon to domain resources, maybe need to change it to the other setting or vice versa.

I've had this problem with windows 2000, you might want to check the security event log on the NT machine and filter out the informations and successful events to see if theres an event for your laptop failing a security check, try and match this time with anyodd events in the system log to see if its a problem with the server, and if that fails, go to technet.microsoft.com and search for the security event id, it may be a connection watchdog kicking you off when you're idle for a little while.

Hope this helps,

Lee J Paxton

Have you checked the wall port to blade connection? We had the same problem with an IBM ThinkPad and a Toshiba Portege over a couple of months. After changing everything, we replaced the cable in the wall. Problem solved.

Regarding the error:

Microsoft Windows Network: The local device name is already in use. This connection has not been restored.

Remove the system from domain membership, then run a SID changer like Symantec GhostWalker and give the system a new name if possible. At the DC, add the new system as a domain member before bringing the laptop up. Boot using the internal NIC or the PC Card.

I was not able to review all answers to your posted question,so have you troubled shooted the network connection to file and printer sharing,at the time it is losing connection is their a printer job being sent to the que,if HP Jet Admin is being used which may be the culprit.
Just a thought

Well i would not call myself an expert but it seems that everything else has been tried. Is it possible that a conflicting MAC address in on the network? You know someone else comes in to work, logs on and goodbye the sony is kicked off?
Like i said just a thought - is this the only VIAO on the network?

Here are a few suggestions: The first thing I would suggest is to update the BIOS and get the drivers for the NIC from the Intel website not from the Sony site (I'm using v4.3.25). I have not worked with Vaio's, but on many of the Tecra models withbuilt in NIC's, (after being opened or improperly put together at the factory), the NIC and/or modem would work intermittently. With the laptop open, we had to press firmly above the modem & NIC combo to "set" the case. Toshiba's first fix was to place a piece of paper inside so it would fit better and they were going to improve the style. It seems to be better on their Tecra 8200's.

If you happen to have a spare laptop of the same model, I've always found changing out the harddrive to a different unit is easier than swapping the internal NIC. This way you can tell if it is OS related, it will happen with the existing Harddrive, or Hardware.

Trying a PCMCIA NIC is a pretty easy thing to do as well to see if there is a problem between the Motherboard & internal NIC.

Let me know if this helps or if you need more info.

Seems that the NIC, cabling, hubs/routers and server have been checked up/down/sideways and backwards. You might look at lappies free hdd space free, check that user cleans cache at least weekly, same with temp internet files, cookies, etc... Check size of and probably make the swap file larger. Sounds like an 'out of resource' or timeout issue. You should be able to get more definitive info from the server logs and the laptop network logs. On the other hand , I had a site that went down consistently with NO FREAKING messages that was caused by a large CNC machine being turned on next door. Bon chance mssr ou mlle.

Maxwell:
So, I have been thinking about this, and reading all of the steps you have tried.
I now think the problem is in NDIS wrapper, NDIS.SYS.
From a Microsoft article on how Win2K handles networking:
"The NDIS wrapper defines the way protocols communicate with network adapters. The protocols communicate with the NDIS wrapper rather than the network adapter. This is an example of the modular structure of a layered network model. The network adapter is independent from the transport protocols."
The article (a very good one) can be found here:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/reskit/tcpip/part4/tcpappb.asp

So, I suggest doing this. When this laptop is powered on, and network connectivity is establised AND working, open up Computer Management -> System Information -> Software Environment -> Drivers. Let that list come up. Then, export it (click the Save Text Report button), and open it in Excel. This lists every driver file, its status, if it is running, if it is OK or not, etc.
Ok. Now, once the laptop drops its internet connection, go back into the Drivers list and export the list again.
Open this list up in Excel and see what is different. I feel in my gut that there will be at least one driver that will be Stopped, but it was originally Running.
My guess is that NDIS.SYS will be the driver that had failed.
But, at least doing this, you will be able to really see what driver is dying.
Now, what to do, once you pinpoint the failed driver? I would extract it from the Win2KPro CD, then re-SP3 the laptop.

Good luck!

>>>>>>>>>> FINAL COMMENT <<<<<<<<<<

I’m going to close this question even though the problem persists. I feel that I’ve taken it as far as I can in this forum, and many possible solutions have been addressed. So I’ll close it inorder to give others an opportunity to get their question in the top 5 spot and to distribute the points to those who have helped.

As I’ve previously mentioned, most of the answers posted have been a genuine attempt to help, and I’ve tried to consider and answer most of them on an individual basis. If your answer wasn’t addressed individually, it was either addressed in a comment made to another answer or in a general additional comment made by me. If you want a more specific reply to your answer, feel free to email me and I’ll be happy to reply. In addition, if you want to be “kept in the loop”, so to speak, as to the ultimate solution, let me know and I’ll keep you updated by email.

Here’s an update to my troubleshooting efforts:

This user was recently out of the office for 5 days – 9 days counting the weekends. I kept this computer on with the intention of periodically checking the network connection. Every day, including the weekends, I checked to see if the network connection was still working. I checked it by simply opening a mapped drive, then closing that mapped drive window. Occasionally I would open a document or some other file that resided on a file serverover the network. Not once over that 9-day period was the network connection lost. Not once.

(continued...)

I have therefore come to the conclusion that the network drive is lost ONLY when some application and/or networked file is open. This narrows down the possibilities, I suppose, but the exact cause is still elusive. The possible applications running on this computer most likely causing the network disruption are Internet Explorer 5.5, Outlook Express 5.0, or MS Office 97 Professional (Word, Excel, Access).

I’m going to continue troubleshooting this problem, looking for an application specific solution. If the solution continues to elude me, I may repost the question. In the meantime, if anyone has an idea and wants to suggest a possible solution, please send me an email. I welcome any and all ideas, and will still offer a BONUS of 15,000 POINTS to anyone who can pin point the exact cause and solution. Also, if you want to be informed as to the ultimate solution, again, send me an email stating such, and I’ll keep you posted.

(email address: Maxwell_t_Edison@yahoo.com )

Many thanks to all who have helped.

Regards,

Maxwell