Connectivity Issues

I've noticed in my Event Viewer that I have the following entry a few times "There was an error while attempting to read the local hosts file."

I've checked my Hosts file and it looks like this:

# Copyright (c) 1993-2009 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

# localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost

Go to Control Panel->Internet Options->Connections, and make sure there are no other dial-up or VPN connections listed. Also, under LAN Settings, make sure you're NOT automatically detecting proxies and NOT configured for a proxy.

Now go to Network Connections->Advanced->Advanced Settings->Connections, and if you have more than one network connection listed, make sure the connection you want to use for Internet access is listed FIRST. After making any changes, reboot.

Finally, go to Start->Run, type "cmd" (no quotes), and hit enter. In the command window, type "ipconfig /all > temp.txt" (no quotes) and post the file's contents here.

All done and I get the following:


Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Darren-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : ed.shawcable.net
cg.shawcable.net

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Belkin
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Generic Marvell Yukon 88E8057 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1F-BC-08-55-71
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::bc47:3619:5486 3f6%15(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.2(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 06 March 2010 13:50:27
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 12 April 2146 20:21:48
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 201334716
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-12-1B-9F-53-00-1F-BC-08-55-71
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.Belkin:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Belkin
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::434:3e5:b9b5:3119%13(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 234881024
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-12-1B-9F-53-00-1F-BC-08-55-71
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Change your TCP/IP configuration on that machine to stop grabbing the DNS server from the router (192.168.2.1) and manually set them to OpenDNS (208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220).

Both are now set as you mentioned and still the same issue. When I run the windows Live messenger troubleshooter it says there was an issue with DNS and Key Ports.

Change the machine's configuration back to DHCP.

Go to a command window and issue the following two commands:

netsh winsock reset catalog
netsh int ip reset c:\resetlog.txt

Then reboot the machine and try again.

Both been done before and just tried again and restarted and still cannot display page or connect with any other application.

What version of Windows is on that machine?

When you say "I am able to access the internet using Windows XP Mode in Windows Virtual PC", are you referring to this same machine that’s giving you a problem? IOW, the host doesn't work but a guest VM running on that same host does?

I'm running Windows 7 and have Windows Virtual PC with CP Mode running on the computer with the problem. i've also been able to remote assist to the computer from my other PC using an invitation file from Windows Remote Assistance.