"Ghost network" serious network adapter bug

Let me explain myself. It would not be a deal breaker for me. I LOVE Windows 7. However, with the current public image of Microsoft to the 'not know much' consumer ... something like 'My internet doesn't work' is WAY too noticeable and bothersome of a problem, regardless of the underlying reason why. You know that the logical, behind-the-scenes reasoning of why something won't work never matters to the average pc user. They will only see that their internet does not work, and they will blame Microsoft. This is my only point.

I understand the reasoning....all the more reason to send Feedback to Microsoft on the issue....the more reports of this nature the more able they are to solve the issue.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Home Build
OS
Windows 7 RTM Ultimate - Activated (Technet)
CPU
Athlon 4800+
Motherboard
Gigabyte M56S-S3
Memory
2 gig
Graphics Card(s)
ATI Radeon 2400+
Sound Card
On board
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung 22" LCD
Screen Resolution
1680 x 1050
Hard Drives
WD 250 gig Sata
PSU
550 w
Case
Antec LS100
Keyboard
Logitech MX5000 BT
Mouse
Logitech MX 5000 BT
Internet Speed
ADSL 2+
Agreed ... I am Logging my every move to them. I remain an MS supporter for some strange reason.
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Ultimate Beta 32-bit
what kind of adapter john, model? did 7 install a driver for it in 77, if not how bout the RC?

Update:

My issues have stopped. Well, almost....

My network icon works perfectly fine on my end - as it is supposed to - but it has been a while now and I cannot be sure if it was b/c of the clean install of the RC or if it was something else - my guess is that it was something else....

As for the adapter, it is a pair of Gigabit Ethernet ports that are on board from my motherboard - nForce network Controller.

The driver date is 10/17/2008, which leads me to believe that I may have, in fact, installed the nForce System drivers 15.25 to end the problems I was encountering - which sounds like the correct thing, as every time I have installed 7 the network gets flaky (as does resuming from sleep mode) until I install those drivers....

But I cannot be 100% sure....too much has happened in the last week and a half....

As for the almost caveat above: I have a D-Link DGL-4500 Wireless N GamerLounge router - updated to the latest firmware - and it is about as finicky as it can be. And I cannot downgrade to a stable f/w version b/c D-Link, for the first time that I have seen personally, has written the newer F/w's in such a way that downgrading is impossible....

So, the router will just stop working, but a power cycle makes it work again....
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
    The Beast Model A (homebrew)
    OS
    Windows 11 21H2 Current build
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spec
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Plat
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender + MB 3
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable),Chrome, Edge
  • Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model Number
    Dell Latitude E5470
    OS
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
OK I'm assuming you've all got multiple NIC's.
And in ipconfig /all printout you've all got multiple gateways.
That's pretty bad right there.

Gateway is how you access the internet, so if you have TWO specified and one of them is a null 0.0.0.0... well take a guess at how confused windows gets with that.

It apparantly has 2 gateways, but only 1 network adapter to access it with and one of those gateways is null and void.

The NIC must be faulty; disable internet until the user runs the troubleshooter.

That's probably the chain of logic your PC is taking.

The preventative measure for now, is to disable ALL network devices you are not using.
So Right-click Computer, go to Device manager, then Network Adapters.

Disable all of them but the one you want to use.
That should stop the DHCP client being run for both adapters and generating two gateways.
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 dual with XP SP2 ((Highly Custom))
CPU
Intel Core2Duo e7300 sometimes @ 3.33Ghtz
Motherboard
Gigabyte G31M-S2L
Memory
2gb Kingston HyperX
Graphics Card(s)
nVidia 9800GT 1gb
Sound Card
Onboard Realtech AC97 High Definition codec
Monitor(s) Displays
HP P1120 21" CRT
Screen Resolution
1600x1200
Hard Drives
WD 250gb caviar
WD 500GB SATAII
PSU
Gigabyte bundled 550w
Case
Gigabyte Generic
Cooling
stock
Keyboard
POS $25 cheapo because i type too fast, wears down kb's
Mouse
M$ Intellipoint 1.1 5 button
Internet Speed
ADSL2 @ max 1.3MBYTE/sec down, 1 up.
Unfortunately Multiple Nic's is not the problem here. I am having this exact same issue, and I only have one NIC. I initially thought the same thing and even checked Devices and I correctly show only one NIC in the pc. My pc was working fine for since day one with Windows 7 RC 7100, then all of a sudden, two days ago I began to have this problem. I have to start Windows 7, open network and sharing center, select the "unidentified network" properties and choose to disable. I then run the troublshooter as admin, which re-enables the adaptor, Network and sharing now shows one network "Home" and I have internet access. If I restart, back to square one. The only things i have installed before having this issue were MS Office 2003, which i have since uninstalled, and Adobe CS3 suite. Nic Drivers are up to date as far as I can see, as Windows says i am using the most current drivers etc. I dont have the option to roll back either. Seems like this should have any easy solution, I cant seem to find one. I have googled this issue and have found that alot of people are having this issue now, but I have seen no real solutions aside from a clean install of the RC. Hope this gets sorted, I was happy with the OS!

On a side note, I am also running the Win7 RC on my Lenovo T400 laptop at work. This pc has one NIC also. I am currently typing this from it. On this pc I also have the "unidentified network" showing up. I am on a wireless connection, totally unrelated to my home pc network. The connected wireless connection status says "no internet access" and the "unidentified network" says "no network access" but I have full internet functionality with no limitations. Something is not right here.
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7
Sorry, but there's just no two-ways about it.
For windows to be installing 2 networks, there must be two network devices installed.

Network sets are limited by the number of interfaces you have - you simply can't have multiple networks defined and interchange them between the one adapter.

Windows instead configures with an "Alternate Configuration" so if you want to inter-change network settings, you can with just a few clicks PLUS the alternate config acts as redundancy/backup if the primary settings stop working.

Tunnel adapter isatap.{998xx888-x67x-44xx-x47x-23485x4xxxx0}:

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

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 9:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
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

Proof. Virutal tunneled network interface.
Remember, virtual devices don't always show up in the hardware manager, they can exist just as an adapter and/or a simple protocol.

In windows 7 specifically, it could be say, the Link-Layer Topology Discovery protocols being errornously assigned DHCP settings.

Try disabling those for now, sadly that's the best chance at solving the issue i have atm since i don't have the bug myself and we're still in the manual trouble-shooting phases.
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 dual with XP SP2 ((Highly Custom))
CPU
Intel Core2Duo e7300 sometimes @ 3.33Ghtz
Motherboard
Gigabyte G31M-S2L
Memory
2gb Kingston HyperX
Graphics Card(s)
nVidia 9800GT 1gb
Sound Card
Onboard Realtech AC97 High Definition codec
Monitor(s) Displays
HP P1120 21" CRT
Screen Resolution
1600x1200
Hard Drives
WD 250gb caviar
WD 500GB SATAII
PSU
Gigabyte bundled 550w
Case
Gigabyte Generic
Cooling
stock
Keyboard
POS $25 cheapo because i type too fast, wears down kb's
Mouse
M$ Intellipoint 1.1 5 button
Internet Speed
ADSL2 @ max 1.3MBYTE/sec down, 1 up.
I do only have one physical Nic, but I did see another GUID assigned in my TCPIP section in the registry. When I get time tonight, Ill check my IPconfig and post it, maybe we can come up with something.
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7
good on you, thanks.
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 dual with XP SP2 ((Highly Custom))
CPU
Intel Core2Duo e7300 sometimes @ 3.33Ghtz
Motherboard
Gigabyte G31M-S2L
Memory
2gb Kingston HyperX
Graphics Card(s)
nVidia 9800GT 1gb
Sound Card
Onboard Realtech AC97 High Definition codec
Monitor(s) Displays
HP P1120 21" CRT
Screen Resolution
1600x1200
Hard Drives
WD 250gb caviar
WD 500GB SATAII
PSU
Gigabyte bundled 550w
Case
Gigabyte Generic
Cooling
stock
Keyboard
POS $25 cheapo because i type too fast, wears down kb's
Mouse
M$ Intellipoint 1.1 5 button
Internet Speed
ADSL2 @ max 1.3MBYTE/sec down, 1 up.
I posted this in another thread but I also have an nForce 680i board, dual nics, only one in use. Using both the W7 supplied 12/08 dated driver and the latest nforce driver set, I get this exact issue. On second reboot after installing driver, after dhcp has worked ONCE, it never works properly again, adding a 0.0.0.0 gateway to the list for the one in use adapter.

I believe that the 0.0.0.0 is a placeholder during the dhcp process and something is dying during the dhcp and the 0.0.0.0 is left hanging in the list.

Could be a bug in the /two/ nvidia drivers, though one is actually supplied by microsoft on disk. Or it could be a bug in the W7 dhcp code.

Using the nForce ethernet driver results in the other famous "loosing internet connection" problem, so now running with the W7 driver and static IP for now.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Scratch built
OS
Windows 7 x64 Ultimate
CPU
i7 960
Motherboard
Asus P6X58D
Memory
12 Gig Corsair Dominator
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia 480
Sound Card
Maudio Delta 44 + breakout box
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell UltraSharp U2410 24in and Samsung 21 dual monitors
Screen Resolution
1920x1200 and 1280x1024
Hard Drives
Primary: Intel X-25M G2 160G SSD
Secondary: Segate baracuda 1.0 TB
HDs in AHCI mode.
PSU
Corasair TX850
Case
Cooler Master HAF
Cooling
Corsair H50
Keyboard
Logitech G15 + N52 game pad
Mouse
Logitech MX518
Internet Speed
15kbs down 4.5kbps up
Other Info
WEI 7.6
CPU & RAM 7.6
Graphics 7.9
Hard disk 7.7
My Ipconfig on boot up with no internet access and then after I disable/re-enable adaptor is identical minus the Gateway. Before it is 0.0.0.0, afterwards it populates with the correct 192.168.1.2.

So somewhere upon boot up, Its losing the Gateway setting now. Not sure why.
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7
John -- my Dell E520 seems to have corrected itself as well over the past few days, although I couldn't even begin to tell you exactly when. Perhaps Microsoft snuck a fix for this into a recent update.
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate and Home Premium
Windows 7: Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller

Hi,

I have just upgraded from Windows Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 RC1, Build 7100. My machine is a Dell 8400 with a 'Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller' and I am using a NetGear DG834GT router.

I now have a problem accessing the Internet when I first boot up into Windows 7. However, if I disable and then enable the controller, using 'Device Manager', I am then able to access the Internet. This has been reported previously. However, I have included below full outputs from ipconfig/all to see if this throws any light on the problem.

1) Output from ipconfig/all imediately following a boot-up
=====================================================

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : GWG1
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-11-11-31-98-43
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::cc5e:7f8a:6ee0:1515%13(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 01 June 2009 14:50:48
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 04 June 2009 14:50:47
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 268439825
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-0F-C8-91-58-00-11-11-31-98-43
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.{30E603CA-2F23-4D9A-9236-049293165439}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
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:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
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


2) Output from ipconfig/all following a disable then enable of controller
======================================================

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : GWG1
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-11-11-31-98-43
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::cc5e:7f8a:6ee0:1515%13(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 01 June 2009 11:15:23
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 04 June 2009 11:15:22
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 268439825
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-0F-C8-91-58-00-11-11-31-98-43
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.{30E603CA-2F23-4D9A-9236-049293165439}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
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
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:d5c7:a2d6:1c50:f81:a97b:dfc0(Preferred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::1c50:f81:a97b:dfc0%12(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled


If anybody can help it would be greatly appreciated.

Regards.
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7
I had this same problem with the earlier builds of 7, but it went away after a clean install of RC. Then I installed Adobe CS3 and *BAM* the problem came back. Each day I had to fight with trying to get network access working - disable/enable/reboot/etc! The 'tale-tale' sign is the 0.0.0.0 default gateway - when the network was working, the default gateway was correct.

I looked at the services running and found a weird one at the very top of the list: ##Id_String1.6844F930_1628_4223_B5CC_5BB94B879762##

This is the the Adobe Bonjour Service.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonjour_(software)

I turned it off and set it to 'disabled' so it won't start up again. This has solved my problem!

Give it a shot... hopefully it solves your problem too.

-Josh
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 RC
Hi Josh,

Thanks a lot. Your suggestion worked a treat now network controller initializes on boot-up :)

Much appreciated.

Regards,

Graham
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7
answer

i had the same problem,from the start,from build 6956 to 7100,and i did all that u tried,no point,my answer to this problem was just --add your gateway ip adresss in WINS in IPv4---,this helped me,and everyone that i told.so i hope it will help u to :D:D;)
 

My Computer

OS
windows 7
CPU
2.00 intel dual core
Motherboard
...
Memory
4 gig
Graphics Card(s)
1350 mobile
Sound Card
..
Monitor(s) Displays
17 wide
Screen Resolution
1440-900
Hard Drives
300 gigs
My possible solution

Build 7201 on a laptop with both a NIC and a wireless in a home setting. I was consistantly getting the default gateway (0.0.0.0) whether or not the wireless device was enabled.

My router/switch is an older Linksys WRT54GS (from serial number, turns out this is a Version 1 device). Since all the device drivers on the laptop were up to spec I investigated that of the router. The firmware was quite old. Updated the router firmware to latest available from the manufacturer. Across a small number of cold starts (a simple restart did not ever cause the problem to occur), the problem "seems" to have been taken care of.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Cobbled together :)
OS
Win7 Ultimate, x64
CPU
i7 920, currently NOT OC
Motherboard
Asrock X58 Deluxe
Memory
OCZ Platinum 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
Graphics Card(s)
nvidia geforce 7600 gt
Sound Card
integrated
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung SyncMaster 204t (dual monitors)
Screen Resolution
1600 x 1200
Hard Drives
WDC WD2000JS-00MHB0 ATA
WDC WD5000AAKS-65YGA0 ATA
PSU
750w
Cooling
Air, 4 120mm
Thanks for suggestion

Hi srq2625,

Thanks for the suggestion. Disabling the Adobe Bonjour service did cure my problem. However, I will also investigate a new firmware for my Netgear DG834GT router as another service may also cause a similar problem.

Thanks again, Graham.
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7
Sorry to say, it worked for a short time. The last two times I've cold started the laptop, I had to do the disable/re-enable thing.

So, now I've got a batchfile on my desktop:

Code:
echo off
route delete 0.0.0.0
ipconfig /renew
pause

This works. I've looked and not found the Adobe Bonjour service. Maybe I need to look again...
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Cobbled together :)
OS
Win7 Ultimate, x64
CPU
i7 920, currently NOT OC
Motherboard
Asrock X58 Deluxe
Memory
OCZ Platinum 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
Graphics Card(s)
nvidia geforce 7600 gt
Sound Card
integrated
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung SyncMaster 204t (dual monitors)
Screen Resolution
1600 x 1200
Hard Drives
WDC WD2000JS-00MHB0 ATA
WDC WD5000AAKS-65YGA0 ATA
PSU
750w
Cooling
Air, 4 120mm
Thanks for feedback

Hi srq2625,

Sorry to hear the problem has recurred. There may be other services that cause the same problem as Bonjour. Unfortunately, I cannot advise you how to go about finding a rogue service, :( but maybe another user can help :)

Good luck,

Graham
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7
Bonjour Service - Alternative Solution

Hi,

Instead of disabling the Bonjour Service I set its startup property to:

Automatic (Delayed Start)​

This cured the problems.

Regards
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7
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