I have a fun one ...
I have a Dell Inspiron e1505 running windows xp (sp2).
It has:
Broadcom 440x 10/100 integrated controller
Intel Pro/Wireless 3945 ABG Network card
and a 1345(?) Network integrated controller
Everything was working great on it until Tuesday night ... after a brief cut in service from my isp, the computer will no longer log on to the internet in normal mode. It will, however, work in safe mode + networking (the network integrated controller card does not appear in safemode, so I am not sure of the specs). In normal mode, it will ping itself and loop feedback ping, but it will not ping the dns. The computer actually shows as connected to the internet, but no internet browser will work.
Here's what I have tried so far (with help from it advisor from isp):
* attempted both static ip address and "automatically assigned" ip address
* edited the registry
* flushed the dns
* uninstalled and reinstalled all network cards
* scanned using adaware, spybot, and mcafee virus suite
* three system restores to points when the computer was definitely working
* disabled the wireless card and connected using ethernet
* disabled both the wireless card and the network integrated controller
Incidentally, the home hub seems to be working fine since my wife's mac will access the internet as normal. Also, my dell will access via the safemode method. The same problem with internet access occurs on other networks as well.
One other potentially unrelated problem ... at the same time the "mouse" (synaptics device) quit allowing the normal scrolling mechanism to work. Unsure if this could at all be related.
ANY HELP WOULD BE GREAT!!