I just came down to my parents house this week, and tried to network my computer with theirs.

When I tried to network them, Windows claimed that the network cable was unplugged, and then I realised the ready light was not on on the back of the case.

Wondering what was wrong, I tried Ipconfig in the Command Prompt, only to be given

ipconfig' is not recognised as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file

This confused me somewhat, so I attempted to ping my PC, with the same error occurring. Netstat also gave the same error.

I fear my only solution is to format their PC, as we have had this happen before, with the technician claiming it to be someone hacking their computer. When I lived there, I had ZoneAlarm running, however since I moved out, they've been running without a firewall.

Is it really an attempt by someone to get into their PC? Or a virus? Is there anything I can do other then format?

Thanks

Rory Cartwright, Bardon, QLD

Ping, Netstat, and Ipconfig are all external commands in Windows. Each external command is a small program run from Windows command line, rather than being part of the main Windows GUI.

• Ping is ping.exe
• Netstat is netstat.exe
• Ipconfig is ipconfig.exe

The normal location for all three (and the executable files for many other external commands) is:

C:\windows\system32

Check in there.

• If the files exist, but don't run from the command prompt either the files are corrupt or the PATH setting is incorrect.
• If the files are not there, either they have been erased by some malware (such as a virus), a user has accidentally erased them, or a hacker has erased them.

Now to the networking problem. Has the network card failed or the settings been changed? Try uninstalling and reinstalling the card:

1. With the computer turned off, remove the card.
2. Restart the computer.
3. Open the Start menu and click on Control Panel
4. Double-click on System
5. Select the Hardware tab
6. Click on the Device Manager button
7. Open the View tab and select Show Hidden Devices
8. In the tree in the main pane, expand the entry for Network Adaptors
9. Right click on the entry for the network card, and choose Uninstall
10. Shut down and restart the system.
11. Reinstall the network card using the EXACT process specified in its manual. Some need drivers installed before the hardware is installed, in other cases you install the hardware and drivers are installed the next time Windows starts.

You mention that the computer has been running without a firewall. It takes only a few minutes after a Windows computer connects to the Internet (dial-up or broadband) for it to be attacked and, if unprotected, it will have been compromised.

All computers with an Internet connection (dial-up or broadband) need the following protection:

1. A firewall. At least a software firewall on each computer. ZoneAlarm has a free version which rates very highly on all tests, plus paid versions with additional features. If the computer has a broadband Internet connection, PC User strongly recommends using a hardware firewall as well.
2. Anti-virus software that monitors all inbound and outbound email, and also monitors all disk writes. Periodically (typically once a week) do a full anti-virus scan of the whole system. Great anti-virus software is available from Norton, McAfee and many other vendors.
3. Anti-spyware software. PC User recommends using all three of the following products: Ad-Aware, SpyBot, and Microsoft Anti-Spyware. Why use three? None find everything, but with overlapping ranges you'll cover most bases.

If your parent's system has been running unprotected, it is very likely to be infected, possibly with multiple infections.

1. Install firewall, anti-virus, and anti-spyware software.
2. Do a full virus scan with updated anti-virus software and latest signatures.
3. Do a spyware scan with all three products mentioned above.
4. Do a full Windows update from update pages on the Microsoft website.
5. If the system continues to behave strangely, consider doing a reformat and reinstall. Make sure that before formatting you back up all important files, and record all important settings.
   
   John Hepworth