I’m sure everyone’s familiar with the 169.254.*.* IP problems. Well, if normal troubleshooting steps don’t fix it, reinstalling TCP/IP should do the trick. The problem is that Microsoft decided TCP/IP was too integral to XP, and end users would screw themselves over by uninstalling it so it’s not uninstallable by any normal methods. They have detailed instructions here, but it’s a bit over the head of most of the people we deal with. Luckily, someone put together a utility that’ll do the trick with no registry mucking. The utility will fit easily on a floppy or CD.
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What can I say – I am indebted to the creator of Winsockxpfix.exe.
I have been tearing my hair out unable to regain internet access after the dreaded 169.254 appeared on my computer. Two hours talking with Netgear and Telstra consultants as well as my IT guru at work followed by 2 weeks scouring the net reading forum after forum which made those people with similar problems look silly as they were told to try repeatedly changing cables, cards and settings.
I tried several other things including a full reinstall of XP plus some dabbling with registry keys.
And now – like magic – Winsockxpfix.exe has solved my problem – I am totally beside myself with relief and admiration.
I will donate $100 to the local Children’s Hospital as appreciation.
I am sorry to to discover that the file is no longer possible to download, because it is no longer available.
The URL:http://people.umass.edu/hd114/WinsockXPFix.exe
doesn’t excist any more.
I am experiens\cing the same problem as the writer above (Robert Gertner).
I hoped to find a solution for my problem on your site.
I am now surfing on a pc of a friend.
I really do not know what to do.
Hope you put the file back on the site.
Many thanks in advance.
A desperate pc dummy.
Hello there! another way to fix this issiue is to simply disconnect the modem from all cables (cable signal/telephone line, ethernet or usb cables, and the powersupply) leave it disconnected for 3 to 5 min. the uninstall the NIC (network card) from device manager by right-click on the net adapter and click uninstall, restart the pc so that winXP can reinstall it automaticly and all the tcp/ip winwocks can be reseted then connect back the modem and over 95% chanse that the connection can be restored!!
I have window 98 SE, and I’m also getting 169.254 problem with my wireless USB adaptor. I’ve tried almost everything I know from reinstalling the driver and repairing the window files, but it still doesn’t work. The adaptor detects my wireless network, but it doesn’t connect. Help!
For heaven’s sake! Don’t un-install anything!
Start>Run>cmd
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
That get’s rid of the 169.254.xx.xxx
Now if this is a home network, just turn everything off. All computers, router and modem.
Wait 5 min.
turn on modem
Wait 5 min.
turn on router
Wait 2 min.
Turn on PC’s
It’s called Power Cycling. For God’s sake, don’t uninstall TCP/IP or your NIC…
Get drivers and then uninstall. Right?
Power Cycling does not work with this problem. first experience the problem then give responce. 169.254.*.* is not released by ipconfig /release … thats the problem …duh?
Here’s what is really happening. Your own PC (or MAC, too) is assigning the address that starts with 169.254.x.x. These addresses are used by the various OSs when TCP/IP is looking for a DHCP server and cannot find one. That’s why you can’t fix this by rebooting with the network cable disconnected – the computer does what it was told to do!
The place to look is at your router and at any other devices that connect you to the internet or network. If you have a domain, you need to take a look at your DHCP settings or call your admin. Usually, on a small setup, you turn off your router and DSL or Cable modem for 30 seconds and then restart everything, to clear up the issue. Note that you can release your address in ipconfig or Winipcfg while everything is off, but don’t renew it until the other gear is back up.
I have noted that sometimes I have to power cycle only the router while leaving the modem on, but that might be a specific issue with that client’s router…
Good luck!
I’m a tech support representative for SBC-YAHOO INTERNET SERVICES. and what I can recommend you guys -only if you’re using a Broadband modem (ADSL)- is to
1st. reset the modem to the factory state
2nd. turn the computer off
3rd. turn the computer on
this always solve the NIC’s 169.254.. issue.
Here’s my problem..
I’m trying to connect through LAN…(public)
I get 169.254.y.z everytime
IF I do alternate configuration …it connects, but I have no “lease” so it doesn’t work..
I try ipconfig /release, /renew..all the time..always get cannot contact DHCP server
No one else seems to have a problem, I don’t think my computer has dhcp classid or something detailed like that..
I would really like to know how I can alter the ip address and or fix dhcp so I can browse the internet..
oh yea, sorry
I have windows xp home edition..
I have sp2
and it’s a tosiba laptop ..
pinger.exe
(what does that do)
Power cycling does not always solve 169.254 issues.. the winsock stack can be broken, in which case a manual removal / reinstall will be necessary
Hi guys, I’m a do Tech support for Charter, thisis what i do when i find one of this: (I’ve only tried it with cable broadband connections, no routers in between)
1 Unscrew Coax From modem,
2 Unplug power in modem
3 Plug modem power cord back in (Coax Still Unplugged)
4 Do a Release/renew, you should pull a 192.168.100.xx
5 Unplug power cord in modem, screw Coax back in, plug power again
6 Under Windows XP Should renew automatically to a good ip, if using other windows just do a release/renew
Note that your ISP might need to reprovision your modem if you are still pulling the 169.254 after this process
Hope this helps, this is the way we I do it and it works 90% of the time.
(I do Tech support for charter)* jesus, need some coffee…
I used to do it for IBM and Dell. Fresh and Honest coffee in IBM and petty instant machine stuff in dell (un-capital D, intentional).
I had my word file with the ten odd steps, stolen from Dell Solution Network that was lost to cost cutting. The file was lost to x-Drive’s untimely death.
Tech support for Charter here also….this is scarey now isnt it that we are on here addressing the same issue. I do the exact same steps above and 50% of the time it fixes the issue. If not I have them powercycle AFTER I have suspended their account and reinstated it. Usually that pulls everything back into order.
Here’s an interesting twist:
I have two machines which cannot seem to get on my network, and get the dreaded 169.254.x.x addresses with both the onboard and pci nics I’ve installed. Oddly enough, I can plug in a USB wireless adapter to those machines and get on just fine – but the wired cards won’t work. There are four other computers and three printers that work just fine on the network, including laptops which get taken home each night and have to reconnect each morning.
I hadn’t really suspected a corrupt XP (SP2) TCP/IP stack, as I have other machines running XPSP2 without a problem, on the same router. I’ve been putting off a reset of the router as I have 3-4 static addresses for printers in my office, and don’t really want to set them up again. If the winsock fix works I won’t have to, otherwise I guess it’s an enforced power outage and start from scratch.
I had a very similar situation come up, I had a PC stuck with a 169.254.. I P address. I fought with it for the better part of a day. It turned out it WAS a bad cable. The cable had been working on another PC, but apparently got kinked or otherwise messed up. It gave a link light the whole time, but gave a “limited connectivity” error in XP. Finally made a new cable and that fixed it.
Tech support for Danish Broadband.
On our connections 9/10 times the users have a crossed instead of a normal patch cable.
This will also give a 169 on many connection.
MaximGatling’s solution worked for me. I have a home network with 3 PCs. 2 hard wired desktops and 1 wireless laptop on a D-Link router.
One of the desktops developed this problem out of the blue. I tried many suggested solutions, and nothing worked, until I tried the power cycling described in #5 above.
Sorry Faisal
Thanks
MY PROBLEM WAS WITH MY WINDOWS 2000 MACHINE ONLY. THE XP AND 98 MACHINES WORKED FINE.
THIS IS THE 169.254.x.x FIX FOR THE WINDOWS 2000 MACHINE
I fixed the 169.254.x.x problem I was having with my newly installed Linksys wrt54gs wireless router. I had four computers linked wirelessly to the linksys router and three of those machines were working fine and very fast. In fact I was very impressed with the blazing speed this new router provided.
But… I had a Win98 machine, two WinXP machines and one XP notebook linked wirelessly. The desktops all worked fine, but the notebook gave me the 169.254.x.x IP address and nothing I did would release it. I tried c:/ipconfig /release and then c:/ipconfig /renew and got no change. It remained 169.254.x.x
So, I decided to do a power off boot on everything. I turned modem, router and all four computers off. Baked a pizza and returned to turn on the cable modem, waited about five minutes for it to boot and then turned on the Linksys wrt54gs router and finally each computer sequentially. NO CHANGE, I still had the 169.254.x.x IP on the notebook.
So… I then remembered a problem my son had with another router made by Linksys, a wap54g which had the bug that made it assign the same security KEY NUMBER to each wireless connection. Well that doesn’t work!
So.. the FIX IS THIS! If you are using a linksys access point or router and you get the 169.254.x.x IP on any of your linked computers, which will allow you access to the router, but not the Internet, then you have to access your setup config on the router, either by way of the web access or by using the installation/setup software, but once you gain access to your access point/router’s SETUP, you have to find the WIRELESS config panel and then your WIRELESS SECURITY config panel.
Once in the WIRELESS SECURITY CONFIG PANEL you should see something like this…
WEP Encryption :
Passphrase : whateveryouassigned
Key 1 : 53E3C4D39A
Key 2 : SS34D3314A
Key 3 : SS33D4H3HF
Key 4 : S334RRYT4F
IF THE KEYS ALL HAVE THE SAME NUMBERS AND LETTERS IN THEM, THEN THEY NEED TO BE RESET SO EACH KEY IS DIFFERENT. CLICK THE GENERATE BUTTON to allow the router to assign four different keys.
Once I did that… THE 169.254.x.x WAS FIXED ONCE I ASSIGNED DIFFERENT KEYS.
NOW ALL COMPUTERS LINK TO THE ROUTER AND TO THE INTERNET!!!! FINALLY!
Duh, Microsoft hardwired the 169.254 addresses in, and sticks you with one whenever you can’t connect via wireless:
http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/104
If you’re running wireless, you’d better either be firewalled and/or disallow ad hoc network connections, or your system is wide open.
MY PROBLEM WAS WITH MY WINDOWS 2000 MACHINE ONLY. THE XP AND 98 MACHINES WORKED FINE.
THIS IS THE 169.254.x.x FIX FOR THE WINDOWS 2000 MACHINE
I fixed the 169.254.x.x problem I was having with my newly installed Linksys wrt54gs wireless router. I had four computers linked wirelessly to the linksys router and three of those machines were working fine and very fast. In fact I was very impressed with the blazing speed this new router provided.
But… I had a Win98 machine, two WinXP machines and one XP notebook linked wirelessly. The desktops all worked fine, but the notebook gave me the 169.254.x.x IP address and nothing I did would release it. I tried c:/ipconfig /release and then c:/ipconfig /renew and got no change. It remained 169.254.x.x
So, I decided to do a power off boot on everything. I turned modem, router and all four computers off. Baked a pizza and returned to turn on the cable modem, waited about five minutes for it to boot and then turned on the Linksys wrt54gs router and finally each computer sequentially. NO CHANGE, I still had the 169.254.x.x IP on the notebook.
AND NOW THE FIX!!! —-
So… I then remembered a problem my son had with another router made by Linksys, a wap54g which had the bug that made it assign the same security KEY NUMBER to each wireless connection. Well that doesn’t work! That gives you the 169.254.x.x IP problem or simply a “You are connected to the Network, but you do not have access to the Internet!” message.
So.. the FIX IS THIS! If you are using a linksys access point or router and you get the 169.254.x.x IP on any of your linked computers, which will allow you access to the router, but not the Internet, then you have to access your setup config on the router itself.
To do this plug an RJ45 HARDWIRE from your computer to your Access Point/Router **OR** if you can access the router wirelessly via even a single wifi connection… EITHER WAY, load up the browser of your choice and in the location window, type http://192.168.1.245 supposedly the default config access IP, but that did not work for me, I used http://192.168.1.1 (these IPs work only if your wifi AP/Router is connected directly to your cable modem or DLS router)and gained entry to the config console.
If you have the right IP in your browser location window, you will get a javascript window that asks for your USERNAME and PASSWORD.
IGNORE THE USERNAME/LEAVE IT BLANK and enter admin or password in the password window only. This will allow you access to the config console. (Once there, change the password to something exclusive to your system.)
Once you you gain access to your access point/router’s SETUP, you have to find the WIRELESS config panel and then your WIRELESS SECURITY config panel.
Once in the WIRELESS SECURITY CONFIG PANEL you should see something like this…
WEP Encryption :
Passphrase : whateveryouassigned
Key 1 : 53E3C4D39A
Key 2 : SS34D3314A
Key 3 : SS33D4H3HF
Key 4 : S334RRYT4F
IF THE KEYS ALL HAVE THE SAME NUMBERS AND LETTERS IN THEM, THEN THEY NEED TO BE RESET SO EACH KEY IS DIFFERENT. CLICK THE GENERATE BUTTON to allow the router to assign four different keys.
Once I did that… THE 169.254.x.x WAS FIXED ONCE I ASSIGNED DIFFERENT KEYS.
NOW ALL COMPUTERS LINK TO THE ROUTER AND TO THE INTERNET!!!! FINALLY!
GOOD LUCK!
hi, i’m having the same problem!!! i need help! win xp OS getting the IP 169.254 ip address. i tried a different computer on the connection and it works fine. I tried power cycling. I tried resetting the DSL modem. still getting the same problem. “Limited or no connectivity” it says.
please help!!
thanks.
Victims of this trouble might want to check out their Wireless Adapter Cards.
I just spent far too much of my rare free time over the past two weeks chasing down what could be wrong with a non-connecting laptop, only to finally notice a small crack on the adapter.
Got a new one from a store I could return it to, and say now! connected on the first try. It seems I had cracked the card just before I changed routers, and was blaming the new router.
Good luck and God bless!
Happy Easters!
I have a similar problem on my network
I have a BT Voyager 2100 router with a BT Voyager wireless PCI card in the home computer and a built in wireless adapter for a Tiny Laptop and a Belkin USB wireless adapter on another computer.
All computers are setup to retrieve their IP addresses and DNS automatically from the router.
All do this fine and retrieve 192.168.1.x (subnet 255.255.255.0) IP addresses to start with, then after so long they loose the 192.168… IP and it gets replaced with a 169.254.x.x address with a 255.255.0.0 subnet.
Then everything starts loosing the internet connection.
My only solution then is to right click the wireless icon and do Repair. After which the system disconnects from the wireless router and then re-connects and gains another 192.168 IP for so long again, then it will do the same again…
Sometimes though when doing a repair it looses the wireless connection and comes up with cannot find any wireless connections, it’s nothing to do with the distance as I’ve had this error come up even when the laptop has been right next to the router or even had the router going around the laptop to see if it can find anything.
Any ideas?
Darren
I also do client support for a big corporation. I am not saying this will fix the problem but I’ve had it help in many situations. Most of the time I get the 169.254 issue, like everyone else said… it isn’t usually the computers problem itself.
There are other issues where this may help, most of you probably already know most of it.
Start > run > cmd
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /flushdns
netsh int ip reset c:\tcp.txt
netsh winsock reset
ipconfig /renew
reboot.
I got tired of telling customers how to do this, especially with strong language barriers… so I put together a little notepad batch file for them to run when they have problems.
open notepad > paste commands > file > save as > filename.bat
usually takes only 10 seconds to run. the winsock command helps when google web accelorator takes over your proxy settings etc… and the other command practically resets/reinstalls your tcp… which only takes a second.
You spell fine and you are The MAN!
And yes I realize I can’t spell.
Thank-you, thank-you Josh/Marlino. That worked!
Hi all,
I quite often have the same problem on a Toshiba laptop with WXPSP2 pro MCE.
I use the following simple solution that always work:
Control panel\network connections. Right click on wireless conections, then on “repair”.
Good luck.
not sure if helpfull, but i had this problem and found that the router was limited to the amount of connections(a great security idea
) I opened this up and all ok 