2003 networking fails after SP1

We have a 2003 server with two NICs, one private and one public. I had the
firewall active on the public NIC but not the private. Yesterday I installed
SP1. Since then I have repeated problems with TCP/IP connectivity. The
server runs fine for a while. Then, after some time and for no apparent
reason, the server loses the ability to communicate with networks other than
our own private and public ones. Incoming connections from the Internet all
fail. Outgoing requests also fail, including DNS lookups and pings.

We are using Windows Firewall, but when the failure occurs, turning off the
firewall doesn't fix the problem. I have found only two things so far that
do. The first is rebooting. The second is to disable and reenable the
public NIC. Either of these actions restores regular operations - for a
while.

The NICs are both Intel 100's. I have installed the latest drivers (dated
March 2005) from Windows Update. I sure could use some ideas on this one.

Possible DCOM Server Process Launcher disabled - See:

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;892504

Doug Sherman
MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP

"Jim W." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:0315059B-6098-48F8-862B-(E-Mail Removed)...
> We have a 2003 server with two NICs, one private and one public. I had
the
> firewall active on the public NIC but not the private. Yesterday I
installed
> SP1. Since then I have repeated problems with TCP/IP connectivity. The
> server runs fine for a while. Then, after some time and for no apparent
> reason, the server loses the ability to communicate with networks other
than
> our own private and public ones. Incoming connections from the Internet
all
> fail. Outgoing requests also fail, including DNS lookups and pings.
>
> We are using Windows Firewall, but when the failure occurs, turning off
the
> firewall doesn't fix the problem. I have found only two things so far
that
> do. The first is rebooting. The second is to disable and reenable the
> public NIC. Either of these actions restores regular operations - for a
> while.
>
> The NICs are both Intel 100's. I have installed the latest drivers (dated
> March 2005) from Windows Update. I sure could use some ideas on this one.
>

Thanks for your reply. That's not it, though - the DCOM Server Process
Launcher is running and set to automatic start.

I'll have access to the server again on Monday, although I'll be checking
this forum in the meantime. Until then I've configured the server to reboot
whenever it can't ping outside our network. Not an elegant workaround, but
it's all I have for now.


"Doug Sherman [MVP]" wrote:

> Possible DCOM Server Process Launcher disabled - See:
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;892504
>
> Doug Sherman
> MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP
>
> "Jim W." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:0315059B-6098-48F8-862B-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > We have a 2003 server with two NICs, one private and one public. I had
> the
> > firewall active on the public NIC but not the private. Yesterday I
> installed
> > SP1. Since then I have repeated problems with TCP/IP connectivity. The
> > server runs fine for a while. Then, after some time and for no apparent
> > reason, the server loses the ability to communicate with networks other
> than
> > our own private and public ones. Incoming connections from the Internet
> all
> > fail. Outgoing requests also fail, including DNS lookups and pings.
> >
> > We are using Windows Firewall, but when the failure occurs, turning off
> the
> > firewall doesn't fix the problem. I have found only two things so far
> that
> > do. The first is rebooting. The second is to disable and reenable the
> > public NIC. Either of these actions restores regular operations - for a
> > while.
> >
> > The NICs are both Intel 100's. I have installed the latest drivers (dated
> > March 2005) from Windows Update. I sure could use some ideas on this one.
> >
>
>
>

Have you checked the system / application log in the event
viewer for any related errors? Can you ping the tcp/ip address
of the NIC itself? Open a dos prompt and run ipconfig /all
when the problem occurs and verify the NIC still has a valid
address.
"Jim W." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:
> Thanks for your reply. That's not it, though - the DCOM Server Process
> Launcher is running and set to automatic start.
>
> I'll have access to the server again on Monday, although I'll be checking
> this forum in the meantime. Until then I've configured the server to
> reboot
> whenever it can't ping outside our network. Not an elegant workaround,
> but
> it's all I have for now.

If you have configured RRAS, turning off the firewall is not enough. Try
using the Services applet to disable the firewall/ICS service.

Doug Sherman
MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP

"Jim W." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:B56AA599-6FF8-4BF2-B502-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Thanks for your reply. That's not it, though - the DCOM Server Process
> Launcher is running and set to automatic start.
>
> I'll have access to the server again on Monday, although I'll be checking
> this forum in the meantime. Until then I've configured the server to
reboot
> whenever it can't ping outside our network. Not an elegant workaround,
but
> it's all I have for now.
>
>
> "Doug Sherman [MVP]" wrote:
>
> > Possible DCOM Server Process Launcher disabled - See:
> >
> > http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;892504
> >
> > Doug Sherman
> > MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP
> >
> > "Jim W." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:0315059B-6098-48F8-862B-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > > We have a 2003 server with two NICs, one private and one public. I
had
> > the
> > > firewall active on the public NIC but not the private. Yesterday I
> > installed
> > > SP1. Since then I have repeated problems with TCP/IP connectivity.
The
> > > server runs fine for a while. Then, after some time and for no
apparent
> > > reason, the server loses the ability to communicate with networks
other
> > than
> > > our own private and public ones. Incoming connections from the
Internet
> > all
> > > fail. Outgoing requests also fail, including DNS lookups and pings.
> > >
> > > We are using Windows Firewall, but when the failure occurs, turning
off
> > the
> > > firewall doesn't fix the problem. I have found only two things so far
> > that
> > > do. The first is rebooting. The second is to disable and reenable
the
> > > public NIC. Either of these actions restores regular operations - for
a
> > > while.
> > >
> > > The NICs are both Intel 100's. I have installed the latest drivers
(dated
> > > March 2005) from Windows Update. I sure could use some ideas on this
one.
> > >
> >
> >
> >

Problem solved. The private NIC had a default route set. Removing it fixed
the problem.

- Jim W.

"Jim W." wrote:

> We have a 2003 server with two NICs, one private and one public. I had the
> firewall active on the public NIC but not the private. Yesterday I installed
> SP1. Since then I have repeated problems with TCP/IP connectivity. The
> server runs fine for a while. Then, after some time and for no apparent
> reason, the server loses the ability to communicate with networks other than
> our own private and public ones. Incoming connections from the Internet all
> fail. Outgoing requests also fail, including DNS lookups and pings.
>
> We are using Windows Firewall, but when the failure occurs, turning off the
> firewall doesn't fix the problem. I have found only two things so far that
> do. The first is rebooting. The second is to disable and reenable the
> public NIC. Either of these actions restores regular operations - for a
> while.
>
> The NICs are both Intel 100's. I have installed the latest drivers (dated
> March 2005) from Windows Update. I sure could use some ideas on this one.
>

Thanks for the update.

"Jim W." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:
> Problem solved. The private NIC had a default route set. Removing it
fixed
> the problem.
>
>