FiOS Internet

[#1]

Is it possible that Verizon Internet Security Suite (VISS) can cause 169.254 ip address errors?  I'm using Windows Vista Home Edition with Service Pack 2.  I received an upgrade to VISS on 4/29/2012 that required a restart.  I restarted my computer and could not connect to anything external, including the router.  However, all my other computers and devices could connect.  I did some searching and found out that my NIC card was getting a 169.254.xxx.xxx ip address.  I tried to connect with the wireless router and it also received a 169.254.xxx.xxx address.  I did a system restore back to 4/25/2012 and now I can connect and everything is working fine.  I have turned off the automatic updates in VISS to avoid the problem.

Before I did the restore I spoke with customer service who took me through several different things such as the "netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt" and the "netsh winsock reset" commands then the ipconfig /release then ipconfig /renew commands with no luck.  I reset the router, switched out cables, and even removed and replaced my CMOS battery on the mother board.  All with no luck.  I tried turning off the firewall with no luck.  I do have IPv6 disabled currently.

I was referred to the Expert Care team, but I don't want to spend money to fix a problem that might have been caused by an update.  I have the ticket number in case any Verizon representatives want to see what was tried.

Anybody have any thoughts?  Does the new update change any networking settings that could impact connectivity?

Thanks in advance.

cefleet

[#2]

169.254.x.x is an address the PC or device will give itself if it cannot get an address from the DHCP server, ie the router.

[#3]

Thanks weedeater.  I ran the update again hoping that it would work this time.  However, I got the same result.  169.254.xxx.xxx ip addresses.  

I would like to keep my VISS up to date, but I cannot if it won't let me access the internet at all.  Does anyone have any ideas on why this is happening?  It happens after the update that requires a restart happens.  I had to do a system restore to connect again.

Thanks!

cefleet

[#4]

I have no idea what VISS is trying to do when it updates itself and breaks Internet access, but it is a good idea to consider doing a fresh installation of it. System restore back to a time where the software does not break your Internet access and then uninstall the software. Once uninstalled, reboot. Upon rebooting, confirm you have Internet access and then run the McAfee Removal Tool found at: http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe . Reboot once the tool has finished running just to ensure we've got a clean state.

From this point, try re-installing VISS from Verizon's website. A fresh copy of the new version should work just fine at this point.

[#5]

Thanks for the advice Smith6612!  I will follow your instructions and will comment back here after I'm finished.  It will probably be this weekend.  Thanks again!

[#6]

I've unstalled VISS and now it says I have a conflict with Outpost.  I'm not sure why, since VISS was working before.  I'm on chat support now and they are trying to direct me to the Outpost software support.  Any thoughts?  I used the Agnitum clean program to remove the program completely, even though it wasn't on my computer.

[#7]

I found "Agnitum Firewall Driver" in the registry in the following folder:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002\Enum\Root\LEGACY_AFW\0000\DeviceDesc\

For some reason I cannot delete the folder.  Does anyone know how to delete it?  Is the the reason that VISS thinks that I have Outpost on my computer?

Thanks!

cefleet

[#8]

If you've got an entry like that in the Registry, I'm sure there's plenty of other registry locations that have similar entries. I assume you've ran the tool found here, from Safe Mode as Administrator?

http://www.agnitum.com/support/kb/article.php?id=1000159

They mention a few different versions, so it may be worthwhile to investigate or consider any possibility of instructions for an older version being needed.

I do find it strange that a registry value such as that would cause networking issues unless the key itself is resulting in a driver being loaded that conflicts with VISS. Before you delete anything from the registry, make sure you take backups of the registry as missing keys make Windows very unhappy. You should be able to delete that specific key by right clicking on it and selecting "Delete" from the drop-down list running regedit as Administrator. Considering it's location though, it certainly would be something that may be causing this problem all along if the software was not cleanly removed in the past and was installed on the system. That speaks directly to the networking components of Windows to put it simply.

But before diving into the registry, certainly check the KB Article linked. Manually removing software can be messy. If it's really bad, sometimes re-installing the software and then removing it with Revo Uninstaller is a quick trick that works most of the time.

[#9]

Thanks Smith6612.  I did the manual remove process at the Agnitum website.  I also was able to remove the registry key that referred to Agnitum.  However, it still thinks that Outpost is still on my computer.  Any other thoughts would be appreciated!

cefleet

[#10]

I tried installing Outpost and uninstalling it.  Still no luck.