[SOLVED] Cannot get Windows 10 computer to talk to modem

[skylark42]

I have been given a W10 PC that has been factory-reset. The donor created a local account while the internet was unavailable. I used an ethernet cable to connect the new machine to my modem (no wireless). But on booting up and logging on, I have no internet. The message is 'Ethernet doesn't have a valid IP configuration'. I have tried various resets from an elevated cmd prompt, to no avail. ipconfig /renew failed with the error 'no adaptor is in the necessary state'. In Settings \Network & Internet \Ethernet, I see "Unidentified network, no internet". I know the PC is fine because internet access was working until the reset last weekend. I know the modem is fine because I am typing this from another machine plugged into it. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am at my wit's end. I do not know if the problem is at the modem or the PC end.

 

[USAFRet]

I have been given a W10 PC that has been factory-reset. The donor created a local account while the internet was unavailable

You personally need to do a fresh install.
This goes for any used system, even if the seller/donor says he did it 5 minutes ago.

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[skylark42]

You personally need to do a fresh install. This goes for any used system, even if the seller/donor says he did it 5 minutes ago.

USAFRet, You do not say whether you think a fresh install might solve my problem, and if so, in what way. I am therefore reluctant to do it. Please be more specific.

 

[USAFRet]

USAFRet, You do not say whether you think a fresh install might solve my problem, and if so, in what way. I am therefore reluctant to do it. Please be more specific.

Any used system, even if supposedly working perfectly, needs a fresh OS install, by you.

You have no idea where the previous used sourced the OS from. Nor what any other users may have done to it.

And this one is NOT 'working perfectly'.
Plus: "The donor created a local account " Nope, not even a little bit good.

Full wipe and reinstall should have been your first move with this.


Will this solve the mentioned problem? Absent a hardware issue, probably.
But it needs to be done anyway. Start from a known clean slate.

 

[skylark42]

Sorry USAFRet, but this is not helpful. As it happens I know the full history of the machine, and the reset was done by an IT professional known to both the previous owner and to me. A factory reset is the approved method of reinstalling the O/S and unless you can point to a particular connectivity problem involving reset, I do not plan to re-do it. What would be helpful, though, is you having a think about possible reasons for the machine being unable to communicate with the modem. Thank you.

 

[USAFRet]

Bad port
Bad cable
Bad port on the router or switch
Improper config on the router

And absent the new info you've provided, a "factory reset" is NOT the same as a full wipe and reinstall.
We out here know nothing about the system, who did it, where the 'factory reset' came from, etc, etc, etc.

Seen far too many cases of "My friend did a reset just before he gave it to me".
Said 'reset' was from a pirated or otherwise bogus Windows install, resulting in a screwed up system.

 

[bill001g]

Way too many possibilities. Could be anything from driver issues to configuration issues.
You can spend time trying to check each of these but when there is not some hard to reinstall application it will likely be the fastest option to just reinstall the OS. Since you do not even have data files on the machine I would choose the clean install option.

Windows almost always has good enough drivers built in that the ethernet port will work. You can then use that to either let windows download updated ones if they exist or you can get them from the mother board maker and load them. Many times since the chipsets are things like intel windows will have almost the newest drivers from intel.

Depending on if you are loading to a SSD or hard drive it will not take more than 15 minutes to reinstall. Other than a couple question you answer when it starts you can go do something else while it installs. If you are lucky you will have to do nothing else. The most common things you might need are the motherboard drivers but windows knows the more popular motherboards.