I am running Windows XP Home SP3 on a Lenovo SL500. I had the same problem where several windows services (sound, dhcp, computer browser, wireless zero to name a few) stopped on their own. I noticed this problem because the sound icon disappeared and wireless showed as "acquiring network address" one fine day. When I go into services.msc I am able to turn everything back on EXCEPT dhcp (error 1067). However windows audio stays on for a few minutes and then turns off. I also noticed that attempting to start dhcp causes all the restarted services to also immediately turn off. Also, when this happens, the "Dependencies" tab for all services starts to show "no dependencies" even though a moment ago it was displaying it correctly for everything (including dhcp). I have tried the following: going to the previous working version - no luck I have no internet now because dhcp won't start, so I tried hard coding the ip and dns information but I still can't connect. I ran winsockxpfix.exe, sfc.exe /scannow - nothing I did a registry clean with Free Window Registry repair - no luck I did a repair install of Windows again and still nothing. I am inclined to think there is some sort of virus, so I ran Malwarebytes (found nothing), HijackThis (found some pretty harmless stuff that didn't make it better or worse), TDSSKiller (found nothing), Asquared antivirus (found stuff that didn't make it better or worse). I also ran the Tweaking.com tool for Windows XP and didn't fix the problem. Also when I try to use ipconfig, it gives an error saying "an internal error has occurred. the system cannot find the file specified". I have no idea what file this is. Does anyone have any clue what's wrong and how I can fix this? I am sure there is some rootkit virus but nothing seems to find it (I also wanted to point out that I've been using AVG for years and the antivirus has always been on). I don't want to have to format and do a fresh install if possible. I am desperate and any help would be much appreciated! Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question. Anonymous 2015-11-15T20:26:55+00:00 John, I already ran TDSSKiller and it didn't find anything. 0 comments No comments John, I already ran TDSSKiller and it didn't find anything. Anonymous 2015-11-15T20:25:57+00:00 Andrew, thank you for your suggestions. For #3, I downloaded winsockxpfix.exe to another machine and copied it over to the one with the issues. I then just clicked the exe, so I didn't run it from command prompt. It prompted that it ran successfully, but nothing changed with a reboot. For sfc I have a typo, I did run it as sfc /scannow. I did have the CD (genuine Windows XP installation CD) and inserted when requested. I ran it a few times and it ran without issues, again nothing changed. I am not running multiple antivirus software at once (the OS obviously doesn't allow that), I ran them one at a time with the firewall switched off. I did run chkdsk /r and chkdsk /f before I started trying anything else, and both ran with no issues and no errors reported. I believe scanreg.exe is not available in xp (I understand it went away with 98), so I am not able to run it. I am starting to think a reinstall is unfortunately what I need to do. 0 comments No comments Andrew, thank you for your suggestions.

For #3, I downloaded winsockxpfix.exe to another machine and copied it over to the one with the issues. I then just clicked the exe, so I didn't run it from command prompt. It prompted that it ran successfully, but nothing changed with a reboot. For sfc I have a typo, I did run it as sfc /scannow. I did have the CD (genuine Windows XP installation CD) and inserted when requested. I ran it a few times and it ran without issues, again nothing changed. I am not running multiple antivirus software at once (the OS obviously doesn't allow that), I ran them one at a time with the firewall switched off. I did run chkdsk /r and chkdsk /f before I started trying anything else, and both ran with no issues and no errors reported. I believe scanreg.exe is not available in xp (I understand it went away with 98), so I am not able to run it. I am starting to think a reinstall is unfortunately what I need to do. Anonymous 2015-11-15T14:54:33+00:00 Run TDSSKiller scan on the machine and see if things change. John 0 comments No comments Run TDSSKiller scan on the machine and see if things change. Anonymous 2015-11-15T04:05:48+00:00 #3 cmd is invalid...To run some of youre data cmds,would be: Sfc /Scannow Sfc,would require the xp installation cd,when Sfc asks for it.The other: netsh Winsock reset As for "free registry repair" microsoft has a setting for that,but must be ran in recovery console (boot pc to xp installation cd),the kb article is kb307545 Or one can/could run: Scanreg.exe kb183887 that link is here. https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Search/en-US?query=183887&ac=4 Also,running multiple anti-virus/anti-spam software,the OS wont run with more than one at a time, plus xp has its own software that might conflict with them unless its disabled (firewall) is a main issue.. Also,you fail to show a basic utility: CHKDSK C: /F this runs from cmd,or recovery console. 0 comments No comments #3 cmd is invalid...To run some of youre data cmds,would be: Sfc /Scannow Sfc,would require the xp installation cd,when Sfc asks for it.The other: netsh Winsock reset As for "free registry repair" microsoft has a setting for that,but must be ran in recovery console (boot pc to xp installation cd),the kb article is kb307545 Or one can/could run: Scanreg.exe kb183887 that link is here. https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Search/en-US?query=183887&ac=4 Also,running multiple anti-virus/anti-spam software,the OS wont run with more than one at a time, plus xp has its own software that might conflict with them unless its disabled (firewall) is a main Also,you fail to show a basic utility: CHKDSK C: /F this runs from cmd,or recovery console.