tcpip issue in vista

[hackerx]

Hi everyone

I have a dell Inspiron laptop with Windows Vista Home premium installed

I haven't had any sort of problem till recently when my TCP/IP protocol disappeared from my network settings
Internet is still working

But sometimes i have to switch b/w my 2 connections(Tata Indicom and BSNL) so i have to change DNS settings
And i can't change them since the protocol is missing

I called dell customer support,and they said i have to format the system and reinstall vista
But i can't afford to that now

So is there any other way to get the protocol back without reinstall?
Whenever i try to add it,it says "error:required file can't be found"

Pls help

[mkk]

If no other solution pops up you could carry out a repair installation of Vista rather than a clean installation with formatting. Start up the system with the disc as with a normal installation and choose to repair the existing Windows instead of making a full replacement installation. I haven't carried out these precise steps with Vista myself yet, but assume that it behaves the same as WinXP.

Edit: There should be third party tools that can handle changing of those settings for you.
The settings are also in the registry under the following key, and with a little the system accepts changes without requiring a reboot. I'll experiment a bit and write more if I notice anything perticular.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces

Edit 2 I tried changing my DNS server in the registry and it required a reboot to activate. There's probably a way to force the adapter to use all of the changed tcpip settings right away, something in the style of "ipconfig /registerdns" but I don't know, yet.

Edit 3 Changing the settings in the registry and then disabling/enabling the network interface seems to be a usable method.

[hackerx]

thanks for the reply
i'll try it and see if it works

first up repair install

[hackerx]

i tried reinstalling vista but i don't get any option for a "repair" install

i'll try booting from the cd and see what happens

i tried the registry methods already and it didn't wor

[mike2h]

u have to do a repair install from the disk afaik.