Windows PC Internet Messed Up

I'm just killing all these tech problems around the home. My Windows desktop's internet stopped working recently, and I could only access a few sites, Google.com being one of them. I thought the problem was with the Linksys WRT54GL with Tomato v1.28 firmware that I recently set up, but that wasn't it. I plugged it into the modem directly, but that wasn't it. I installed a bunch of Windows updates very recently, but that didn't seem to really matter either. I googled "can only access google" since it was one of the few things I could actually see, but there were very few concrete answers.

Luckily, the wireless was working, which isolated the problem and helped me to research the problem. A few virus scans later (there was a few Java exploits and a Trojan from a Format Factory installer), I still couldn't access the full internet. Luckily, I happened upon this thread. It advised me to check out an article on TCP/IP Winsock Catalog Corruption. I followed the simple steps:

1. Grab an Administrator-level command prompt.
2. Run 'netsh winsock reset'.
3. Restart your computer.

And that did it. Anyway, if you run into something similar, that should work for you. The reason I'm posting this is because so many threads from years ago addressed the topic, but none of them had any real answer. This one worked for me, so maybe it'll work for you too. Cheerio.

Fixing an Xbox 360 E74 Error; iDroid 3G

Yo bros,

It's been a while, eh? I just got home from Fort McMurray this past Friday morning, so I have a bit of time to do a few projects. The two on display today are installing Android on an iPhone via the iDroid Project, and fixing an Xbox 360 E74 error. Hardware for both was provided by a friend. Let's just say his name is Andy.

The iDroid bit was very straightforward. There really isn't anything to say about it except that I can't wait for it to come to later iPhones. It's still really chalky and laggy on the iPhone 3G, but the mere fact that it works is amazing. Here is a shot of "Andy's" iPhone 3G.

I'm following @iDroidProject on Twitter, and they seem to be making a lot of progress. It's cool, but not usable for me at the moment.

Next up is the Xbox 360 E74 error. The basic premise is that the graphics processor unit (GPU) is overheating, so you need to fix the heatsinking situation. Typically, you have to undo it all and put on some new heatsink compound on the GPU. I didn't take any pictures of this fix, but I will recommend the resources that helped me fix it. There are a lot of garbage videos and tutorials out there, but I found these to be top notch.

iFixit repair guide

Llamma's Xbox 360 3RLOD (three red light error) X-Clamp Fix Tutorial

YouTube - Remove the Xbox 360 X-Clamp in 45 Seconds

The Source - Nexxtech Heat Sink Grease

Memory Express - Arctic Silver 5

Memory Express - ArctiClean

It's still to be seen whether this will actually fix the Xbox or not, but at the very least, these are the steps I took to fix it. Maybe they will help you.