wierd network problem on debian 4

["mee kaaku" <meekaaku@gmail.com>]

hi,

I have just installed debian 4 on a machine. i am running sshd on it.

However, when i try to login to the machine from Putty (on another
windows computer on the network), it goes ahead
and asks for user name.
I enter the username, and when i enter the password i get 'Network
error: Software caused connection abort'.

I believe the connection is lost at a very basic level. When i then
try to ssh to the box, i get 'connection refused', as if
nothing is listening on the port.
Sometimes i am able to login successfully, but after a while the
connection is completely lost at random. When lost, i get
'connection refused' when I retry. But I still can ping to the machine
all this time.

I checked ssh logs as well, but nothing of use there.
So i tried using VNC, and same problem occurs (meaning i get connection lost),
but still ping works.

I am completely lost, and dont know where to look for

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks
meekaaku