Internet Stops Working Randonly

[Toff]

Hi

I have a weird problem that started recently.

My computer will just stop receiving anything from the internet. This happens anywhere from 5 mins on the computer to 1 hour. It just started recently. I havn't installed anything new but I did defrag and uninstalled some older programs that I no longer use. I can't say for certain if the problem started right after I uninstalled those programs.

When I first boot up the net works fine. Once it goes bad, sometimes (50%) "ipconfig /renew" will get me going again and (the other 50%) it will tell me that the DHCP server is not responding and I will have to reboot. I have a cable modem that has been working just fine so far. The cable light on the modem is showing that it is connected right. Everytime I reboot everything will work fine for a bit.

I'm not sure what would cause it work sometimes and not work sometimes yet would allow it to work all the time right after a reboot.

I am using Win 2KP with all updates.

Does anyone out there have any sugestions cause I have no clue.

Thanks

 

[PowerEngineer]

You should check out this thread.

Too bad scaryjeff hasn't gotten back to us yet! :Q

 

[Toff]

Thanks for the thread.

I don't usually have Norton running and I did turn it on to update the other day also.

I might be on to something.

I've had Norton do some weird things at work so it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Toff]

It doesn't seem to be anything with Norton, I went in the program and turned off everything that I could find.

The computer will also go back to being able to browse the internet if I leave it alone for a bit even tho an "ipconfig /renew" gave me the DHCP server not found just a few minutes before.

I don't know if its my computer or the cable modem or even the service itself?

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[JAWS1]

Toff, I'm just learning myself, but here are some things that worked for me. My client is ME, (a problem all it's own) and I think all older windows OS's have memory retention problems, especially ME, it just leaks without help. I downloaded a memory booster and it worked for me. Many think, they don't really do anything, but I don't have to re-boot every half hour anymore.

My host is XP and the solution for that one was to decrease my page file. I think they recommend half of your Ram in MB's, but check me on that. That little trick worked really well for me.

There are many things that can drain resources and it sure sounds as though something is zapping yours. There are programs I've seen that trace your memory usage and you can see where your high CPU usage is. I don't know if they work, but it sounds good. Can't remember where I saw them but try webattack, sysinternals, techtv, practiclynetworked (SP?), and others. They have enough to keep you reading for days.

I would also get your ISP on the horn and have them check out your connection from their end. If you suspect it's your modem and it's a rental, you can turn it in for a new one. Some other things I always do, especially before gaming, are... turn off everything that is running that you can, and be safe. I kill every Icon I can, in the tray at the bottom rgt of the desktop, they suck up alot of resources. I keep my recycle, cookies, temps and logs as clean as I can. I run a complete scan about once a wk and defrag once a month depending on past activity. You may find something in the MS knowlege base. I have solved alot of problems there. Good luck, hope something works, I feel your pain. JAWS

 

[azkiwi]

Originally posted by: JAWS1
I would also get your ISP on the horn and have them check out your connection from their end. If you suspect it's your modem and it's a rental, you can turn it in for a new one. JAWS

I'm having similar issues recently and they are traceable to my ISP. They say they are having signal surges in my area and that my router makes the problem worse. They reckon the surge amplifies (in some unexplained way) between the cable modem and the router firewall. It sounds a bit bogus to me, but I do lose connection for varying periosd of time - a ping times out for a few seconds or several minutes.

Anyway, check with your ISP before you start tearing your machine apart.

 

[azkiwi]

grrr -2X post

 

[JAWS1]

Azkiwi..I think your ISP is full of crap. Besides, even if your router does make it worse, if they were sending you a nice clean signal that you pay for, your router wouldn't have anything to make worse.

Toff, I got to thinking, (yes it did hurt a little). I'm still not sure about your paging file being half of your Ram but I believe whatever it is, 1/2, 1/4, it is in kb's. So if you have 512MB's of Ram, your PF would be 256MB's in kb's.

I also thought of another thing I do to keep things running smooth. I up-date my drivers often, especially the display drivers. I also remove old or not often used programs. I have no scientific or other proof, but I feel once a hard drive is about 50% loaded (or higher) it starts getting slower no matter if its 10GB or 200GB. Maybe it's just my imagination. Plus there are several programs that just cause problems with certain system make-ups. I know Norton does sometimes, although I have had no probs with it , I did have alot of trouble with a popular free antivirus called ZoneAlarm. There are also spys that can mess you up and even web sites like gator and of course viruses that can really mess things up to include slowing you to a crawl. Anyway, you get the point, there are a lot of gremlins out there. JAWS

 

[azkiwi]

Originally posted by: JAWS1
Plus there are several programs that just cause problems with certain system make-ups. I know Norton does sometimes, although I have had no probs with it , I did have alot of trouble with a popular free antivirus called ZoneAlarm. There are also spys that can mess you up and even web sites like gator and of course viruses that can really mess things up to include slowing you to a crawl. Anyway, you get the point, there are a lot of gremlins out there. JAWS

I'll second that. I use ZoneAlarm (considering it a necessary evil) - and again interestingly my ISP says using it as well as my router hardware firewall is redundantly problematic.I think not using it with my always on connection is foolhardy. There are lots of gremlins out there and a program such as AdAware is also essential to root them out.

I was having recent problems with a program surrepticiously installed by Verizon - I forget the name but it was a small executable with a filename much like a windows file, and it was spyware that was messing with things. You might try looking for that if you have been anywhere near Verizon.

 

[Toff]

Thank you for the tips everyone. I do appreciate it.

Just an fyi - I'm been in the computer biz for the last 5 years so its no prob if you get all technical on me. I keep my computer pretty clean but I'm gonna do a extra special cleanup just to make sure.

I also have 1.25 GB of Ram and I rarely even get close to using 1/2 of that. I do monitor it from time to time just cause I'm the curious type.

This computer is 1.5 years old with no real changes to it during that time. I did just change out the PS and the cpu fan as they both started acting up at about the same time. The new PS is 400W tho so it shouldnt be anything due to that.

I'm gonna call the isp next time it goes out and just hope that it is still out when they are testing it. I've had cable modem line problems in the past but had them re-run my cable line all the way from the junction to my place which fixed any problems I was having in the past. Also the cable modem is showing that it is still connected to the isp even when my computer isn't. That is why I am thinking it is my computer but you can never be sure. I wish I had another computer here to test. Actually, I think I'm gonna track down another computer with a network card so I can test the connection out on it. All components test out ok but I've seen things go down and the only way you can find the weak link is to replace parts one at a time and test.

I guess another possible bad point could be my network card. I have a 3com card and in my years using them I have only seen one ever go bad. The one that was bad tested as good and the only way to tell was by replacing it. I think I can bypass the card and hook to the modem via USB. I'm gonna try that also and see how it does.

I also think that possible spyware might be it. I certainly havn't installed any knowingly but my girlfriend uses this computer also and they don't always ask you. I'm gonna run ad-aware and see if it comes up with anything.

I'll post back here in a day or two once I go thru some options and test.

Sometimes computers can be sooooo annoying.

Thanks everyone

Toff

 

[JAWS1]

Really did start sounding like a power supply problem, but your right 400w should be fine unless it's not putting out like it should. I just wanted to clearify what I said about spies, I didn't mean the software someone puts in to check on someone else. I'm not sure what they are I think spyware or some are just cookies, but they come from Internet sites and some of them can mess you up. I found a little freeware program that seems to clean all that junk out pretty good, called Spybot. I also found out recently that Active X can mess up your registry and possibly other things. My main machine started acting screwy so I ran the win xp problem checker/fixer and Active X had messed up 20 some registry settings. Don't know how to fix that either. Oh well good luck, PM me if you find an answer to your problem, I'd be interested. JAWS