Need help troubleshooting my network.

[algae]

I have recently endured countless hours of troubleshooting spontaneous reboots from one of the pcs on my home network and as a result I have pretty much rebuilt the entire computer....motherboard, RAM, hard drive, power supply. The latest "upgrade" was the motherboard.
I'm now trying to reconnect this computer to my wireless network. Here's my setup:
WRT54 Router with my "main" pc connected via cable. It works fine. A notebook which I use occasionally which connects via a Notebook adapter. It also works fine and finally the culprit: A desktop PC that connects via a USB adapter WUSB11 Ver.2.8 . During the troubleshooting process I also tried a new USB adapter...a G standard one, but the reboots continued.
I have just completed putting the motherboard in and am trying to set up my internet connection. The USB adapter installed ok and shows a good connection but I can't connect to the internet. In fact it has rebooted a couple of time when I've refreshed IE in an effort to connect. The only way I can get connected is to disable all security and the router's firewall.
Prior to this when I have had to reinstall, reconfigure, etc. I have simply assigned a network key to the computer and it has connected fine.
Also this is obviously causing at least some of my rebooting problems.
I'm sure this is something I'm overlooking but I would really appreciate some help!
Thanks
Gary

Btw all my pcs are running XP Pro.

 

[timswim78]

Hmm, I have a few ideas about your computer rebooting.
- Corrupted Windows install (did you reformat and reinstall Windows after installing the new hardware?)
- Virus infestation. Are you running a solid antivirus program? Are all of the Windows patches applied? You can run an online scan at http://housecall.trendmicro.com if you can get online long enough to do that.
- A wire or switch somewhere in your case may be shorting.
- Bad video card
- Bad Optical drives
- Bad cable to your drives.

 

[algae]

This has been an ongoing problem and everything is new...new hd, new cables, fresh install, you name it. It really seems to be related to the network connection. The reboots seem to happen whenever it's having trouble establishing a connection. I have also found that if I disable the WEP encryption it works ok. I've had this network set up for a couple of years and know how to enter a network key in order to get it to work, but this time I can't. I was thinking of going to WPA anyway so now is probably a good time to do it.

G.

 

[ITJunkie]

Originally posted by: timswim78
Hmm, I have a few ideas about your computer rebooting.
- Corrupted Windows install (did you reformat and reinstall Windows after installing the new hardware?)
- Virus infestation. Are you running a solid antivirus program? Are all of the Windows patches applied? You can run an online scan at http://housecall.trendmicro.com if you can get online long enough to do that.
- A wire or switch somewhere in your case may be shorting.
- Bad video card
- Bad Optical drives
- Bad cable to your drives.

I would add a bad/old driver to this list. In fact I would start with making sure you have new drivers for all your hardware installed and see what happens.

 

[Chosonman]

Random reboots can be frustrating.

I don't see how you can relate the reboots to the network issue. They seem like 2 seperate issues. Maybe you can be a little clearer.

 

[algae]

The reason I'm saying that is that it seem to happen exactly as I try to start IE when I can tell the network connection is finnicky. Perhaps I'm not being clear enough but believe me I've built almost a totally new computer trying to figure this out.

G.