new DSL connection = WinXP to hang at start up

[MrBlank]

My DSL provider changed a few months back. Now I have to connect to my ISP with a user name and password. (Before it was always on as a Local Area Connection.)

Now, when Windows XP boots up, it hangs for a few minutes. It starts to hang after I have logged in and can see the desktop and icons. The start menu works, but When I try to launch a program or look at My Computer nothing happens until the "hanging" stops and then everything catches up and works normally.

I just installed a new HDD and did a fresh install of Win XP allowing it to set up my internet connection for me. As soon as the network was set up the system hangs again when I start up. !! It's like a program is waiting on something and then times out. I have no idea what it could be because I haven't installed anything except for the OS!!

If anyone has an idea on what's wrong, I'd appreciate some help!

Thanks

 

[Lord Evermore]

It's probably the logging in to the DSL provider (PPPoE is what it's called, PPP over Ethernet). The system hangs while waiting for the login to complete and an IP address to be assigned. With a normal connection which doesn't use PPPoE, there's actually a slight hang during the boot while the system retrieves an IP address, but it comes before the desktop shows up. I assume that with PPPoE, the login doesn't happen until the system has logged you in locally (reached the desktop), since there is a password involved.

 

[MrBlank]

This problem is really bugging me because my system starts up in about 30 seconds, but Ihave to wait several minutes before I can do anything.

If it is looking for an IP address then that might be why it is stalling, because it hangs BEFORE I can log onto the DSL network. Are you saying that there is someting in my network settings that I can adjust to fix the stalling?

Thanks for helping.

 

[Lord Evermore]

I don't know that much about PPPoE software and stuff. If you have to manually log into the network with the software (rather than it logging in automatically when you start Windows), then the hanging is probably due to WindowsXP trying to get an IP address via DHCP (which is the normal automatic assignment your ISP used to use), but since the ISP won't respond with an IP until you've logged in, the system has to wait for the attempt to time out. I'm not sure about entire minutes of hangtime, but it's possible; Windows doesn't seem to like anything timing out on a network connection. When you do finally log in with the PPPoE software, you're then given an IP address.

You can test this quickly by assigning yourself an IP address manually, which will prevent WinXP from trying to get a dynamic IP, however I'm not sure how that would interact with the PPPoE software built into WinXP, and I couldn't walk you through the steps since I don't know how the PPPoE settings will have changed them.

 

[KingofFah]

If you are using PPPoE and have an external modem connecting through a NIC, then you can assign a dummy ip address. I did the same when I had aDSL (not a fan of aDSL). I have 2k, so I will try to guide you to what you must do. Go to your network settings. In there you should find TCP/IP settings. Go into the properties in there and it should say either DHCP or specify an address somewhere. There should be a way to disable DHCP (radio button for specify or leave on auto, or a check box enabling DHCP). Once you do disable it, make the IP address 192.168.0.1 (I believe you can use anything other than 0.0.0.0 as long as it is <255.255.255.255) For the subnet mask, set it to 255.255.255.0. Do this ONLY if you are using DHCP and PPPoE. If you go into TCP/IP settings and see an IP address and subnet mask, then do not change it.

Hope this helps