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#1
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Loss of internet connection each night
I have been having a sudden new problem for the last month or two with loss
of my internet connection each night or after an extended period of "downtime." Each time I have to reboot to regain the connection, but I am able to maintain it if I don't walk away from the machine for several hours or so. I have not installed any new software exept for that associated with a new flat-panel monitor (I'm sure the problem started before that). I may have received one or more Windows updates during this period but I don't know how to check that. If one has been installed (automatically) could that be the source of the problem? I have turned off hibernation and power-down with no beneficial effect. I have a Dell Dimension 4550 with Penium 4 2.53 GHz and an Intel(R) PRO VE network card connected to a cable modem. I do not have a router connection to another machine. Could it be a driver problem? My NIC driver is dated 2002. Would appeciate any help in identifying the cause of this problem and what to do about it. It's not killing me by any stretch but is a bit of a pain. Thanks to all. Jim |
#2
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On Mon, 12 Sep 2005 20:43:57 GMT, "Jim"
wrote: I have been having a sudden new problem for the last month or two with loss of my internet connection each night or after an extended period of "downtime." Each time I have to reboot to regain the connection, but I am able to maintain it if I don't walk away from the machine for several hours or so. I have not installed any new software exept for that associated with a new flat-panel monitor (I'm sure the problem started before that). I may have received one or more Windows updates during this period but I don't know how to check that. If one has been installed (automatically) could that be the source of the problem? I have turned off hibernation and power-down with no beneficial effect. I have a Dell Dimension 4550 with Penium 4 2.53 GHz and an Intel(R) PRO VE network card connected to a cable modem. I do not have a router connection to another machine. Could it be a driver problem? My NIC driver is dated 2002. Would appeciate any help in identifying the cause of this problem and what to do about it. It's not killing me by any stretch but is a bit of a pain. Thanks to all. Jim Does _everything_ you try to connect to, fail? For example, email or usenet or just the web? When the connection next goes down, open up a command prompt (Start Button, --Run - (type) ) "CMD" Type IPCONFIG to get the network configuration. Note the system's IP address. Ping it- exampe: ping 192.168.0.2 (but replace 192.168.0.2 with your system's address) If that works, ping the Gateway IP address. If that works, ping "yahoo.com" If that doesn't work, ping 216.115.96.161 The above IP address is one of Yahoo's, if Yahoo.com doesn't work but the # does, you may have a DNS problem. |
#3
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Kony,
Thanks for responding. In answer to your questions, I lose all access, including mail, etc. Have to run but will try your suggestions later. Jim "kony" wrote in message ... On Mon, 12 Sep 2005 20:43:57 GMT, "Jim" wrote: I have been having a sudden new problem for the last month or two with loss of my internet connection each night or after an extended period of "downtime." Each time I have to reboot to regain the connection, but I am able to maintain it if I don't walk away from the machine for several hours or so. I have not installed any new software exept for that associated with a new flat-panel monitor (I'm sure the problem started before that). I may have received one or more Windows updates during this period but I don't know how to check that. If one has been installed (automatically) could that be the source of the problem? I have turned off hibernation and power-down with no beneficial effect. I have a Dell Dimension 4550 with Penium 4 2.53 GHz and an Intel(R) PRO VE network card connected to a cable modem. I do not have a router connection to another machine. Could it be a driver problem? My NIC driver is dated 2002. Would appeciate any help in identifying the cause of this problem and what to do about it. It's not killing me by any stretch but is a bit of a pain. Thanks to all. Jim Does _everything_ you try to connect to, fail? For example, email or usenet or just the web? When the connection next goes down, open up a command prompt (Start Button, --Run - (type) ) "CMD" Type IPCONFIG to get the network configuration. Note the system's IP address. Ping it- exampe: ping 192.168.0.2 (but replace 192.168.0.2 with your system's address) If that works, ping the Gateway IP address. If that works, ping "yahoo.com" If that doesn't work, ping 216.115.96.161 The above IP address is one of Yahoo's, if Yahoo.com doesn't work but the # does, you may have a DNS problem. |
#4
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Kony, et al:
I ran through your tests and as expected all worked except "yahoo.com." You say I may have a DNS problem. What does that mean (bit of a novice) and what do I do about it? Thanks again. Jim "kony" wrote in message ... On Mon, 12 Sep 2005 20:43:57 GMT, "Jim" wrote: I have been having a sudden new problem for the last month or two with loss of my internet connection each night or after an extended period of "downtime." Each time I have to reboot to regain the connection, but I am able to maintain it if I don't walk away from the machine for several hours or so. I have not installed any new software exept for that associated with a new flat-panel monitor (I'm sure the problem started before that). I may have received one or more Windows updates during this period but I don't know how to check that. If one has been installed (automatically) could that be the source of the problem? I have turned off hibernation and power-down with no beneficial effect. I have a Dell Dimension 4550 with Penium 4 2.53 GHz and an Intel(R) PRO VE network card connected to a cable modem. I do not have a router connection to another machine. Could it be a driver problem? My NIC driver is dated 2002. Would appeciate any help in identifying the cause of this problem and what to do about it. It's not killing me by any stretch but is a bit of a pain. Thanks to all. Jim Does _everything_ you try to connect to, fail? For example, email or usenet or just the web? When the connection next goes down, open up a command prompt (Start Button, --Run - (type) ) "CMD" Type IPCONFIG to get the network configuration. Note the system's IP address. Ping it- exampe: ping 192.168.0.2 (but replace 192.168.0.2 with your system's address) If that works, ping the Gateway IP address. If that works, ping "yahoo.com" If that doesn't work, ping 216.115.96.161 The above IP address is one of Yahoo's, if Yahoo.com doesn't work but the # does, you may have a DNS problem. |
#5
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On Wed, 14 Sep 2005 11:09:34 GMT, "Jim"
wrote: Kony, et al: I ran through your tests and as expected all worked except "yahoo.com." You say I may have a DNS problem. What does that mean (bit of a novice) and what do I do about it? Thanks again. This time at the command prompt, type "IPCONFIG /all" It will list your DNS servers, so ping one of them. For example if IPCONFIG /all showed "DNS Servers . . . . . . . . 204.127.35.333 23.333.221.3" Ping 204.127.35.333 (then) Ping 23.333.221.3 If they respond to your ping, I'd suspect a windows networking config problem. If they don't, you could tracert them, for example (but substitute your DNS server IP #), tracert 204.127.35.333 and/or tracert yahoo.com then note where the trace stops. |
#6
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Jim wrote: I have been having a sudden new problem for the last month or two with loss of my internet connection each night or after an extended period of "downtime." Each time I have to reboot to regain the connection, but I am able to maintain it if I don't walk away from the machine for several hours or so. I have not installed any new software exept for that associated with a new .... Do you have a firewall? Something like ZoneAlarm? What about a system scanner like Spybot-Search & destroy? What about an antivirus? and what about a register check. Something like HijackThis? have you looked for porno images and movies passing trough your computer? |
#7
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Re each question:
1. Have basic ZoneAlarm firewall 2. Have Spybot S&A and have run it recently. Cleaned one inocuous looking file. No affect on problem. 3. Have McAfee anti-virus with regular auto-updates. 4. No register check. 5. Have no idea if porno images are passing through my computer. How do I determine that, and how would this cause my problem? I'd think that would keep my pc running, not shut it off. I did try system restore back two months (with no effect) and then restored back to starting point . Based on all this, what do you recommend? Thanks. "cor" wrote in message ... Jim wrote: I have been having a sudden new problem for the last month or two with loss of my internet connection each night or after an extended period of "downtime." Each time I have to reboot to regain the connection, but I am able to maintain it if I don't walk away from the machine for several hours or so. I have not installed any new software exept for that associated with a new ... Do you have a firewall? Something like ZoneAlarm? What about a system scanner like Spybot-Search & destroy? What about an antivirus? and what about a register check. Something like HijackThis? have you looked for porno images and movies passing trough your computer? |
#8
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On Wed, 21 Sep 2005 12:34:42 GMT, "Jim"
wrote: Re each question: 1. Have basic ZoneAlarm firewall Doesn't matter- if it worked before any certain time of night and you didn't reconfigure it, it won't then suddenly stop working till the next day. However, if you hadn't rebooted and rechecked the connection when it wasn't working, do that. 2. Have Spybot S&A and have run it recently. Cleaned one inocuous looking file. No affect on problem. This too, is not likely to allow connections in the day but not at night. Odds are very high it's either a power-management, drivers that can't "wake up" properly issue, or something out of your control, your ISP's equipment. Another possibility is ambient temp. Suppose you have telephone lines or cable outside - that makes an intermittent connection. When the air or ground outside cools at night, that can (and does in certain situations) regularly cause connection loss. However, previously you reported that you can PING IP numbers but not domain names. That alone is strong evidence that either your ISPs domain name servers are unreachable (for whatever reason), or you have some other windows problem (unlikely). 3. Have McAfee anti-virus with regular auto-updates. 4. No register check. This would simply be a HijackThis list of things loading when the system boots. If nothing suspicious is loading, it can be discarded. 5. Have no idea if porno images are passing through my computer. How do I determine that, and how would this cause my problem? I'd think that would keep my pc running, not shut it off. There is no sense in that suggestion, you do not need to look for porn on your system to combat this problem. I did try system restore back two months (with no effect) and then restored back to starting point . Based on all this, what do you recommend? Make a log of when the connections don't work, and when they don't, do the ping test- ping a known working IP number on the internet, and a domain name. Log this info and contact your ISP's tech support, letting them know about this information else they'll probably just have you do common things like power cycle your modem or router (but those are also things you should try). if your router generates a log, you might also check it to see if anything unusual shows up. If this is only a Domain-name resolution (to IP #) problem, a temporary workaround might be running something like "Treewalk" ( http://ntcanuck.com/ ) on a system always connected on your LAN or same system, but you still would need to contact your ISP and have them fix the problem. Until the ISP can track down these kinds of problems, nobody will know. You'd be surprised how long it can take an ISP to track down a problem due to techs merely recanting the common "it must be a problem on your end" mantra. Indeed, it IS often a problem on the end-user's system, but not always. The evidence you need is whether you can ping (and tracert) addresses on the internet when you can't access anything with a proper domain name (like yahoo.com). |
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