DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum losing internet connection

For the past two years I have been using SBC/DSL as my ISP.

A couple of months ago I started having the problem of losing my internet connection if my computer sat idle for a half-hour or longer. I would have to reboot to gain back my connection.

I am using IE 6 vers. 6.0.2900.2180 on XP Home w/Service Pack 2. This issue started back when I loaded IE 7 so I went back to IE 6, but apparently that had nothing to do with it.

Today I switched to RoadRunner. I've been meaning to do that for sometime now.

Still, I lose connection. Only now I get this "work offline" message when it happens...



If I click "Try again" I instantly get my connection back. It's a lot better than rebooting but something's amiss and I don't know what.


In addition, the past few weeks my browser has been shutting down cold. This usually happens only when I am trying to enter a username and password into a site like Photobucket. My son often have the same problem accessing his Yahoo mail account.

When this occurs we get the following error message and the browser shuts down instantly...




I know when this has happened at Photobucket the "instruction at __________" is the same each time as is the "referenced memory at___________".


Does anyone know what the scoop might be or have a direction I may approach this from in an effort to solve these problems. Could this be RAM taking a crap?

Please, FireFox, Opera and Linux pimps... I've tried those other browsers and always came back to IE for one reason or another, and I'm in no hurry to change my OS. I'm just looking for some help and guidience in correcting these issues.

My system is a 2001 Dell 2350. It's got 512MB RAM and a 30GB harddrive which has 8GB of free space. So there's plenty of room for stuff to romp around in. If I'm not actively doing something my System Idle Process sits at or near 99 for the most part.

I'm loaded with all the necessary security software. I don't have spyware or registry problems so far as SpyBot, AdAware, SpywareBlaster, Windows Defender, Registry Mechanic and Diskeeper inform me. I'm using ZoneAlarm's free firewall and AVG free anti-virus. Having tested my computer on a website that checks for internet vaunerability my system checks out as invisible to the internet. I do get an occasional Trojan virus but it is healed or vaulted quickly.

My son is running an Xbox 360 from the same router as this computer. Could he be sucking up all the internet connection at times? *L* I don't know if that could have anything to do with it at all but the game machine is in the loop somewhere.


Any ideas? I'm cornfused.

We had a similar problem recently. Turned out to be the modem. You might have the same problem. Also do you lose connection when the phone rings?

That's what I would say too, the modem. I had that problem, losing my connection and went out and bought a brand spanking new zoom modem, and I haven't lost my connection since I bought it.

You really have to start worrying when you see this error message...

It wouldn't surprise me if that's next. *L*


We can rule out the modem as yesterday I changed modems from the SBC/DSL modem to the RR modem. Unless I got a bum RR modem which is always a possibility.

This morning I'd lost connectivity to the point that I had to reboot again. That's with the machine sitting on all night unattended.

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This issue started back when I loaded IE 7 so I went back to IE 6, but apparently that had nothing to do with it.

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I know the initial IE7 was quite buggy, but supposedly those have been fixed. Even though you switched back to 6, maybe one of the files or settings was altered. Do a defrag, reinstall Windows (not just IE) and download all of the updates. Save all of your emails/email settings before doing this if you're using Outlook or Outlook Express.

Another 512 of RAM wouldn't hurt either.

Could be your network adapter. You can buy one pretty cheap and test out the theory. If you are running one on the motherboard I'd suggest disabling it in the bios before you install a new one.

Well I have roadrunner, and it works most of the time.. I had this same problem also, but i just went and got a new PC.. Also, you may have a virus.. Did you sign up to the RoadRunner PC protection package? It is awesome for virus protection.. I also am wireless to my PS3, from RoadRunner, and havent had any problems YET....

I really think tho that you have some sort of virus, or a ad that is sucking your PC dry.. Also, check your PC usage rating, ( windows task manager ), there may be something there that your not aware of...

Do a virus scan. Do an updated one. What do you think Florida Fan?

One other thing to check is the power management for your network card: right click "my computer" and select "properties". Click the "hardware" tab and press the "device manager" button. go to the "network adapters" section and go to the properties section for your network card (right click & properties).

Now select the "power management" tab and uncheck the option that says "allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"

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Now select the "power management" tab and uncheck the option that says "allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"

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That was indeed checked and I unchecked it.

I'll have to wait and see but it sounds like something that could be happening. I'll know later this afternoon.

Thanks

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Do a virus scan. Do an updated one.

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AVG does a scan every morning. First it checks for updates, then, if there are any it installs them, then runs a scan. You never know though. It could be missing something.

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I really think tho that you have some sort of virus, or a ad that is sucking your PC dry.. Also, check your PC usage rating, ( windows task manager ), there may be something there that your not aware of...

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For awhile, a few weeks back, I did have a problem with "svchost.exe" slamming the CPU usage to 100% immediately after startup. It would stay there for a good 5 minutes.

svchost.exe is a valid windows process, but when this happened I ended the process, (it would always come back), and after a while it quit doing that. Other than that nothing else has hogged my CPU.

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Do a defrag, reinstall Windows (not just IE) and download all of the updates. Save all of your emails/email settings before doing this if you're using Outlook or Outlook Express.

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I'm defragged pretty well since I loaded Diskeeper.

Reinstalling Windows is something I hadn't thought of and worthy of consideration. If the power management issue that FloridaFan brought up doesn't work I think I may do that.

Also consider a spyware scan.

Many valid Windows services and periodic operations such as Windows Update run under svchost.

Google up a copy of Process Explorer and use it to see which actual program is running under svchost and chewing up the CPU.

I actually did that. But once a process started chewing it up I couldn't access ProcessExplorer until it was finished. Also, I had a terrible time interpreting the info ProcessExplorer was giving me. There are too many terms and names I'm not familiar with.

The svchost.exe thing is in the past. Nothing is acutally doing that anymore.

Just a few minutes ago my browser shut down cold again with the same error message that I posted in my first post. Something about not being able to read memory.

It's all Greek to me.

I think I'll try reinstalling Windows and see if something gets straightened out. I'd totally hate to reformat. Gulp. I got so much stuff on here it would literally take all day for me to get it back up.

seen this quite often actually, it can be quite a few things, some things i would try. First is, do you have a yahoo or google toolbar at all? If so, uninstall them from control panel. If you want to reinstall, make sure you have the latest version for your browser. Second, you might actually have leaky memory. http://www.memtest86.com/ run that and it will tell you. 3rd, run and antivirus/spyware program. You would be looking for a virus called "subseven". Lastly, look in your event viewer for any more information that might help narrow it down. I've also seen this error occur after closing after running a java program

Oh goody.

I find I can't reload Windows from my OEM disk without reformatting since I upgraded to ServicePack2 some time ago. Now my OEM disk is crap.

I tried to reinstall IE over itself, (a YTown trick), but that won't work anymore either from the OEM disk.


grrrrrrr

Is your phone line noisy? It's also possible you have damaged phone lines. Mine shorted themselves somehow this past week, and I had a hell of a time finding the short. I still have no idea how the short happened, except for ancient cable in the house.

I have Verizon DSL. I had some problems getting my new modem to work so I had to call them and it was all sorted out. However, they did tell me that most of Ohio and PA are having some problems so perhaps that could be a factor if you have Verizon.

When I had a similair connectivity problem it turned out to be my ethernet card in the computer that went.