Internet Explorer help please.

[elninoalex]

Originally Posted by greggbzz

Regarding your connection problems:
From the way you describe the problem, it sounds like your DNS lookups are timing out after a while.

The next time this happens, fire up a command (DOS) prompt:
Goto the start menu and type in "cmd" Hit OK.
then type: ping www..com

The output should look like this -


If it looks like this instead -


Try this next: ping 64.233.161.147

Which should produce a result like the first one above. If it does not, saying request timed out, then you have either a DHCP issue, an unreliable DSL modem, or some kind of software problem with Windows, which seems unlikely. (Unless other, non-internet related software get's all goofy and slow along with IE) If it says something like "network unreachable" then you might have a bad network card, or some kind of network card driver issues.

If the "ping 64.233.161.147" produces an ouput like the first one I have listed, you seem to have a DNS issue. You can try using the "Open DNS" servers listed here. Follow the instructions on this page:

http://www.opendns.com/start/windows_xp.php

This is pretty standard tech support stuff. Has Verizon not done anything like this with you? As a last point, you don't have Norton Internet Security installed do you?

Thanks for your input. I've done the pings and stuff, but everything shows good. I do have Norton Antivirus installed. I did try the OpenDNS and ended up with no connection at all. So I put it back. I don't know how much more physical abuse my computer can take. It's already made a couple dents in the wall.

[greggbzz]

This might be basic stuff, I don't know you sound pretty computer savvy, plus if you do everything below it's a lot of work. anyway:

My only recommendation would be to uninstall Norton Antivirus and everything Norton/Symantic and use any of the following instead:

http://www.activevirusshield.com/ant...eav/index.adp? - Which is great, thanks AOL.
http://www.avast.com/eng/programs.html - Which is nice also
http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/ - Which used to be nice, but has gotten worse the last few years.

I've worked as an admin at an ISP for several years and I'll tell you that Norton is the constant cause of about 5% of our not connected customers. It's HORRIBLE software, especially Internet security 2005 and 2006.

Also, do you Windows Updates, turn on the simple built in windows firewall, uninstall any other firewall software you may have and install a good spyware checker, to clean up what Norton probably missed.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/SpyBot-Sea...ols_d2471.html

[ensteele]

Avast is a great one. It is a free one and works great.

[elninoalex]

I don't know, maybe some the stuff I did last night actually helped. I've been online for about six hours now without anything goofy. Before, the max was about ten minutes.

Note: I have been receiving occasional messages that my virtual memory has been low and windows is adding to the cache. That started up about the time my son installed a very complex mini golf game.

[RSVX]

next time that happens to you, add a _/t ("_" is a space) after the ping statement, it will ping consistently until you tell it to stop.

If you see it dropping off, you will know there is an problem.

[elninoalex]

Is it bad to have your modem sitting right on top of your tower? My latest call to Verizon Tech Support resulted in the tech saying that my modem has a static charge that needs to be discharged periodically. He wouldn't tell me whether it meant it was a bad modem or even give me any ideas that might be the cause. I just moved it off of my tower and so far everything looks good and the speed is increased. Could this problem have been caused by something as stupid as this?

[snoryda28]

it could be that we have verizon and have gone through prob 4 modems...they never tell us whats wrong with them they just send new ones and charge me if i dont send the old one back....and for your browser i would reccomend mozilla firefox...

[Earthworm]

Originally Posted by elninoalex

Is it bad to have your modem sitting right on top of your tower? My latest call to Verizon Tech Support resulted in the tech saying that my modem has a static charge that needs to be discharged periodically.

That's just something they tell their customers to get them off the phone. I used to support Comcast customers and our main goal was not to solve the customer's issue but to get off the call as quick as possible. We were supposed to take a call every 10 minutes on average. It was horrible.

Someone suggested trying Firefox. I also suggest this.

I would check the task manager for any unrecognized tasks that possibly may be sending off emails on your behalf.

MSConfig.exe is a good utility to use to check/disable startup items. If you disable a startup item and it comes back after rebooting I would be suspicious about that task.

[immortal_suby]

Originally Posted by JaySVX

+1
Firefox all the way, but prefer 1.5.x vs 2.0, because the x for each tab is the same location, so i can close 15 tabs quickly.

This was driving me crazy too.

In FF 2.0 - type about:config in the address bar.
Find browser.tabs.closeButtons
double click it and put in the number you want - these are how they work.

0 - Display a close button on the active tab only
1 - Display a close button on each tab (default)
2 - Don’t display any close buttons
3 - Display a single close button at the end of the tab bar (Firefox 1.x behavior)

using 3 will get you to how the old firefox worked.