Posted on 12/06/2009 7:43:02 AM PST by Apple Pan Dowdy
Please excuse the Vanity post - I am desperate! I have a new PC with Windows 7. At odd times I loose the Internet connection. I know cable internet signal is coming through the router as other PCs in the system have connections.
At first the lost connection was happening each time I would reboot. Now it happens at seemingly "random" times .... I realize it's probly not random, but I can't see a correlation yet ... and the connection usually comes back when I reboot again.
The Dell tech support wants me to reinstall the windows software. That would mean reloading ALL my other software and loosing their respective settings, thus causing me at least 2-days of lost work time which I can't afford.
Has anyone else experienced this problem and found an answer? And... PLEASE ... I don't have time for snide cracks from the MAC guys out there.
Other info pertinent:
Intel Q9400 (2.66Hz)Quad core
4 GB SDRAM
750 BG SATA 2 Hard Drive
Network Adapter (in case that matters because someone else suggested to me that there might be a problem with drivers for this) - Nvidia nForce Networking Controller
//Windows 7 arrives from my OEM. I’m wondering if and when to install it over Vista//
From all the stories I’ve read about that, I would caution against it.
//How do you know if it is turned on?//
Maybe thats the default mode, dont know.
Slowdowns occur constantly. Not much you can do about those on the ISP side, unless you’re willing to spend good money on bandwidth monitoring software, and there is a LOT of it our there-be careful.
If you’re having, or you suspect you’re having, OUTAGES, then I can recommend a FREE software that I use to monitor your connection to your DNS server (ISP/Host/Provider) or to any website, for that matter, etc. It’s also tell you your Min/Avg/Max ping times. You can have it start at boot, and minimize to tray, with a balloon pop up every x minutes informing you of the results. It maintains a log, as well.
It’s called EMCO Ping Monitor, and you can download it here: http://emco-ping-monitor.emco-software.qarchive.org/_download2.html .
It’s FREE (hey, if it’s FREE, it’s ME!) and it doesn’t use too much of your resources, {about} 1% of RAM and .1%-.2% of CPU.
Good luck.
LOL... admitting I am NOT the spelling bee champ!!
I hope you found a solution to your problem.
Two other PCs (both windows XP) on the same router keep their connection just fine, so I am thinking it HAS to be something to do with the windows 7.
Oops! I hit enter before finishing my post. {doh!}
“I know cable internet signal is coming through the router as other PCs in the system have connections. “
Very first quick thing to do is to plug in directly to your cable modem. Does it still go in and out? If yes, then you should check your event viewer log (event viewer is your friend) for errors and/or warnings and address any issues listed there. If you have no pertinent issues there, then check your device manager for problematic or malfunctioning hardware.
After eliminating the above my experience is that it’s usually a settings or other application conflict or an outright error, or it’s the router or NIC going out, and if it’s only occurring on your machine, then it’s most likely the Nic. So, if you have the patience, you’ll need to remove all settings, reboot, and reset them all again. Then, if you still have the problem, try replacing the hardware, one at a time, with a known good piece.
To “see” what’s booting at startup, and when, you can download Microsoft’s bootvis here: http://majorgeeks.com/BootVis_d664.html. This is only a graphical tool to visualize the startup processes, it doesn’t “do” anything, nor can you use it to change anything, but it does help in understanding what’s being loaded, and when, at boot.
Actually when the connection goes bad... I check the Device Manager for the NIC and it says there that it is connected and working..... it has to be connected and working if the other two PC's on the same router are getting connection just fine.
That's one of the first things I tried... saw that suggestion from someone on Microsoft's forum. No change in problem.
I am happy to hear that you have your win 7 running smoothly now.
This just might turn out to not be a windows problem, but perhaps a bad NIC card. Convincing Dell is the trick, they want you to reinstall several times before they will admit a part had a problem.
LurkedLongEnough, I would NOT hesitate to install your new WIN 7 over Vista............. nothing, I repeat nothing (wellll maybe WIN ME) could be worse than Vista. I skipped Vista altogether on desktops after a bad experience with a laptop.
Are you using a wireless network adapter? We have had that problem with work and finally I just wired nearly all the computers.
I dont have Windows 7, but in XP I would make sure I had all the Windows Updates installed, and if that failed, to go to support.dell.com with the system number and download the latest system drivers to your box. (You can find the system number on the back of the box)
Also, you stated you added software to your machine...I would make sure all that software is updated to the latest Win 7 version also....something might have written over your Dell settings when you installed the software.
NOT wireless.
Thanx for the response. I’m sorry that I don’t have a specific remedy for you.
I saw something very similar to this back when Microsquish released SP1 for XP. The wireless adapters would “dip out” on a regular basis and, at first, MS denied any complicity. Eventually they put out a hotfix that was eventually incorporated into SP2.
I think that 6SJ7 is closest to the core issue with his post #33 - an incompatibility between a NIC driver (in your case the Nvidia Ethernet driver) and Windows. The way to test is is to replace the Ethernet adapter with a different brand (I know - that sucks!). I picked up a USB Lynksys Ethernet Adapter for $10 on eBay that works great for this sort of thing. Nice thing about it is that you don’t have to crack the case to install it.
Install (temporarily) the other adapter and test for consistent “signal”. If it successfully resolves the issue you can try the manufacturer for a permanent fix for your Nvidia adapter.
I have had the same problem with a new laptop with Win 7 factory installed. Talked to AT&T, the carrier, HP, the laptop maker, and some ‘experts’ who all tend to agree that
1) there ARE glitches in Windows 7 despite reports that it is perfect. I have never contacted Microsoft
2) if you have wireless, that alone can cause trouble as wireless can be very sensitive to interference of various types.
3) ISP (in this case AT&T) readily admits problems with connectivity and I suppose if others were honest they would too. I’ve been talked thru ‘fixes’ and rarely have problems now.
Once in awhile I have to shut down and ‘power cycle’ and this takes just a minute.
Probably this will be ironed out soon — hope so — don’t want to have many problems in future.
That is the default setting. However, if you want to verify you can run “netsh interface tcp show global” and it will show you the global parameters.
This autotune setting is part of the advancements in networking beginning with Vista and continuing with Windows 7.
Unlike the “common sense”, I am a huge fan of Vista (and more so of Windows 7). I’m an IT Director with systems in 3 different time zones and Vista completely changed (for the better) the management I can do remotely for my users. Most of the crashes (especially BSODs) with early iterations of Vista (especially pre-SP1) were the fault of 3rd party drivers (see: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/03/28/29-of-windows-vista-crashes-caused-by-nvidia-drivers/). Once the hardware manufacturers got up to speed these issues were fixed once and for all. In addition, a Vista/Windows 7 network with Server 2008/Server 2008 R2 on the backend is 2-3 times faster than the equivalent network on XP and Server 2003.
I just swapped out a PC for my church this morning, and they are on AT&T as well. It was horrible - constant disconnects, etc. Part of the issue is they use PPPoE for their low-end DSL clients. If you have a router between the DSL modem and your PC, check to see if there is a firmware update for it. If so, run the upgrade, and then see if you have a “keep alive” option in it to keep the internet connection live.
One more question - those are some nice system specs, did you build it yourself? If so, when you loaded the NVIDIA NIC driver, did you load the firewall software that came with it? I made that mistake once, and will never do so again. If you did, uninstall it, and then load the NIC driver only.
Assuming this is an integrated NIC I would say it is an ACPI issue. I would boot into BIOS and disable any settings for the NIC other than Enabling it. Example is the Wake On LAN setting. The BIOS hardware interrupt(s) may be interfering with the OS control of the NIC. Also be sure to update to the latest BIOS.
I have a cable connection, not DSL. It works great on my other WIN XP PCs. And in answer to your other question, the WIN7 PC with the connection issue ... no, I didn't build it. It's a Dell, so they installed the NIC. I did uninstall the NIC's driver and let WIN 7 find a new driver on reboot. How can I check to see if they installed a firewall along with the NIC? since you suggested I remove that.
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