Windows 7 loosing Internet Connection at odd times

vanity

[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

[downwdims]

I had to do a similar thing. It was maddening. Be deep into a Team Fortress game and all of a sudden, i’m toast. Replaced an old Cable Modem a few weeks ago and no problems since!

[HairOfTheDog]

Is it Comcast? I actually think it’s Comcast, not you, who has been having some intermittent issues with connectivity. We’ve had it happen a few times in recent days, connection lost for a few minutes at a time, then it appears to fix itself, whether we reset the modem or not.

It’s happened with both my machine, which is Windows 7, and hubby’s machine which is on XP.

[ThePatriotsFlag]

I started having the same problem, and it is intermittent which makes it more aggravating. You’ll probably see that your network adapter is not connected. And you can go through all the diagnosis you want, and it won’t solve the problem. I had a Realtek 8185 Extensible 802 adapter in my laptop. I went to Best Buy and bought a $49 usb adapter, then DISABLED the realtek using the DEVICE MANAGER. When you install the usb adapter, be sure to use your function keys to TURN OFF your wireless capability. (If it is still on, the new adapter will not install ... and if you call them for help, you get somebody in India that puts you on hold and leaves you hanging for a half hour!). Once installed, do not “enable” the old adapter and DO NOT turn your wireless capability back on with the function keys. My new adapter, that I have had for 3 days now has not dropped me once. Bottom line, I think there is a driver problem, at least for the realtek adapters in many laptops and Windows 7. Anyway, its a $49 solution, but worth it for me. Hope this helps.

[ThePatriotsFlag]

.... and all the drivers were updated and the ‘latest’ and I had done all the updates. Look at the adapter.

[fremont_steve]

Let me double up on the “replace the adapter” comment. Go spend a little money on a USB adapter and disable the built-in one. My wife’s HP wireless decided to crap out after less than a year. It’s easier to run down to the store and pick up a USB version of what broke and install it instead of trying to go through the customer support path. Maybe it cost me a few more bucks - but the headache is solved (and wife isn’t nagging about her computer not working ;-)

This allows you to get a clean install on a new driver AND avoid the problem if it’s really a hardware issue. So it’s a two-fer.

IF you still have a problem after going to this extreme - time to replace or re-install Windows 7. Can I interest you in a nice Linux install - perhaps Ubuntu? ;-)

[jessduntno]

“If the internet connection is too tight, the LOL cats can’t get through.”

Yep...it’s either a driver problem...or a hairball...

[Krankor]

I have a new PC with Windows 7. At odd times I loose the Internet connection.

Windows 7 works best at even times.

[snippy_about_it]

Ping. Since you’ll be getting Windows 7 soon on a Dell, you might want to keep this handy.

[Justa]

I had this issue and worse after doing a W7 install on an HP proprietary PC. Two issues to check (in order of relevance):

1) Remove Power Management setting from the NIC. This almost certainly is the cause. W7 doesn't play nice with Power Management sleep settings with many hardware devices (USB root hub, NIC, System sleep, etc.)
Goto: Device Manger, R-Click NIC, Properties, Power Management Tab, Uncheck "Allow computer to turn off...". You should also go to the Display properties, Screen Saver, Power and set "Turn off Hard Disks" to Never. Although it's unrelated to the NIC issue it will cause hangs if/when the OS can't wake up the drive.

2) NIC driver. Use Device Manager and auto-update via the Windows site. But this likely isn't it. From my experience The "I have to Reboot to restore [device]" is the W7's Power Management not being fully coded for the hardware to enable re-start of device. Just turn off Power Management (Uncheck 'Allow Computer to Turn Off') for all the devices listed above and you should be fine.

It took me a week of tweaking but now our W7 runs like a champ. Best of luck.

[notfornothing]

[LurkedLongEnough]

All your internet are belong to us.

(You can reply to my future vanity post in a few weeks when my free copy of Windows 7 arrives from my OEM. I’m wondering if and when to install it over Vista (slap me).)

[Yardstick]

I have Earthlink DSL and I had several dropouts yesterday. Maybe it’s a larger problem with teh intarwebs.

OTOH, the original poster mentioned that only his windows 7 computer was affected, not his others.

[6SJ7]

Apple Pan,

Checkout this document for a one possible solution to the issue of Windows 7 dropping internet connection related to a default setting for IPv6 (which you'll want to uncheck).

BTW, I am a Mac guy.

[Alice in Wonderland]

I installed Zone Alarm on the 3 computers in the household. No problems with two of them but it caused one to lose its internet connection frequently. I switched over to Avast on that computer and haven’t had any further problems.

[rockrr]

You don’t say how you connect this PC to your router - is it wireless?

[Lees Swrd]

you may try this it should work with win7. go to system tools open your command prompt or dos prompt type in the command line type in without the = sign ====ipconfig/release===== when it finishes type in ===== ipconfig/renew ===== this should reset your modem without having to reboot your whole system I do know it worked with vista and dsl it should work with cable and win7 too. and no i will not tell how old I am lol you used to have to know this just to get on the net!!!! these 2 commands do the same as rebooting your whole system without having to reboot.they are old old commands, me i run nothing but Linux usually redhat but the last few weeks debian hey its free .......

[DeFault User]

My wife’s HP wireless decided to crap out after less than a year. It’s easier to run down to the store and pick up a USB version of what broke and install it instead of trying to go through the customer support path.

My wife's HP Vista machine has the same problem. The wireless drops the connection and won't reconnect until I reset the router. I bought an "N" router, reset the "sleep" function on her machine and typed in registry patches from MS. Although it drops it less frequently now, it's still a headache. The XP machines I have don't experience this problem. The USB wireless is a good idea. Occham's razor to the rescue!

[SonOfGriz]

Disable autotuning on your NIC.
1) Open an elevated command prompt (search for “Command”, then right-click and click “Run As Administrator”)
2) Type in the following: “netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled” then hit enter.
3) Reboot and see if that helps.

9 times out of 10 this will take care of networking issues like you described.

[listenhillary]

How do you know if it is turned on?

[valkyry1]

sounds like a hardware or interference problem to me