Anyone want to help me kill my computer?
Monday, January 16, 2006 by lifehappens | Discussion: Personal Computing
I have Vonage and get phone service without interuption, so I know the modem and router are working fine. But somewhere between the router and the computer it all goes to heck. The computer says I have a LAN connection, but I can't access the internet. The only think that works is turning everything off and rebooting....to include unplugging the modem and router.
I've tried everythingk I know to figure out the problem. Sometimes i get a warning that no IP connection can be established and than other times I see a warning about a gateway. i am very frustrated. HELP!
And for bonus credit, I could use advice on whether I really need to upgrade. I run Adobe Photoshop CS2 and I'm locking up the computer constantly. I've tried to not mulittask too much, but I'm still running very slow. I have 1gig of ddrsdram and a 200 gb hd I have an AMD Athlon 64 3400+ (Emachines T6520) Do I really need a new graphics card and more Ram? I know I have 2 512 sticks so I'd have to buy 1 gig sticks and lose out on the money I paid for the 512s.......right?
I confess, I'm an idiot when it comes to the magic workings of computers....I know they work, I'm just not big on knowing how. But if you could explain it to me or give me an affordable recomendation.....I'd really be grateful.
Reply #2 Monday, January 16, 2006 12:09 PM
Here's a question - do you experience slow responses with other apps? or is it just PS?
You might want to do 3 things (just 'cause they're a good habit to get into)
1 - run a virus scan, always a good thing to do
2 - run an ad-ware scan (Ad-aware SE from www.lavasoft.de is a good one)
3 - run a spyware scan (Spybot S&D (Search & Destroy)) is a good one.
We usually do this once a week. If it starts acting sluggish, we'll do it more frequently.
Will say one thing, it's more than likely NOT the computer itself ... I'm very happy with the T6520. Of course, I was coming from an Athlon 1.3 w/ 384meg of RAM and 40 Gb hdd.
Reply #3 Monday, January 16, 2006 1:54 PM
1 - run a virus scan, always a good thing to do 2 - run an ad-ware scan (Ad-aware SE from www.lavasoft.de is a good one) 3 - run a spyware scan (Spybot S&D (Search & Destroy)) is a good one. |
The last 2 are a must. And I would download the Windows Beta software (it is pretty good) as it runs in the background, while the 2 listed above have to be run manually. But all 3 catch different things, so having all 3 is not a problem. And you would be surprised how much bandwidth those nasties can suck down!
I take it your vonage does not go through your gateway/Router? Most of those little gateway/routers do not support QOS which is essential for VOIP.
There are 2 other things I would check out (altho they will be hard). I have found that not all gateway/routers are the same. The Linksys I use to have was very flaky that way. A periodic reboot (power off and on) was essential for it. The Netgear I have now is much better (I also have one so old, it does not have a recognizable name brand, but it rarely gives me problems). Also, when you do lose your internet connection, make sure your DNS is still set correctly. Comcast has a nasty trick of constantly changing their DNS, so unless I refresh my IP and that of the gateway/router, I 'lose' internet connectivity.
Finally, do you run any P2P software? That can suck down your bandwidth fast, even if you do not have files shared. And a 'simple' uninstall does not get rid of all the pieces of it. That usually requires a registry hack.
Reply #4 Monday, January 16, 2006 2:42 PM
The VOIP device will launch a denial of service attack on your local router IP to preserve VOIP quality. If you call Vonage I doubt you will here those words repeated but you should check the fine print of your contract. Time Warner uses some interesting language to describe what they will do to provide QOS on the phone.
All of the other PC side suggestions are great thing to try and I have to agree that Windows Antispyware Beta has been a wonderful product in our enterprise. I use it on all of my personal PC's as well.
Reply #5 Monday, January 16, 2006 9:55 PM
Reply #6 Monday, January 16, 2006 10:54 PM
ipconfig /release
then
ipconfig /renew
works like a charm.
Reply #7 Tuesday, January 17, 2006 12:22 PM
Reply #9 Wednesday, January 18, 2006 1:11 AM
unless I refresh my IP and that of the gateway/router, I 'lose' internet connectivity |
How do you refresh the gateway? That seems to be the weak link (losing that most often)
Reply #10 Wednesday, January 18, 2006 1:33 AM
Reply #11 Wednesday, January 18, 2006 1:38 AM
Is it wired or wireless |
do you experience slow responses with other apps? |
Will say one thing, it's more than likely NOT the computer itself ... I'm very happy with the T6520. |
The VOIP device will launch a denial of service attack on your local router IP to preserve VOIP quality |
Finally, do you run any P2P software? That can suck down your bandwidth fast, even if you do not have files shared. And a 'simple' uninstall does not get rid of all the pieces of it. That usually requires a registry hack |
Reply #12 Wednesday, January 18, 2006 1:47 AM
Reply #13 Wednesday, January 18, 2006 2:49 AM
Reply #14 Wednesday, January 18, 2006 9:04 AM
How do you refresh the gateway? That seems to be the weak link (losing that most often) |
Power it off and back on.
Reply #15 Wednesday, January 18, 2006 4:33 PM
Cheers
Chris
Reply #16 Wednesday, January 18, 2006 9:18 PM
You may want to try Trendmicro's online virus scanner.
It's free and I use it whenever I feel there may be something
going on "behind my back" in my system.
http://www.trendmicro.com/en/home/global/enterprise.htm
Click the "Free Online Scan" link and then click through
the following pages installing the engine and definition
files.
(just click the "Scan Now. It's Free!" links and then on
the third page the "Launching HouseCall" button)
If you use Internet Explorer you can let it install the
scanning engine plugin which lets you scan your computer
from within IE.
If you use another browser you must install the Java runtime
environment.
Let us know what happens.
Reply #17 Wednesday, January 18, 2006 9:59 PM
BUT IF YOU WANT TO GET A 3LB SMALL SHORT SLEDGE HAMMER,
THAT GOES A LONG WAY IN THE DISTRUCTION PROCESS!
Reply #18 Thursday, January 19, 2006 4:35 AM
Reply #19 Thursday, January 19, 2006 8:44 AM
Still, I have a few more questions.....on the gateway issue.
Power it off and back on. |
software firewalls with so- called automatic network detection automatically block new networks until they are configured in the settings- I've known both Norton........do you use one of these software firewalls or just the windows firewall? The reason it might work when you turn the router/modem off then on is that the IP address allocation may be changing to something not blocked by a software firewall. The other clue is that you said the computer detects a LAN connection but you can't surf....sounds softwareish to me! |
Yes, I have Norton. how do I fix this? Should I just use the Windows or change the settings? If it's just the settings, than can you clue me in....
Cynder-Elluh-Thanks for the image of using a sledge hammer....but since I am poor, I better hold off on that and just dream of it!
Thanks again to everyone for putting up with what is probably a technogeeks biggest irritation-someone with just enough knowlege to get them confused even more!
Reply #20 Thursday, January 19, 2006 11:06 AM
Yes, I have Norton. how do I fix this? |
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Reply #1 Monday, January 16, 2006 11:49 AM
Second, I cannot imagine that your machine is not enough to run Photoshop. Sure, PS is a resource heavy program, but I have run it with no problems on a lesser system. When creating large files and doing more complex things, my system slows down noticeably, but not to the point of freezing up. I would suspect that perhaps there are other things going on. But I cannot be more precise than that. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be around to help.