From: JClark on
Hello Group:

After two days of work, I'm ready to ask for help!

The Problem:
Internet connection gets dropped without warning after
about 10 minutes, even in the middle of a download. I can
still ping websites from cmd prompt, but I can't get back
on line with IE or Firefox unless I reboot. (It's my son's
computer so I don't know what precipitating events might
have caused it.)

The equipment:
Sony Vaio notebook, VGN-BX760. Windows XP Pro, SP3. My son uses it as
a standalone computer with wireless connection. I'm testing it through
my wired router since that's what I use at home.

My Efforts:

Ran Virus check, spyware check. Then completely uninstalled
antispyware, antivirus and firewall programs and disabled Windows
firewall. Ran chkdsk /r, weeded out any programs that didn't
look appropriate. In Device manager, checked the network
adapter to make sure it was not allowed to be turned off to
save power. I did this with all devices, even hidden ones.
Checked ipconfig /all and ran ipconfig /release and /renew. I ran
winsockxpfix.exe. Ran registry cleaner. Disabled screen saver. Googled
everything I could for internet connection "lost" or "dropped" and
chased a lot of false leads.

It does the same thing at my home as it does at my son's, so the
problem must be in the notebook and not in the router or cable or ISP.

I'm thinking of doing a windows "repair" from CD. I suppose I also
have to consider a hardware problem in the notebook's onboard network
adapter.

Thanks much for any suggestions.

Jack
From: John Wunderlich on
JClark <jclark(a)nomail.invalid> wrote in
news:cqf1j4p830q4ca5598hkchsoq7l8dpvopu(a)4ax.com:

> Hello Group:
>
> After two days of work, I'm ready to ask for help!
>
> The Problem:
> Internet connection gets dropped without warning after
> about 10 minutes, even in the middle of a download. I can
> still ping websites from cmd prompt, but I can't get back
> on line with IE or Firefox unless I reboot. (It's my son's
> computer so I don't know what precipitating events might
> have caused it.)
>
> The equipment:
> Sony Vaio notebook, VGN-BX760. Windows XP Pro, SP3. My son uses it
> as a standalone computer with wireless connection. I'm testing it
> through my wired router since that's what I use at home.
>
> My Efforts:
>
> Ran Virus check, spyware check. Then completely uninstalled
> antispyware, antivirus and firewall programs and disabled Windows
> firewall. Ran chkdsk /r, weeded out any programs that didn't
> look appropriate. In Device manager, checked the network
> adapter to make sure it was not allowed to be turned off to
> save power. I did this with all devices, even hidden ones.
> Checked ipconfig /all and ran ipconfig /release and /renew. I ran
> winsockxpfix.exe. Ran registry cleaner. Disabled screen saver.
> Googled everything I could for internet connection "lost" or
> "dropped" and chased a lot of false leads.
>
> It does the same thing at my home as it does at my son's, so the
> problem must be in the notebook and not in the router or cable or
> ISP.
>
> I'm thinking of doing a windows "repair" from CD. I suppose I also
> have to consider a hardware problem in the notebook's onboard
> network adapter.
>
> Thanks much for any suggestions.
>
> Jack
>

Most likely it is some program on your computer that is causing this.
You say you removed firewall programs -- did you also remove VPN
Clients? Some VPN clients have a firewall built-in that works even
when the client is not activated. I once helped someone with similar
symptoms and it turned out to be a VPN Client.

Also, try booting to Safe Mode with Networking and see if the problem
still exists. If it doesn't, then try using MSConfig (Start->Run->
msconfig) to selectively disable various startup programs and
services until you hit on the one that is causing the problem.

HTH,
John
From: JClark on
On Fri, 28 Nov 2008 21:31:19 -0800, John Wunderlich
<jwunderlich(a)lycos.com> wrote:

>JClark <jclark(a)nomail.invalid> wrote in
>news:cqf1j4p830q4ca5598hkchsoq7l8dpvopu(a)4ax.com:
>
>> Hello Group:
>>
>> After two days of work, I'm ready to ask for help!
>>
>> The Problem:
>> Internet connection gets dropped without warning after
>> about 10 minutes, even in the middle of a download. I can
>> still ping websites from cmd prompt, but I can't get back
>> on line with IE or Firefox unless I reboot. (It's my son's
>> computer so I don't know what precipitating events might
>> have caused it.)
>>
>> The equipment:
>> Sony Vaio notebook, VGN-BX760. Windows XP Pro, SP3. My son uses it
>> as a standalone computer with wireless connection. I'm testing it
>> through my wired router since that's what I use at home.
>>
>> My Efforts:
>>
>> Ran Virus check, spyware check. Then completely uninstalled
>> antispyware, antivirus and firewall programs and disabled Windows
>> firewall. Ran chkdsk /r, weeded out any programs that didn't
>> look appropriate. In Device manager, checked the network
>> adapter to make sure it was not allowed to be turned off to
>> save power. I did this with all devices, even hidden ones.
>> Checked ipconfig /all and ran ipconfig /release and /renew. I ran
>> winsockxpfix.exe. Ran registry cleaner. Disabled screen saver.
>> Googled everything I could for internet connection "lost" or
>> "dropped" and chased a lot of false leads.
>>
>> It does the same thing at my home as it does at my son's, so the
>> problem must be in the notebook and not in the router or cable or
>> ISP.
>>
>> I'm thinking of doing a windows "repair" from CD. I suppose I also
>> have to consider a hardware problem in the notebook's onboard
>> network adapter.
>>
>> Thanks much for any suggestions.
>>
>> Jack
>>
>
>Most likely it is some program on your computer that is causing this.
>You say you removed firewall programs -- did you also remove VPN
>Clients? Some VPN clients have a firewall built-in that works even
>when the client is not activated. I once helped someone with similar
>symptoms and it turned out to be a VPN Client.
>
>Also, try booting to Safe Mode with Networking and see if the problem
>still exists. If it doesn't, then try using MSConfig (Start->Run->
>msconfig) to selectively disable various startup programs and
>services until you hit on the one that is causing the problem.
>
>HTH,
> John
John,
Thanks for the suggestions. I'm pretty sure there isn't a VPN client
installed. I'm not familiar with them, and I set up this system for my
son. Is there any specific way I should look for a VPN client?

Good idea -- safe mode with networking. I'll try it and report back.
Also the selective msconfig list.

Again, many thanks.

Jack
From: Barb Bowman on
if you are saying that it previously was working without any issues,
it is possible that a driver update/windows update changed things.
can you try a system restore to a point before you started having
issues?

On Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:38:29 -0500, JClark <jclark(a)nomail.invalid>
wrote:

>Hello Group:
>
>After two days of work, I'm ready to ask for help!
>
>The Problem:
>Internet connection gets dropped without warning after
>about 10 minutes, even in the middle of a download. I can
>still ping websites from cmd prompt, but I can't get back
>on line with IE or Firefox unless I reboot. (It's my son's
>computer so I don't know what precipitating events might
>have caused it.)
>
>The equipment:
>Sony Vaio notebook, VGN-BX760. Windows XP Pro, SP3. My son uses it as
>a standalone computer with wireless connection. I'm testing it through
>my wired router since that's what I use at home.
>
>My Efforts:
>
>Ran Virus check, spyware check. Then completely uninstalled
>antispyware, antivirus and firewall programs and disabled Windows
>firewall. Ran chkdsk /r, weeded out any programs that didn't
>look appropriate. In Device manager, checked the network
>adapter to make sure it was not allowed to be turned off to
>save power. I did this with all devices, even hidden ones.
>Checked ipconfig /all and ran ipconfig /release and /renew. I ran
>winsockxpfix.exe. Ran registry cleaner. Disabled screen saver. Googled
>everything I could for internet connection "lost" or "dropped" and
>chased a lot of false leads.
>
>It does the same thing at my home as it does at my son's, so the
>problem must be in the notebook and not in the router or cable or ISP.
>
>I'm thinking of doing a windows "repair" from CD. I suppose I also
>have to consider a hardware problem in the notebook's onboard network
>adapter.
>
>Thanks much for any suggestions.
>
>Jack
--

Barb Bowman
MS-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
http://digitalmediaphile.wordpress.com
From: JClark on
On Sat, 29 Nov 2008 06:55:50 -0500, Barb Bowman <barb(a)nospam.com>
wrote:

>if you are saying that it previously was working without any issues,
>it is possible that a driver update/windows update changed things.
>can you try a system restore to a point before you started having
>issues?
>
>On Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:38:29 -0500, JClark <jclark(a)nomail.invalid>
>wrote:
>
>>Hello Group:
>>
>>After two days of work, I'm ready to ask for help!
>>
>>The Problem:
>>Internet connection gets dropped without warning after
>>about 10 minutes, even in the middle of a download. I can
>>still ping websites from cmd prompt, but I can't get back
>>on line with IE or Firefox unless I reboot. (It's my son's
>>computer so I don't know what precipitating events might
>>have caused it.)
>>
>>The equipment:
>>Sony Vaio notebook, VGN-BX760. Windows XP Pro, SP3. My son uses it as
>>a standalone computer with wireless connection. I'm testing it through
>>my wired router since that's what I use at home.
>>
>>My Efforts:
>>
>>Ran Virus check, spyware check. Then completely uninstalled
>>antispyware, antivirus and firewall programs and disabled Windows
>>firewall. Ran chkdsk /r, weeded out any programs that didn't
>>look appropriate. In Device manager, checked the network
>>adapter to make sure it was not allowed to be turned off to
>>save power. I did this with all devices, even hidden ones.
>>Checked ipconfig /all and ran ipconfig /release and /renew. I ran
>>winsockxpfix.exe. Ran registry cleaner. Disabled screen saver. Googled
>>everything I could for internet connection "lost" or "dropped" and
>>chased a lot of false leads.
>>
>>It does the same thing at my home as it does at my son's, so the
>>problem must be in the notebook and not in the router or cable or ISP.
>>
>>I'm thinking of doing a windows "repair" from CD. I suppose I also
>>have to consider a hardware problem in the notebook's onboard network
>>adapter.
>>
>>Thanks much for any suggestions.
>>
>>Jack
Thanks Barb, but I don't think that will work. The updates were a
mess, because my son had been trying for weeks to do the updates and
the connection would time out half way through the update. To try to
remedy this, I installed SP3, in safe mode, after installing subinacl
and running Vishal's script to unlock registry keys preventing
install. It seemed to go well. But I don't think I can get back to a
restore point. The internet connection dropout has apparently been
going on for several weeks.
I appreciate the suggestion.
I'm still working on John's suggestions and will report back.

Jack