Networking/Internet cuts off in Windows XP Until restart

[Guest]

Hi. I have this recurring problem that is driving me crazy and I have no idea
where it is coming from.

The internet will randomly cut off while I am using the computer. I can't
browse or access my router (10.0.0.2). The computer upstairs continues to
work fine, but no matter which network adapter of my computer I try using,
there is no access at all (i have dual lan).
This problem vanishes when I restart the computer but will come again
randomly. This is EXTREMELY annoying.

I have scanned for viruses and spyware and have none of them at all.

I really have no idea what is causing this. If you want my system specs they
are as follows:

MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum (Dual Gigabit LAN)
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
Maxtor 160GB S-ATA
Athlon 64 3700+

If you want anything else please dont hesitate to ask. I doubt this problem
will be resolved but I hope it does as i am DESPERATE to get this fixed.
Please don't tell me to search google as I have no idea what to search for as
the results i seem to get are so vague.

Thanks!

 

[Malke]

Hi. I have this recurring problem that is driving me crazy and I have
no idea where it is coming from.

The internet will randomly cut off while I am using the computer. I
can't browse or access my router (10.0.0.2). The computer upstairs
continues to work fine, but no matter which network adapter of my
computer I try using, there is no access at all (i have dual lan).
This problem vanishes when I restart the computer but will come again
randomly. This is EXTREMELY annoying.

I have scanned for viruses and spyware and have none of them at all.

I really have no idea what is causing this. If you want my system
specs they are as follows:

MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum (Dual Gigabit LAN)
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
Maxtor 160GB S-ATA
Athlon 64 3700+

If you want anything else please dont hesitate to ask. I doubt this
problem will be resolved but I hope it does as i am DESPERATE to get
this fixed. Please don't tell me to search google as I have no idea
what to search for as the results i seem to get are so vague.

Have you disabled power management? Find the network devices in Device
Manager (Control Panel>System>Hardware). Double-click each to get its
Properties. Click on the Power Management tab and clear the checkbox
for "allow Windows to turn off this device when not in use".

If that doesn't work, random failures are usually hardware-related.
Since you say the problem occurs with two separate NIC's, swap out the
cable, try a different cable, try a different port on the router, try a
different router.

And of course:

The First Question Of Troubleshooting: what changed between the time
things worked and the time they didn't?

The Second Question of Windows Troubleshooting: what is the
malware/virus status of the machine? If you think it is clean, what
programs (and versions) did you use to determine this?

Malke

 

[Guest]

Hi. I tried disabling power management but this did nothing. I am still
getting this frustrating problem.
I checked for viruses with the latest version of Kaspersky Antivirus with no
viruses found. This is a very recent install of Windows as well. I have no
idea what is going on.
I have tried different cables. This does nothing. I have also tried
different ports. This has done nothing. Trying a different router probably
would do nothing as the computer upstairs can access the internet fine.
I appreciate your help and hope there is a solution to my problem.

 

[Malke]

Hi. I tried disabling power management but this did nothing. I am
still getting this frustrating problem.
I checked for viruses with the latest version of Kaspersky Antivirus
with no viruses found. This is a very recent install of Windows as
well. I have no idea what is going on.
I have tried different cables. This does nothing. I have also tried
different ports. This has done nothing. Trying a different router
probably would do nothing as the computer upstairs can access the
internet fine. I appreciate your help and hope there is a solution to
my problem.

What about this:

The First Question Of Troubleshooting: what changed between the time
things worked and the time they didn't?

Did the network ever work reliably?

Are there are clues in Event Viewer?
Start>Run>eventvwr.msc [enter]

Why did you need to reinstall Windows? Or is this a brand-new machine?

Malke

 

[Guest]

Hi.
I reinstalled windows as I was upgrading to Windows XP Media Center Edition
(previously I had XP professional). I had to do a fresh install.

I looked at this event viewer and went into system, and there was a
"Warning" at the top. When I clicked it it showed:


"TCP/IP has reached the security limit imposed on the number of concurrent
TCP connect attempts.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp."

Hi. I tried disabling power management but this did nothing. I am
still getting this frustrating problem.
I checked for viruses with the latest version of Kaspersky Antivirus
with no viruses found. This is a very recent install of Windows as
well. I have no idea what is going on.
I have tried different cables. This does nothing. I have also tried
different ports. This has done nothing. Trying a different router
probably would do nothing as the computer upstairs can access the
internet fine. I appreciate your help and hope there is a solution to
my problem.

What about this:

The First Question Of Troubleshooting: what changed between the time
things worked and the time they didn't?

Did the network ever work reliably?

Are there are clues in Event Viewer?
Start>Run>eventvwr.msc [enter]

Why did you need to reinstall Windows? Or is this a brand-new machine?

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

 

[Malke]

Hi.
I reinstalled windows as I was upgrading to Windows XP Media Center
Edition (previously I had XP professional). I had to do a fresh
install.

I looked at this event viewer and went into system, and there was a
"Warning" at the top. When I clicked it it showed:


"TCP/IP has reached the security limit imposed on the number of
concurrent TCP connect attempts.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp."

Are you running file-sharing software (P2P)?

When you clean-installed Windows, did you also install all the drivers
for your hardware?

Malke

 

[Guest]

I haven't been running P2P software and I installed all of the hardware when
I reinstalled windows. (I have reinstalled windows countless times before and
I just carried on the same routine I usually do of installing drivers).

 

[Malke]

I haven't been running P2P software and I installed all of the
hardware when I reinstalled windows. (I have reinstalled windows
countless times before and I just carried on the same routine I
usually do of installing drivers).

Then I'm afraid I don't know why you're getting that error. Look in
Event Viewer again and write down the Event ID number. You can then
look it up at www.eventid.net.

Malke

 

[Guest]

I have a simalar situiation. That has been with only one of our five
computers in the house(4 win98se and 1 xp....the xp has the problem). We had
Comcast and now Verizon and still the problem persits. I had all power
options set to "never" turn off anything. What about Hibernation? I just
checked and removed the check next to Hibernation, although the computer
never would go to sleep. Te desk top would still be on but when I tried to
access the internet or check email via OE I coulsn't conect.
Thanks..........

 

[Guest]

I got this problem again this morning and this error did not appear, so it
does not appear to be linked to my problem. I guess i'm going to have to keep
restarting my computer constantly until this problem fixes itself, which
could be in months....

 

[Malke]

I got this problem again this morning and this error did not appear,
so it does not appear to be linked to my problem. I guess i'm going to
have to keep restarting my computer constantly until this problem
fixes itself, which could be in months....

The only way to figure this out is by very methodical troubleshooting of
both the software and hardware.

Software - Start by doing clean-boot troubleshooting:

Clean boot in Windows XP - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310353
Clean-boot advanced troubleshooting in Windows XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316434
and How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310560

You have to make one change at a time and test extensively after making
each change. Make notes about what you do.

Another good way to determine if the problem is caused by software
(Windows) or hardware is to boot with Knoppix, a Linux distro that runs
from cd. If the networking stays fine under Knoppix, then you know that
something you've got running in Windows is causing the problem. If the
problem persists under a different operating system, then you know the
problem is hardware.

You can get Knoppix from www.knoppix.net. You need a fast Internet
connection and third-party burning software to burn the .iso.

Hardware - If doing a clean-boot doesn't help and the problems continue
under Knoppix, then you need to start swapping out hardware. You say
you've already swapped cables, so you need to start with the NIC. Swap
it out for a known-working one. If doing that doesn't help, swap out
the router. I don't care if the other computer works with the router;
if you've eliminated everything else but the router and still have the
problem, you've Sherlocked the answer.

Malke

 

[Guest]

Does IPCONFIG /release and IPCONFIG /RENEW work? or the only way is to
restart the PC?
I am trying to figure out if the NIC card is dropping the connection.

 

[Guest]

Hi! Thanks for the help so far, I'll give those things a try when I next can.
Just a quick update:

Firstly I can't swap out NIC's as they are built into my motherboard.
Secondly, the problem just occured and I was on MSN messenger talking to
someone and also downloading the Knoppix ISO. When the problem occured, I
could continue talking to my friend on MSN messenger and the download for the
Knoppix ISO continued, but i couldn't connect to any websites or initaite any
new conversations (my messages didn't get through).
This makes the problem even more odd as I have no idea what is causing it.
Any ideas?

 

[Malke]

Hi! Thanks for the help so far, I'll give those things a try when I
next can. Just a quick update:

Firstly I can't swap out NIC's as they are built into my motherboard.
Secondly, the problem just occured and I was on MSN messenger talking
to someone and also downloading the Knoppix ISO. When the problem
occured, I could continue talking to my friend on MSN messenger and
the download for the Knoppix ISO continued, but i couldn't connect to
any websites or initaite any new conversations (my messages didn't get
through). This makes the problem even more odd as I have no idea what
is causing it. Any ideas?

You can't swap out NIC's built into a motherboard but you can disable
them and put in a PCI NIC and use it. Get Knoppix from a different
computer.

It sounds like any time you are trying to pull a fair amount of data you
lose connectivity. This points to hardware. I'm afraid I don't have any
more ideas for you except to do the methodical troubleshooting I
already suggested. Perhaps having a computer professional come on-site
would be better for you; only you can make that decision.

Malke

 

[Guest]

Hi. It's a shame this problem hasn't been resolved. I will try the methodical
troubleshooting, but in the end I think a reinstall of Windows XP will just
be quicker and easier than having to pay for NIC's and Computer professionals
to come (which i, as a student, can't afford).
I can continue downloading Knoppix on this computer as I said when the
internet stalls, downloads continue and conversations continue, it just seems
to be new connections that are refused.

Thanks for all your help anyway.

 

[Malke]

Hi. It's a shame this problem hasn't been resolved. I will try the
methodical troubleshooting, but in the end I think a reinstall of
Windows XP will just be quicker and easier than having to pay for
NIC's and Computer professionals to come (which i, as a student, can't
afford). I can continue downloading Knoppix on this computer as I said
when the internet stalls, downloads continue and conversations
continue, it just seems to be new connections that are refused.

If the problem is hardware, a reinstall of Windows will not solve
anything. A NIC can be purchased for as little as $5USD; a decent one
costs $10. Finding out what is wrong takes time, patience, luck, and
skill.

Good luck and I hope you solve your problem.

Malke

 

[Guest]

i am experiencing the same issue also. I posted this usse some time ago.
There are no pinger print to at least point you in the right direction. At
present i am running XP PRO SP2 with all the current updates. I am running
DUAL 3COM 10/100 NICS (PCI) and have changed PCI slots multiple times. THis
is not hardware related i'm sure. Reason i say so is because when i initiate
a connection to my router admin page, i then open up a connection status
screen which polls my connection every 5 sec. This for some reason keeps the
conenction alive.

The moment i close the screen it stops working. I ran a continuous ping
against www.google.com and every 45-50 sec i would experience an outage for
another 2 min. My ISP checked my line and could not find an issues. Futher
more i am now running on a new DSLAM with improved connectivity.

I feel that this issue may be more closely related to a patch and or
update.. I find it hard to believe that so many people are experiencing the
same issue.


For the record i am an IT professional and have troubleshoted almost all
options to no avail....

I will however run a clean boot and diagnostic boot once i get home to the
erronous computer to see what happens..

Look forward to your reply.

Terry