Beating it with a stick seems to help...

[Brian Kastel]

Ok, sorry about the title, but I don't even know how to classify this
problem. I have WinXP Home (sue me), and a cable modem Internet connection.
Everything is set up and works just dandy. Except one thing. When the
computer is idle for a spell, something happens to lock out Internet
connectivity. When I said that beating it with a stick helps, that's
because it does. If I repeatedly click on IE rapidly and multiple times (I
go for at least 16 clicks), that will somehow unlock the connection and I
can then browse. This is the ONLY way to get connectivity after the
freeze-out. When the 'Net is locked out, that means I cannot access it with
any application, whether IE, OE, a newsreader, or even my favorite online
RPG. Beating it with the IE stick several times in quick succession
un-freezes the connection, and then I can access the Internet with any other
application. Sometimes, I have to beat it twice like that in order to get
it into compliance, and when it's feeling really snarky it makes me beat it
three times like this, but I eventually get it into submission and get on
the 'Net.

I don't even know how to Google something like this, and I think myself
pretty imaginative. In addition to this, this has happened to me before, on
a totally different computer, also running WinXP Home. I somehow solved the
issue on that PC (which I still have up and running and am using right now).
IIRC, I removed a certain update, and the issue was resolved, and I never
allowed it to install that update again (or batch of updates, really, since
I don't think I narrowed it down any further). Has anyone else had this
problem, or even a clue to help me Google something? This has to be a known
issue. When it happened once, I thought it was strange, but now that it's
happened on a completely different system with different architecture, it
strikes me as very weird. I'll keep looking, because I know it's related to
a Windows Update, but I'm pretty flummoxed by this very strange behavior.
(There is no spyware, virus, or any process running that should interfere
with Internet connectivity; it's a pretty trim system, installed merely for
gaming backup, so it's almost out of the box. I am using ZoneAlarm, SpyBot
S&D, and AVG Free; same as on the working system.)

TIA for any leads.

 

[Chuck]

Ok, sorry about the title, but I don't even know how to classify this
problem. I have WinXP Home (sue me), and a cable modem Internet connection.
Everything is set up and works just dandy. Except one thing. When the
computer is idle for a spell, something happens to lock out Internet
connectivity. When I said that beating it with a stick helps, that's
because it does. If I repeatedly click on IE rapidly and multiple times (I
go for at least 16 clicks), that will somehow unlock the connection and I
can then browse. This is the ONLY way to get connectivity after the
freeze-out. When the 'Net is locked out, that means I cannot access it with
any application, whether IE, OE, a newsreader, or even my favorite online
RPG. Beating it with the IE stick several times in quick succession
un-freezes the connection, and then I can access the Internet with any other
application. Sometimes, I have to beat it twice like that in order to get
it into compliance, and when it's feeling really snarky it makes me beat it
three times like this, but I eventually get it into submission and get on
the 'Net.

I don't even know how to Google something like this, and I think myself
pretty imaginative. In addition to this, this has happened to me before, on
a totally different computer, also running WinXP Home. I somehow solved the
issue on that PC (which I still have up and running and am using right now).
IIRC, I removed a certain update, and the issue was resolved, and I never
allowed it to install that update again (or batch of updates, really, since
I don't think I narrowed it down any further). Has anyone else had this
problem, or even a clue to help me Google something? This has to be a known
issue. When it happened once, I thought it was strange, but now that it's
happened on a completely different system with different architecture, it
strikes me as very weird. I'll keep looking, because I know it's related to
a Windows Update, but I'm pretty flummoxed by this very strange behavior.
(There is no spyware, virus, or any process running that should interfere
with Internet connectivity; it's a pretty trim system, installed merely for
gaming backup, so it's almost out of the box. I am using ZoneAlarm, SpyBot
S&D, and AVG Free; same as on the working system.)

TIA for any leads.

If the computer is idle for a time, and loses connectivity, check the power
settings on the network card.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/does-your-computer-lose-network.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/does-your-computer-lose-network.html

 

[Michael W. Ryder]

Ok, sorry about the title, but I don't even know how to classify this
problem. I have WinXP Home (sue me), and a cable modem Internet connection.
Everything is set up and works just dandy. Except one thing. When the
computer is idle for a spell, something happens to lock out Internet
connectivity. When I said that beating it with a stick helps, that's
because it does. If I repeatedly click on IE rapidly and multiple times (I
go for at least 16 clicks), that will somehow unlock the connection and I
can then browse. This is the ONLY way to get connectivity after the
freeze-out. When the 'Net is locked out, that means I cannot access it with
any application, whether IE, OE, a newsreader, or even my favorite online
RPG. Beating it with the IE stick several times in quick succession
un-freezes the connection, and then I can access the Internet with any other
application. Sometimes, I have to beat it twice like that in order to get
it into compliance, and when it's feeling really snarky it makes me beat it
three times like this, but I eventually get it into submission and get on
the 'Net.

I don't even know how to Google something like this, and I think myself
pretty imaginative. In addition to this, this has happened to me before, on
a totally different computer, also running WinXP Home. I somehow solved the
issue on that PC (which I still have up and running and am using right now).
IIRC, I removed a certain update, and the issue was resolved, and I never
allowed it to install that update again (or batch of updates, really, since
I don't think I narrowed it down any further). Has anyone else had this
problem, or even a clue to help me Google something? This has to be a known
issue. When it happened once, I thought it was strange, but now that it's
happened on a completely different system with different architecture, it
strikes me as very weird. I'll keep looking, because I know it's related to
a Windows Update, but I'm pretty flummoxed by this very strange behavior.
(There is no spyware, virus, or any process running that should interfere
with Internet connectivity; it's a pretty trim system, installed merely for
gaming backup, so it's almost out of the box. I am using ZoneAlarm, SpyBot
S&D, and AVG Free; same as on the working system.)

TIA for any leads.

What I do when my cable modem quits responding is to go into Network
Connections and have it repair the connection. If that doesn't work,
such as after using a VPN connection, I disable the connection and
re-enable it.

 

[Brian Kastel]

If the computer is idle for a time, and loses connectivity, check the
power
settings on the network card.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/does-your-computer-lose-network.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/does-your-computer-lose-network.html

Thanks. I'll check this out. But I didn't have to do this to fix this
computer.

 

[Brian Kastel]

What I do when my cable modem quits responding is to go into Network
Connections and have it repair the connection. If that doesn't work, such
as after using a VPN connection, I disable the connection and re-enable
it.

Cable modem and router are fine, as this computer uses them w/o issue.
Thanks for the tip, though. I'll try the disable/reenable, but that is
going to be just as annoying as beating it with a stick.

 

[V Green]

Brian:

Next time this happens, open up a Command Prompt and
PING a known good site (yahoo, google, or something).

See if this jumpstarts the connection.

Or if you get some other useful info (timeout, etc.) that
might shed light on the real problem.

Had a similar problem here, with a WISP connection,
and that is what worked for me (well, most of the time,
anyway).

Also do an IPCONFIG /all while in the Command Prompt
and see what it says and if it makes sense.