Intermittent network/internet connection

G

Guest

[Orig. posted in General XP, but this seems like a better fit] Hope someone
has a fix for me... Since Saturday or so I've been having problems with my
other desktop (XP Home upgraded to SP2 within last 2 weeks) connecting to the
internet and being accessible on my network- intermittent access is how I
would describe it, as 9 times out of 10 (or more) I cannot connect to a web
page at all (slow movement on progress bar, eventually timing out to 'page
cannot be displayed'). However, on very rare occasions I will connect to a
page that seems to load just fine, but then following a link on that page
inevitably returns me to the flapping MS flag and eventual familiar page
error.

First I thought it was a cable issue... swapped cables. No go. Then maybe a
screwy port on my router... swapped ports, no mas. Them possibly the router
itself... bypassed it and connected pc directly to cable modem, no dice. Of
course, I rebooted/reset ALL hardware (modems, router, pcs) at each step.
None of these fixed anything. So I contacted HP support and spent quite a
while with 2 of their techs today, troubleshooting various things (mostly
which I'd already done), as well as update the driver of my network card.
Resulting in more of the same. So I decided as a last-ditch effort I'd roll
back to a previous restore point. That's when I noticed 'Software
Distribution Service 2.0' on Saturday. I attempted to restore to right before
that item on Sat, but eventually was told I could not restore to that
point... try again. Tried the previous point that day, same message. Tried
the day before, same mess (pun intended).

Now if I understand correctly, this SDS 2.0 program delivers the windows
automatic updates and itself is not likely the culprit of my problems. But
how do I know what it delivered/installed, since this was around the time I
began experiencing my connection problem?

ANY suggestions & comments, or a FIX would be greatly appreciated! If more
information is needed, I'll be checking back often. THANKS in advance, all!

PZ
 
S

Steve Winograd [MVP]

[Orig. posted in General XP, but this seems like a better fit] Hope someone
has a fix for me... Since Saturday or so I've been having problems with my
other desktop (XP Home upgraded to SP2 within last 2 weeks) connecting to the
internet and being accessible on my network- intermittent access is how I
would describe it, as 9 times out of 10 (or more) I cannot connect to a web
page at all (slow movement on progress bar, eventually timing out to 'page
cannot be displayed'). However, on very rare occasions I will connect to a
page that seems to load just fine, but then following a link on that page
inevitably returns me to the flapping MS flag and eventual familiar page
error.

First I thought it was a cable issue... swapped cables. No go. Then maybe a
screwy port on my router... swapped ports, no mas. Them possibly the router
itself... bypassed it and connected pc directly to cable modem, no dice. Of
course, I rebooted/reset ALL hardware (modems, router, pcs) at each step.
None of these fixed anything. So I contacted HP support and spent quite a
while with 2 of their techs today, troubleshooting various things (mostly
which I'd already done), as well as update the driver of my network card.
Resulting in more of the same. So I decided as a last-ditch effort I'd roll
back to a previous restore point. That's when I noticed 'Software
Distribution Service 2.0' on Saturday. I attempted to restore to right before
that item on Sat, but eventually was told I could not restore to that
point... try again. Tried the previous point that day, same message. Tried
the day before, same mess (pun intended).

Now if I understand correctly, this SDS 2.0 program delivers the windows
automatic updates and itself is not likely the culprit of my problems. But
how do I know what it delivered/installed, since this was around the time I
began experiencing my connection problem?

ANY suggestions & comments, or a FIX would be greatly appreciated! If more
information is needed, I'll be checking back often. THANKS in advance, all!

PZ

To see installed updates, run Windows Update manually and click
"Review your update history". You can remove some Windows updates in
Control Panel | Add or Remove Programs. Put a check mark in the "Show
Updates" box, and scroll to the end of the list of installed programs.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
 
G

Guest

Thanks for your time, Steve. I uninstalled the last items (4 security updates
from 4/16) but no luck... I can rarely access any web page. How do I even
begin to troubleshoot this further? I mean, without the ability to roll back
my system, is my only real option to reinstall everything from scratch? What
about a nondestructive recovery? Thoughts?

P2daZ

Steve Winograd said:
[Orig. posted in General XP, but this seems like a better fit] Hope someone
has a fix for me... Since Saturday or so I've been having problems with my
other desktop (XP Home upgraded to SP2 within last 2 weeks) connecting to the
internet and being accessible on my network- intermittent access is how I
would describe it, as 9 times out of 10 (or more) I cannot connect to a web
page at all (slow movement on progress bar, eventually timing out to 'page
cannot be displayed'). However, on very rare occasions I will connect to a
page that seems to load just fine, but then following a link on that page
inevitably returns me to the flapping MS flag and eventual familiar page
error.

First I thought it was a cable issue... swapped cables. No go. Then maybe a
screwy port on my router... swapped ports, no mas. Them possibly the router
itself... bypassed it and connected pc directly to cable modem, no dice. Of
course, I rebooted/reset ALL hardware (modems, router, pcs) at each step.
None of these fixed anything. So I contacted HP support and spent quite a
while with 2 of their techs today, troubleshooting various things (mostly
which I'd already done), as well as update the driver of my network card.
Resulting in more of the same. So I decided as a last-ditch effort I'd roll
back to a previous restore point. That's when I noticed 'Software
Distribution Service 2.0' on Saturday. I attempted to restore to right before
that item on Sat, but eventually was told I could not restore to that
point... try again. Tried the previous point that day, same message. Tried
the day before, same mess (pun intended).

Now if I understand correctly, this SDS 2.0 program delivers the windows
automatic updates and itself is not likely the culprit of my problems. But
how do I know what it delivered/installed, since this was around the time I
began experiencing my connection problem?

ANY suggestions & comments, or a FIX would be greatly appreciated! If more
information is needed, I'll be checking back often. THANKS in advance, all!

PZ

To see installed updates, run Windows Update manually and click
"Review your update history". You can remove some Windows updates in
Control Panel | Add or Remove Programs. Put a check mark in the "Show
Updates" box, and scroll to the end of the list of installed programs.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
 

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