Network timeout problem

[Ray Dawson]

Hi,

My nice stable Windows XP setup has thrown a wobbly for the last couple of
weeks and I haven't been able to find out why.

I am connected to the internet via an adsl router - as are two other
computers running XP. This computer has started to disconnect from the
network connection every few hours for no apparent reason. The other
computers don't do this - which means no router or internet problem.

All three computers are running IE7. With this computer, if I haven't
connected recently, when I try and open a web page, IE tells me that I am
not on line and I have to click the Connect button for it to do so. My
email client does likewise.

I haven't knowingly changed any setting or installed anything which could
make this happen so any help or pointers would be greatfully appreciated.

Cheers,

Ray D

 

[Malke]

Hi,

My nice stable Windows XP setup has thrown a wobbly for the last couple of
weeks and I haven't been able to find out why.

I am connected to the internet via an adsl router - as are two other
computers running XP. This computer has started to disconnect from the
network connection every few hours for no apparent reason. The other
computers don't do this - which means no router or internet problem.

All three computers are running IE7. With this computer, if I haven't
connected recently, when I try and open a web page, IE tells me that I am
not on line and I have to click the Connect button for it to do so. My
email client does likewise.

I haven't knowingly changed any setting or installed anything which could
make this happen so any help or pointers would be greatfully appreciated.

First go to Control Panel>System>Hardware>Device Manager. Find the entry
for your network adapter and double-click it to get its Properties. Go
to the Power Management tab and uncheck the box that says "allow Windows
to turn off this device when not in use". If that solves things, fine.

If that doesn't solve anything, uninstall the network adapter (NIC) and
replace it with a known-working one. If the known-working one solves the
problem, discard the original NIC. NICs are inexpensive, under $20 USD.


Malke

 

[Ray Dawson]

First go to Control Panel>System>Hardware>Device Manager. Find the entry

for your network adapter and double-click it to get its Properties. Go
to the Power Management tab and uncheck the box that says "allow Windows

to turn off this device when not in use". If that solves things, fine.

Thanks Malke - you're a star! It was checked.

I do recall Windows Update updating the driver a couple of weeks back, so
it must have happened then.

Cheers,

Ray D

 

[Malke]

Thanks Malke - you're a star! It was checked.

I do recall Windows Update updating the driver a couple of weeks back, so
it must have happened then.

Glad that worked for you. As an aside, never let Windows Update install
drivers. The drivers on WU are usually not the latest and may even be
the wrong ones for your device. In most cases unless you are a gamer
trying to squeeze the maximum framerate out of your video card, you will
not usually update drivers at all because of the tried/true rule of "if
it ain't broke, don't fix it".

Since things are working fine now, just leave things alone. This caution
is for the future.

To have control over Windows Update, if you have it set to "Automatic"
change that to "Download updates but let me decide when to install them"
(or language to that effect). Then when you get the yellow shield in the
system tray saying there are updates, click on it and in the windows
that appears choose "Custom" instead of "Express". This will show you
what updates are ready to be installed. I strongly suggest installing
all security updates. Just not drivers.


Malke

 

[Ray Dawson]

First go to Control Panel>System>Hardware>Device Manager. Find the entry

for your network adapter and double-click it to get its Properties. Go
to the Power Management tab and uncheck the box that says "allow Windows

to turn off this device when not in use". If that solves things, fine.

OK, I thought that might have done it but it hasn't.

If that doesn't solve anything, uninstall the network adapter (NIC) and
replace it with a known-working one. If the known-working one solves the

problem, discard the original NIC. NICs are inexpensive, under $20 USD.

Done that. I've been running off a wireless card with no timeout set, but
I still get the problem described above. After a period of the internet
not being accessed, this computer disconnects from the internet. The other
computers don't do it and the internet is still being accessed by them
when this computer isn't.

It's quite happy to reconnect when I click on the 'connect' box which IE7
brings up. There must be a setting somewhere which has got altered.

What do the various settings do in 'Control Panel..Internet
Gateway..Internet Connection' do?

Cheers,

Ray D

 

[Ray Dawson]

It's quite happy to reconnect when I click on the 'connect' box which
IE7 brings up. There must be a setting somewhere which has got altered.

What do the various settings do in 'Control Panel..Internet
Gateway..Internet Connection' do?

A bit more information on this.

It seems it's only IE7 which is disconnecting - and my email client, which
seems to know what IE is doing and apes it.

When IE7 has gone off, if I click on 'Control Panel..Internet
Gateway..Internet Connection' Status it show the computer is still on
line.

It's just that IE7 has decided to go off line ...

I've looked at IE settings, but can't find one that would do it.

Cheers,

Ray D