Compu-Pikachu said:
Our computers were just purchased approximately nine months ago. The
malfunctions commenced transpiring about only two ago. Please
explain that.
Quite simple to explain, actually.
Nothing works forever nor at 100% forever. Perhaps you increased your network usage in the last few days and noticed this issue because of this or perhaps you just performed the SP2 upgrade on both of the computers and have not yet followed the suggested courses of action on both or perhaps it was a fluke and one of the machines got a surge that triggered the problem.
Not only do things not work forever or at 100%, but many problems that were there but not prevalent become prevalent over time or with changes that occur with the way those things are accessed or used. In this case - I again submit - your usage level may have changed or you upgraded to SP2 on both machines recently, etc.
In any case, my trouble with the VIA Rhine chipset is not unique (as evident by Google searches) nor was it consistent. For weeks at a time the machines in question would function properly - then one day the network performance would be a horrid sight. Perhaps a few tweaks would fix it, perhaps not. However, using a different NIC in each case always solved the issue.
It has been accomplished.
Great! Has there been any change in performance now? Since the response stating it had been accomplished was on the 7th of March and it is now the 9th - I assume you might have had a chance to see if this helped. This was done on both machines, correct?
The cable's packaging did read "crossover," and according to the
latter term's definition, it would be of that variety.
Assumed as much, considering you had connectivity issues. I just wanted to clear up that not all Cables are CAT5.. You could have, in fact, purchased CAT3, CAT5, CAT5e or CAT6 cable fairly readily.
Well, Windows Update should have warned me of that.
Not really - some things are still the end-users responsibility. After all, with the billions upon billions of possible computer configurations out there - it HAS to logically be left to the end-user and the manufacturer of the hardware components of the PCs in question to insure they are compatible (or not) with the different Operating Systems. Microsoft does have pages upon pages discussing SP2.. One of the more simplistic (for most end-users) to look at is:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/sp2_whattoknow.mspx
Where this is found:
2.Get the latest PC manufacturer updates for SP2.
As one of the steps to ensuring you have all of the support information you need to install SP2, we recommend that you visit your PC manufacturer's Web site first and search for any information about SP2 that might apply to your computer.
Ah, of course, it would be considered adaptation.
Yes.. Much like if one was to install Linux or BeOS instead of Windows. The driver changes. Linux is a better example, because the all-encompassing term "Linux" is used, which "flavor" you use would determine which hardware driver you would use. Same here - Windows XP GOLD, SP1 or SP2?
Are you referring to SpyBot: Search & Destroy or spyware? In either
case, the answer is, "Negative."
Spybot Search and Destroy, Lavasoft AdAware, SpySweeper, etc - are all only 60% or less effective. Meaning that according to studies, they only (alone) find and remove 60% or less of all the spyware an infected machine has at their best. True, on some systems they may find 100% of the spyware because the user is only infected with the spyware that software can identify - but even in those cases, not 100% of the traces of that spyware may be removed - as spyware changes often. It may only remove certain parts.
Microsoft is developing such a program? They must particularly be
catching on to things. It took them eons to implement a pop-up
advertisement blocker.
Developing would be a misnomer in my opinion. More like "further developing and adapting". They have bought out Giant AntiSpyware and are changing it to suit their needs and will be giving the resultant application to their customers.
And yes, it did take them some time to include a popup blocker in their Internet Explorer application - one that works fairly well in my opinion. I still prefer Firefox and still suggest the Google toolbar to anyone having trouble with such things, however. I find both still work better.
Adding back the following section so the context is not confusing:
-->> Mainly.. P2P anywhere?
--> I have only heard of that term a few times, whose acronymic
--> representation I am aware is "point-to-point." Are these merely file
--> sharing programs? If so, the answer is, "Negative."
It is a good thing you are not using P2P for many reasons. Most uses for P2P are far from honorable - in that people transfer questionable (both in terms of security and legality) media over such applications. I am not saying that there are not legitimate uses for P2P, just that the activity of transporting "warez" over such a medium is more prevalent.
Secondly, it can (unbeknownst to the uninformed user of such applications) provide easy access to your computer and an undeserved trust of what is downloaded using it. This can cause the slack in a security regime that allows something horrible to happen to your computer.
That has been accomplished.
What are the advantages and, if any, disadvantages, and what
characterizes IPX/SPX/NetBIOS?
It is a small and fast protocol. This can increase your transfer speed between machines on a network such as yours. It doesn't give you access to the Internet (TCP/IP) or any machines not running the protocol. It allows you to leave your Windows Firewall ON without making any exceptions yet still maintain a feeling of security (less needed in your case since you have dialup as your only means out to the world (thus, in from the world as well.))
Fortunately, I am not impatient.
This has become increasingly obvious as our discussion continues and should serve you well in everyday life - although it may tend to make others uncomfortable. Most live by a hectic "now!" code and no longer understand the advantages of patience.
Why did the realization that dial-up connections were being used
cause the reconsideration?
There is no need for a hub, switch or router in your case - with only two computers whose almost sole purpose for being connected is to share information between the two - including the Internet connection. Being that one of the main purposes is to share the one's Dial-Up internet with the one other, a single crossover connection between the computers will give the same performance as a hub/switch/router will. If you were to add another system into the mix (whether you still wanted to share a dial-up connection or just files between the computers would not matter to me) I would reconsider again and recommend the hub/router/switch - because it would take the (in the case of a switch/router) processing of packet transfers/retransfers away from the systems - freeing up their resources.
Please elucidate "instruction set."
In this case, it refers to the web page as a whole and the many different instruction sets it contains on the different types of networking available for users such as us. It is a bit of slang of sorts, due to my involvement with certain lines of study in the past and brought over to everyday life.
The hyperlink was excluded, as it had no pertinence to my response.
Yes - but this assumes (as other exclusions you have made and I have unmade in this very response have done) that you and I are the only two involved in this conversation - which is far from the truth. This conversation is being read by (obviously not participated in) many people just by the nature of its locality. Also, it also assumes that the entirety of the thread is available to everyone, when in fact the way the newsgroups work - some of this thread is already unavailable to many people around the world (determined by which news server they connect to and the settings of that server.) Therefore without a frame of reference, people may become confused as to why something was asked or what was referred to.
However - we digress.. This is about your issue with transfer speed and stability, is it not?
How is your problem today? Has anything changed either because of implementation of items either from our discussion or from other comments and experimentation/research on your part. If the latter, what helped? As I doubt you are the only person in the world with such issues, sharing this back with the community (world) at large may help someone else overcome this issue more quickly.
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