Web Page Loading Periodically Pauses for 30 - 60 seconds

  • Thread starter Thread starter Steve Remington
  • Start date Start date
S

Steve Remington

Hello All,

I recently rebuilt my WinXP Pro desktop PC and now find that when browsing
web pages I periodically get timed-out connections to web sites. This
problem last for a 30 to 60 seconds and then everything returns to normal.
I cannot identify any particular pattern to when this occurs.

It is not the web site because when this happens I can try other sites and
get the same connection time-out error.

It has nothing to do with location of web site because it happens on both
Australian and international sites. Interestingly it can also happen when I
try to access web sites on my LAN (e.g. the configuration web pages of my
ADSL modem and router).

It is not my LAN or internet connection because if I try connecting to web
pages using my laptop response is normal. Also internet connection not
overloaded at these times...no other activity on a 1536/256 ADSL connection.

It is not any form of malware causing this because it happens on a newly
(i.e. within an hour of rebuild) rebuilt PC...no email downloaded or read,
only known safe web sites visited, etc.

It is not anti-virus (not installed yet) nor is it a firewall as it happens
with Windows firewall enabled and disabled.

It is not the browser because problem occurs on both Internet Explorer and
Firefox.

Also LAN connection stays in tact...I can even ping the site but access the
web pages.

It seems that for some reason all HTML traffic to my desktop PC gets
temporarily.

I am stumped as to what might be the cause and solution. I would appreciate
if the collective wisdom of the group could suggest some possible solutions
or some things that I could check to identify and eliminate the problem.

For the record my system is:

- Windows XP Pro SP2 with all patches.
- AMD Athalon XP 1800+
- 1.5GB RAM
- 2 x 80GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache HDD
- 100Mbps LAN
- Intel PRO/100 S Server NIC

If anyone would like to reply directly please remove the .spam from my email
address.

Thanks in adavnce to all who reply.

Regards,
Steve
 
This sounds like spyware/malware/adware running on your computer &
possibly a virus or two.

First I'd download Ad-Aware & Spybot - Search & Destroy. The default
install should take care of most problems. Also make sure
you Download all the updates for both programs & immunize the computer
with Spybot - Search & Destroy. Also on the immunize screen in Spybot -
Search & Destroy make sure you check the box that says "Enable permanent
blocking of bad addresses in Internet Explorer" as this will cut down on
the spyware from getting into the computer. Also if any components will
not remove in normal mode I strongly suggest restarting the computer
into safe mode to remove the other components that won't remove in
normal mode.

http://www.download.com/3405-8022-5153545.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5
(This is for Ad-Aware)

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html (This is for
Spybot - Search & Destroy)

For information on starting is safe mode you can check out the following
Microsoft KB articles.

180902 How to Start a Windows 98-Based Computer in Safe Mode

202485 Description of Safe Boot Mode in Windows 2000

315222 A Description of the Safe Mode Boot Options in Windows XP

If you have problems getting either of these programs installed I'd
recommend using clean boot to disable the spyware & possibly viruses
that are preventing it from installing. This also applies the the virus
scanning online. Just be careful about disabling any of the Microsoft
services as they are needed.

Also these article can be used to help troubleshoot this kind of problem
as it might be cause by something running in the background.

181966 System Configuration Utility Advanced Troubleshooting Settings

192926 How to Perform Clean-Boot Troubleshooting for Windows 98

267288 How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows Millennium Edition

272960 Error Messages Occur When Using Msconfig.exe

281965 How to Troubleshoot Using the Msconfig Utility with Windows 98

281995 How to Troubleshoot Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows ME

310353 How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP

310560 How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP

314448 Msconfig.exe Stops Responding if User Is Not an Administrator

316434 HOW TO: Perform Advanced Clean-Boot Troubleshooting in Windows XP

One more thing if you do use msconfig you may want to check out the
following site as they list a ton of stuff that shows up on the startup
tab of msconfig.

http://www.sysinfo.org/startupinfo.html

To check for a virus I recommend using an online virus scanner as the
installed anti virus software is the first target of most viruses. Here
is a list of 4 different scanners.

Trend Micro's free online anti-virus scanner (I currently can only get
this to work in Firefox)
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Panda Software's free online anti-virus scanner
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/

BitDefender Free Online Virus Scan
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan/licence.php

Symantec's free online anti-virus scanner
http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/default.asp?productid=symhome&langid=ie&venid=sym

Steve said:
Hello All,

I recently rebuilt my WinXP Pro desktop PC and now find that when browsing
web pages I periodically get timed-out connections to web sites. This
problem last for a 30 to 60 seconds and then everything returns to normal.
I cannot identify any particular pattern to when this occurs.

It is not the web site because when this happens I can try other sites and
get the same connection time-out error.

It has nothing to do with location of web site because it happens on both
Australian and international sites. Interestingly it can also happen when I
try to access web sites on my LAN (e.g. the configuration web pages of my
ADSL modem and router).

It is not my LAN or internet connection because if I try connecting to web
pages using my laptop response is normal. Also internet connection not
overloaded at these times...no other activity on a 1536/256 ADSL connection.

It is not any form of malware causing this because it happens on a newly
(i.e. within an hour of rebuild) rebuilt PC...no email downloaded or read,
only known safe web sites visited, etc.

It is not anti-virus (not installed yet) nor is it a firewall as it happens
with Windows firewall enabled and disabled.

It is not the browser because problem occurs on both Internet Explorer and
Firefox.

Also LAN connection stays in tact...I can even ping the site but access the
web pages.

It seems that for some reason all HTML traffic to my desktop PC gets
temporarily.

I am stumped as to what might be the cause and solution. I would appreciate
if the collective wisdom of the group could suggest some possible solutions
or some things that I could check to identify and eliminate the problem.

For the record my system is:

- Windows XP Pro SP2 with all patches.
- AMD Athalon XP 1800+
- 1.5GB RAM
- 2 x 80GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache HDD
- 100Mbps LAN
- Intel PRO/100 S Server NIC

If anyone would like to reply directly please remove the .spam from my email
address.

Thanks in adavnce to all who reply.

Regards,
Steve

--

Don't pay malware vendors - boycott Sony & Symantec for helping them

Please do not contact me directly or ask me to contact you directly for
assistance.

If your question is worth asking, it's worth posting.

If it’s not worth posting you should have done a search on
http://www.google.com/ http://www.google.com/grphp?hl=en&tab=wg&q= or
http://news.google.com/froogle?hl=en&tab=nf&ned=us&q= before wasting our
time.

If I sound hostile or arrogant you need to read the following before
posting a question "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way" at
(The site I've linked
to just has this article I think people should read before posting a
technical question.)
 

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