Don Schlesinger: Computer problem. Can you help?

[Don Schlesinger]

I'm hoping you might be able to help me with what could be a serious problem that developed last night with my son's computer.

I have had Optimum Online (Cablevision) cable modem service for the last year and a half, and it works just fine. When Jason decided to stay at home this year and not return to the dorms of his college, I had the same cable installed on his HP computer, so that, obviously, he could have Internet access. It has worked fine for the past month.

Last night, he lost access to the Internet. After calling the cable technicians, it became clear that the problem was NOT on their end. My service was working perfectly, and the signal into his modem was being received with no problem. After going through a few diagnostics with Jason on the phone, the guy told him that it appeared to be a "Winsock" problem, and that Jason should call either HP or AOL to see if they could solve the problem.

AOL was useless, but the HP guy said he thought he could fix it. But, there was a catch. The original computer came with Windows ME, which, as you know, was a piece of garbage that crashed every five minutes. When Jason got to school, he upgraded to Windows XP. So, when the HP technician heard that the OS was no longer the original that came with the machine, he said that the warranty no longer covered technical service for free, and he would have to charge $34.95. And this was for his "best efforts," which meant that there was still a chance that, after we paid, the guy couldn't fix the problem anyway!

Considering that it was HP that installed the garbage ME on the computer in the first place, I thought they had some nerve penalizing us for upgrading to XP so that, er, the computer could actually be used!!

In any event, if any of you have any idea as to what the problem could be or how it might be fixed, I'd be very grateful. Jason spent two hours on the phone with a computer-geek friend from college, but, unfortunately, they got nowhere last night.

Thanks very much for any light you might shed on this.

Don

[Anon]

Try the website of the manufacturer for the proper Windows XP driver.

[zengrifter]

... and, if need be, reinstalling Windows. zg

> Try the website of the manufacturer for the
> proper Windows XP driver.

[Parker]

First off, I have to admit that I have no experience at all with Windows ME, Windows XP, or AOL software. My Windows partitions are still happily chugging along with Windows 98 SE, and I see no compelling reason to upgrade.

I think the HP tech was being really chickensh**, and a call to his supervisor is in order.

A question: Was the computer actually "upgraded" from ME to XP, that is, installing XP on top of ME? If so, this may be related to the problem.

I actually had a very similar problem shortly after I first got my cable modem (about four years ago). Everything seemed fine, except that the network connection to the cable modem simply refused to function.

I would try the following (you may have to find a friendly "computer geek" to help you with some of this):

1. Remove/reinstall your network card. You do not have to physically remove it, just go to Windows Device Manager (or whatever the XP equivalent is) and delete it. Then re-boot your computer. It should detect the network card and re-install the driver.

2. Do the same thing with TCP/IP protocol. Make sure the settings are whatever the cable company says they should be. They should be able to talk you through this (and may have already done so).

3. Okay, here is the biggie that we have been trying to avoid. Do a complete re-install of Windows. Not an upgrade, but a complete re-install. First, back up any data files that you want to save onto floppies, Zip disks, or CDR's. Make sure you have your Windows XP CD and the product code for it. If it is an upgrade version, you will also need the Windows ME CD that should have come with the computer.

Boot from a floppy and use Fdisk to delete the primary DOS partition. Then reboot, create a new one, and format it. Then do a clean re-install of Windows XP.

This is major surgery and should not be done until you have exhausted all other possibilities. Again, hopefully you have a computer geek friend who can help.

However, it is pretty much guaranteed to work.

Once you get it running (and are able to go online again), go to Microsoft's website and download and install the various service packs and critical updates that it will say you need.

The good news is that when you have finally finished with all of this, the computer will probably work better than it did before.

[Don Schlesinger]

My son actually did reinstall the ethernet card, last night, and I believe they went through the TCP/IP protocol with the original cable tech guy. Of course, the "biggie" is what he's trying to avoid!

Thanks for taking the time to explain. But, you'll recall that the HP talked about a "Winsock" problem. I'm thinking about getting on the phone with the HP tech, threatening to call the supervisor, if he doesn't do it for free, and seeing if he can't talk us through the solution.

Failing that, I would pay HP, but I'm afraid, after we pay, they won't fix it anyhow.

Don

[Hal Marcus]

1) Does your cable co. send tech support people to your house? They may be able to tweak the system and/or run diagnostics.

2) "After calling the cable technicians, it became clear that the problem was NOT on their end" How do you know this? I once was told the same thing with my cable co. over the phone - the person on the phone sent a tech guy to my house. The tech guy couldn't get the cable modem service to work so he call employee tech support. Still couldn't get it to work. Then all of a sudden it worked. The tech guy at my house said the person on the phone, who was silent part of the time while the tech guy at my house was waiting for a response, probably did some kind of reset in the cable co's internal system that caused the service to work, but the person on the phone would not admit to doing anything.

You might want to call the cable service again, and if the 1st person can't get it to work, asked to be transferred to Tier 2 tech support. If the Tier 2 tech support person can't get it to work, ask him if he can perform some kind of reset in the system on his end.

Good luck - I know it's a pain.

-Hal

[Don Schlesinger]

What you're suggesting can't hurt, but I believe they tried to reset things right away from their end.

the problem is that the cable was working perfectly in the room next door (my den!), and the signal was running into the computer, as evidenced by the ethernet card and the modem's lights, all functioning properly.

Nonetheless, I will try what you suggest tomorrow.

Thanks.

Don

[Hal Marcus]

"the problem is that the cable was working perfectly in the room next door"

I didn't pick up on this earlier. Do the computers share the connection (via a router or inter-connection software) - if so, what method is used for the sharing. If not, how is each computer connected to the cable system - does each computer have its own cable modem?

-Hal

[Don Schlesinger]

> I didn't pick up on this earlier. Do the
> computers share the connection (via a router
> or inter-connection software) - if so, what
> method is used for the sharing.

All the wiring was done outside the house, from the main cable line, for the first (my) computer, which has its own modem.

When they came in to do my son's, they simply tapped in off the existing line, put a splitter on the back of a cable box in the room for the TV, and ran the wire over to his computer, which now has its own modem.

Hope that's clear. Not my area of expertise, as we all know! :-)

Don

[Hal Marcus]

"splitter on the back of a cable box in the room for the TV" I would want a field tech person from the cable co. to come to your house to look at this. It may be you need to install updated cable modem drivers to work with Win XP.

Originally, to get the cable connection to Jason's computer, I would have used a router. It:

1) provides for a local area network among the computers in your house;

2) connects one of your computers directly to the Internet cable modem. all other computers connected to the router would be able to access the Internet via the cable service.

Router benefits: 1) as you add computers to your local area network, you don't have to contact the cable co. to hook up additional connections (whether you have to notify the cable co. per its license agreement is another matter, but cable cos. know people are doing this and up till now, don't seem to be enforcing any notification provision in its license agreement); 2) routers generally come with a firewall that help prevent hackers from pinging (accessing) into your computers via your cable modem connection.

-Hal

[BC]

This may seem a bit low tech. How about run a coax from his modem to your ethernet card. See if it works. This will isolate the problem to the computer with no doubts. This may cost the price of a cable (Less that ten bucks) but there will be no question as to where the problem may be.

BC

[BC]

Another thought: Have you swapped the connection at the splitter? Also: Signal strength is important on the cable system, the splitter will lower the signal somewhat. This type of problem can come and go with the usage on your local cable system. The cable company had to install an amplifier on my home to get a reliable level of signal strenth.

BC

[Oldster]

Why pay for 2 cable modems?

Home network is cheap and no monthly fees. I use Intel Anypoint. Works off phoneline or wireless.

> "splitter on the back of a cable box in
> the room for the TV" I would want a
> field tech person from the cable co. to come
> to your house to look at this. It may be you
> need to install updated cable modem drivers
> to work with Win XP.

> Originally, to get the cable connection to
> Jason's computer, I would have used a
> router. It:

> 1) provides for a local area network among
> the computers in your house;

> 2) connects one of your computers directly
> to the Internet cable modem. all other
> computers connected to the router would be
> able to access the Internet via the cable
> service.

> Router benefits: 1) as you add computers to
> your local area network, you don't have to
> contact the cable co. to hook up additional
> connections (whether you have to notify the
> cable co. per its license agreement is
> another matter, but cable cos. know people
> are doing this and up till now, don't seem
> to be enforcing any notification provision
> in its license agreement); 2) routers
> generally come with a firewall that help
> prevent hackers from pinging (accessing)
> into your computers via your cable modem
> connection.

> -Hal