Tech Help

[Bazthemod]

Im trying to fix my neighbors laptop as they are a bit of a millennium bug but it now has me stumped.

It connects to the network and you can see there is an internet connection and even get to see it sending and receiving packets etc but i cant get it to connect to the net at all! :rolleyes:

Last night i restored it back a couple of months in last ditched attempt and it started working!!! Turned it back on this morning and back to the same problem :ragin:

Any ideas? Am i missing something simple? :sad:

[john]

I have a laptop with the same thing but if I connect it with a cable its OK but wireless it says its connected but you cant get online.:confused:

[The Dogfather]

Try a fixed IP address rather than DHCP

[GAJ]

When you say you can't get it to connect to the net do you mean you can't load web pages? If so check the DNS settings, might just be that DNS queries aren't being resolved.

[Bazthemod]

Wont load pages or connect to msn etc but if i restore the system it works again i even tried restarting few times and it worked ok but eventually it stops.

They should just buy a bloody Mac :p

Will arse about with DNS :thumbs up:

[Ferengo]

Here's a few things to try:

1. Lower firewall

2. Try a different browser, Firefox rather than Internet explorer etc...

3. Manually specify DNS servers, The ISP should have a list of a few. They should be specific to the ISP and not another ISP's.

4. Turn off automatic updates. It may be one of these that's causing it since it seemed to work from a restore. Especially ones related to IE or your browser.

5. Connect to the router and see if there's anything funny happening there, like and idle timeout or block on the computer.

Just out of curiosity what OS and router are being used?

Also, Yes get a mac but you'll suffer poor batteries and build quality like I did, but it's worth it.

[euan]

If it restores and works, and then subsequently stops, it's not hardware it's a software issue. First thing - make sure the firewall is installed and running correctly as is up to date. Update the AV software and do a full system scan - I fixed my friends PC a while ago and it was spyware nicking all their bandwidth and taking control of everything.

[Craig]

I agree with most stated here...

it's defo a software issue and sounds to me very much like a virus or spyware, especially if you restore to an older load and it is working, then after a reboot it's back to not working. Could be in the boot sector..

I would (as euan suggests) update the antivirus and spyware and run a full scan. ;)

I had a problem similar to this and it turned out to be a faulty network card, but it never worked regardless of software version. It had the same issue, could see there was a network, but could not see any web pages. Could talk to the router, but not any further. Replaced the wireless card and problem sorted. :thumbs up:

Best of luck Baz, this is my fav thing to investigate... (but I am a saddo. :hand:)