Internet stops working after 10 minutes

This computer got messed up after something happened to it and my brother-in-law had to fix it. I never really knew what happened to it. After it was fixed, the internet would only stay on for a lil while, usually about 10 minutes, and then stops working. The only way to get it working again would be to restart the computer. We have DSL through Verizon, there seems to be no problem with the modem or anything, I think its just something with the comuter itself. I know other computers will run the internet perfectly through the same line, just this computer messes up. Help Oh we have windows 98 Oh yeah, it can't even stay online long enough for me to download anything. I tried downloading Avira Anti-virus, but I can't.

Hi Lee-Anne, that sounds weird that other computers run perfectly through the same line, that does seem to indicate the problem is with your computer. Can i just ask what Operating System e.g XP, 98 etc are running on the other computers that run fine on that line? Thankyou

The other computer that I've used is Windows XP . this computer used to wrk fine untill it got crewed up. Now the internet is messed up. I got Avira to download finally, but when i try to install it, it says something about runtime error and quits. PC pitstop won't even work for some reason……….. I also read somewhere that maybe the winsock needed to be repaired….what ever a winsock is. I just didn't know ho to do that.

There is something called a 'WinSock XP Fix', however you may not need to run it and probably shouldn't unless someone advises you to. For now we'll try and isolate the problem. When you say the 98 PC got messed up, how did it get messed up? e.g Virus? If so, did you get rid of the virus, or has it come back etc? I'm just trying to build up an idea of what state the PC is in before i can give you some advice. Thankyou. I'll get back to you tomorrow since it's getting late here in the UK. Thanks for your patience.

Well We're not entirely sure what happened to it. I know it was not a virus or anything like that. We're thinking something got deleted accidentaly. I remember I was trying to play Literati on yahoo games, but I guess that they were working on the site and it must have been down for maintenence, but they failed to tell anyone, so everyone just got a message saying that the page wasn't loading for some reason, and it listed a few ways to try to get it to load for you, and one of the ways was to free up some space, like cookies, tempoary files, and history. SO I tried that, i think several times I tried it. And then sometime after that a button was pushed or soemthing and then I remember all of the icons on the desktop that were system related…..like IE, My Documents, My computer, Recycle bin etc….all disappeared, or looked weird, I forget really it was a while ago that this happened. But then the computer restarted itself, and then it turned back on I think….if I can remeber correctly, but all the icons were messed up and you couldn't do anything at all. SO I turned it off and tried to turn it back on but it wouldn't even load…..so we took it to my brother in law, who got it working again. I don't know how, or what he did to fix it, but he got it working again. I'm thinking they had to reinstall windows or something. but ever since they internet just doesn't do what its supposed to do on this computer. To my knowledge, that the best that I can tell you about what happened to it. I know it all happened pretty quick, so I confused me, I couldn't even say what was pushed or what page was up………….

I am now wondering if you have the right driver installed for your internet settings. What make/model is your PC? E.g Dell Dimension etc thanks (sorry i took a little while to get back)

I'm not totally sure. This is not my computer. Its my in-laws. And I think it was given to them. There's nothing written on the outside of the computer. I think its some kinda of off brand computer. I know it says "Biostar" when you first start the computer…………..where would I look to find out this information??

It should be on the base unit of the PC, possibly on a sticker somewhere. It's 11pm here now so i'll have to get back to you tomorrow - sorry this is taking so long!

The make of the machine should not matter.
If you can connect for 10 minutes than it is not a driver issue.
You could be set to disconnect if no activity with in 10 minutes, does this happen even if you are going to different web pages?
Most likely the software that your internet service provider has is corrupt.
I would uninstall the software and reinstall it if you have the disc.
If you do not have the disc you will have to download it.
Most internet service providers do not support windows 98 any more, have you called Verizon?
If Windows 98 was reinstalled you most likelly are using Internet Explorer 5. You will probally have to install IE 6 to make this work.
You can download IE 6 here.

Thank you, I will try reinstalling it. I'm usually not idle very long, so I don't think that it woud be that.

I had the same problem with my Windows XP system. I'm pretty sure it's something I picked up at a web site I visited. You can read all about it in this thread …

http://forums.whatthetech.com/Internet_han…tes_t90843.html

(I was using a different username at the time.)

Anyway, I found that the problem went away in safe mode, but I was never able to track down the culprit. I finally gave up, copied all my user data to a backup drive, and reformatted the hard drive. Problem solved, and the computer runs like a dream now!

Since then, I've learned about the Windows System File Checker, which would have been interesting to try. Maybe someone knows of a similar file validity checker for Win 98.

Good luck!

Interesting post Ganelon. Thanks HFCG for the post, hopefully Lee-Anne will let us know how things are going soon.

I reinstalled the Verizon, but I don't think it worked………….Now what??

Okay, so I've experienced this problem maybe 5 or 6 times over the last decade, and each time I think it's a virus or malware and it turns out to be a legitimate program. The process is as follows: Run SpyBot S&D, and use HiJackThis to get rid of anything suspicious. If the problem persists, check for incomplete/damaged uninstalls/installs of Norton and Zonealarm software. What I did was try to actually reinstall Zonealarm, because I wasn't sure if it had ever been on this system. During the install a message popped up and told me that a program had to be disabled in order for the installation to work: The program was "Cisco Systems VPN Client 5.0.01.0600". As soon as I let the zonealarm installer disable this service, I had internet again. I discovered through an indirect means that there are at least 3 programs that need to get way deep into your system, and can apparently cause this loosing port 80 traffic 10 minutes after boot: Zonealarm Norton Cisco VPN So, look for some crazy malware, then look for some crazy programs. That's all I got for you. Cheers and good luck, Gerbus

The process is as follows:
Run SpyBot S&D, and use HiJackThis to get rid of anything suspicious.

and the user would know this….how ?


The issue you describe and it's solution is not relevant for 90% of home users. They have no VPN software or appliances. To access internet through a VPN, you need to have internet access on the other side of the tunnel….OR a split-tunnel setup on the client end.



@Lee-Ann, do you use VPN ? software or other-wise ?

It's OK if you don't know what that is, just say "no"

Are you using a wireless networking device or a cable to connect this PC with the internet ?

when you get online, goto -start-, -run-, then type:
cmd
then click the -OK- button.

when the black DOS window opens, maximize it.
Next type
CD /
(note there is a space after the D and before the / )
next type:
ping yahoo.com -t
press [enter]
it will begin to ping Yahoo.com repeatedly. It will do so until you press -ctrl- -C- or close the window with the red X.

you will get responses that resemble :

Pinging yahoo.com [206.190.60.37] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 206.190.60.37: bytes=32 time=110ms TTL=55
Reply from 206.190.60.37: bytes=32 time=115ms TTL=55
Reply from 206.190.60.37: bytes=32 time=113ms TTL=55
Reply from 206.190.60.37: bytes=32 time=120ms TTL=55

and on, and on, and on. btw the "time" is how many mili-seconds, round-trip, it took for your 'hello' to go there and back. 1000=1second.

Minimize this window, and begin your browsing
once you suspect your internet is not working, go back to the black window again and see what it is showing.

if you begin to see :

REQUEST TIMEOUT
or
DESTINATION UNRECHABLE

let us know.

if you continue to see succsessfull pings, then your internet service is not the problem. It could be a DNS issue. we'll see when you write back.

Tallon41

[another thing to check is: How old are the DSL filters on your Phone lines ? Every jack that you use to actually "talk" on needs a little 3" or so square tube "filter" on it. How long have you had this DSL service ? You likely have not changed the filters ever, and it is not normally needed. They can however, fail with age, (or defect or damage.) If a voice line's filter fails, then in more modern DSL lines there is no "sync" and internet is lost. In the older DSL lines, the upload speed drops to near zero, and download speed slows to near nothing. ]