[Imperdimper]

I'm having a slight issue with my internet connection and I'd like to see if someone out there could provide some suggestions. Here's the brief story: Since re-installing Windows XP Pro (clean install) I've had issues with my connection. The computer seems to drop connection at random times, locking up my browsing for brief periods of time. When I ping 64.233.167.99 (google.com) in Windows I generally fail two out of four times. If I ping that in Ubuntu it pings perfectly 30+ times. So that shows that it is somewhere inside Windows where the problem lies. It's the D-Link DWL-G510 hooked up to a WRT54G wirelessly. I have downloaded the most recent driver and installation program from dlink.com, in fact this is what I downloaded the previous time I re-installed Windows and it worked fine. So basically, this is a fresh install of Windows with a fresh install of the D-Link software. That should make troubleshooting the problem pretty easy, I hope. Imper

[evilfantasy]

Troubleshooting

The first thing that comes to mind is Firewall?

Have you tried turning it off and seeing if it may be the culprit. Worth a shot I suppose.

[Imperdimper]

Hey evilfantasy, thanks for the reply.

Though I don't use any sort of security software, slows down my computer too much. So no firewall (confirmed Windows firewall is off), no virus scanner and no spyware programs.

Any other suggestions?

[evilfantasy]

Troubleshooting would include ruling out virus/malware.

Have you tried Avast! Home Free? It is light on resources. I use it on an old win98 and never have any performance problems with it. AVG on the other hand does slow it down.

[Imperdimper]

It's been happening since the instant I reinstalled Windows, so I know it's not a virus/malware. Plus I have do do a virus/malware scan on schedule once a week, never finding anything.

When I reinstall Windows (which I do yearly to keep the computer fresh) I always install the network card driver as the very first thing, then download fresh drivers for my other hardware. So, five minutes after I installed Windows I installed the network card, and after rebooting and pulling up Firefox I noticed this problem. So only two things actually installed and running (outside of the OEM Windows install) was the network and Firefox.

[Imperdimper]

Well, if evilfantasy doesn't want to provide any more troubleshooting suggestions, any one else? I'm still having this problem.

[evilfantasy]

Originally Posted by Imperdimper Hey evilfantasy, thanks for the reply. Though I don't use any sort of security software, slows down my computer too much. So no firewall (confirmed Windows firewall is off), no virus scanner and no spyware programs. Any other suggestions?

You confuse me. First you say you don't run any then you say you do. Which one is it?

We can take a closer look.

Download HijackThis Here
Save HJTsetup.exe to your desktop.
Double click on the HJTsetup.exe icon on your desktop.
By default it will install to C:\Program Files\Hijack This.
Continue to click Next in the setup dialogue boxes until you get to the Select Addition Tasks dialogue.
Put a check by Create a desktop icon then click Next again.
Continue to follow the rest of the prompts from there.
At the final dialogue box click Finish and it will launch Hijack This.

Click on the "Do a system scan and save a log file button". It will scan and then the log will open in notepad.
Right click the notepad and "selct all" Right click again and "copy"
Paste the log in your next reply.

DO NOT have Hijack This fix anything yet. Most of what it finds will be harmless or even required.

[Imperdimper]

I know how to use my computer, and I know what actions that will cause me to have problems. An active virus/malware doesn't really slow my computer down greatly, they are just un-needed programs. Though I do run both types of programs on a schedule, once a week.

Hijackthis is on my list of programs that I use, and I post my list to hijackthis.de for a detailed breakdown (if you haven't used that site, I highly suggest it). Other programs are Spybot, rootkit revealer (monthly), and a load of Sysinternals tools. Plus, when I'm feeling especially frisky, I'll load up a customized Windows PE (live Windows CD) so I can scan my computer without loading Windows.

Trust me when I say that it is not a malware/virus problem :) There is nothing running on this computer that I am not aware of.

I don't mean to be trouble, and I do regret the 'feel' of that last forum post. It's just that I really do know how to use my computer, and figured when I said "I know it's not a virus/malware [problem]" that the troubleshooting topic would be closed. There are A LOT of people out there that need their hand held when working on computer issues, I'm just not one of them.

Really, all I'm looking for is a few troubleshooting ideas. Once I have a place to start, all the rest of the research can be done by me.

Edit: To add, what I meant earlier when I said that I don't use any security software was that I don't have anything actively running at all times (like a virus scanner automatically scanning downloads/emails/etc), but I do have certain programs that I run weekly.

[evilfantasy]

I understand where you are coming from. You sort of called me out in post #6 so I thought I would respond with another suggestion. If you take a look in the antivirus and spyware forum you will see I know something about malware also. Some people think no protection is OK.

I stopped responding because I don't bump posts just to say I am not sure what to do.

[Imperdimper]

And I understand where you are coming from when you say that you don't bump posts just to say you are not sure what to do, but how exactly were you so sure of that? The only suggestion you had provided up until this point was to rule out viruses/spyware (well, that and the firewall). I labeled the idea as impossible and the suggestions stopped.

It just seems like you gave up early. Like checking for malware was your ace-in-the-hat never fail suggestion. But malware doesn't cover all problems. If I had gone to a customer's house where they were having this problem I'd at least check out their TCP/IP settings, or maybe the ipconfig /all output. Or maybe even the connection method (for Wireless Zero Config can cause a dropped connection from time-to-time as it tries to connect to other local networks). But your end of the line suggestion was malware.

Trust me, there are people out there that know how to use their computer. There are people that don't need protection software. And there is nothing wrong with these people, they are just more knowledged about computers than the general public. Which brings up another issue with last message, where you said "Some people think no protection is OK.", like these people are fools. At least that's the tone I got from that sentence. Not all people that refuse protection are fools, I can assure you of that, just most people are.