Computer Words of Wisdom

[ColColt]

I have not been able to get on the internet for nearly two weeks and it's been a frustrating ordeal to say the least. At one time, I had connectivity but, I could not open a page anywhere. I tried msn.com, cnn.com, google.com, yahoo.com-nothing would open. I kept getting a "Page Cannot be Displayed" or if I used Firefox, I would get, "Firefox cannot Find Server".

I resorted to some old ways to fix this problem by disconnecting the power from the modem, shutting down the computer, plugging modem back up and then rebooting. Didn't work. I use a router and to isolate it, I disconnected it altogether from the picture to eliminate it as a trouble source. It didn't help either. I tried System Restore to no avail, went into safe mode and then clicked the icon for Internet Explorer and only got the same results as before..."Page Cannot be Displayed. It seemed nothing was working to fix the problem.

I tried disabling my firewall and trying to connect but, do deal. I disabled the antivirus and nothing happened. I went into the command prompt and typed in ipconfig and had an IP address but, I still couldn't connect to the internet to open any web page. I checked TCP/IP settings and they were ok. Having exhausted myself for several hours, I talked with an IT tech at work the next day and he came out and worked with it for several hours himself-still no connection.

If anyone has this problem in the future, DON'T let some tech tell you that you need to reformat your hard drive and do a clean install. That will wipe out all you have on your computer and you'll have to start from scratch just like you did the day you got your computer. I almost let this guy do that but hesitated and told him I would find a better way. That seems to be the answer when they can't isolate and troubleshoot the problem-wipe it clean and start over. You don't need to if you can find a good tech.

I ended up taking it to a computer shop and after several days, they called for me to pick it up. It turns out my firewall was missing a file and wouldn't let me connect and open a page. I don't know how it was missing a file but it was. They uninstalled the firewall and then got the connection. So, even though I had disabled the firewall before, that didn't keep it's other files from running, obviously, and it was corrupting the signal for me to open a page.

If this should happen to you, uninstall your firewall and put it on a disc if necessary but, don't waste hours as I did trying to trouble shoot it. Get someone who has the expertise and experience so you can find the problem without spending the time I did. Too many things can prevent you from accessing the internet and many times all the calls in the world to your ISP won't solve your problem every time. There could be more than one problem and it could take days to find if you ever did. So-advice from one who has been there.

[Clogs]

Colcolt - so glad to see that you finally collectively beat the beast into sumbission. I've been off-line myself for a few days and wondered how you were going.
And I'll remember your tip. I had that problem myself once, but managed to kick-start the thing by turning off the firewall. But thanks for posting this very helpfull info.

[ColColt]

About 90% of the time I can usually fix problems of this nature myself or with the aid of a computer forum or two, together we can solve a problem without calling Symantec, Dell or some other tech. This time was a no go even for them.

If files are lost or become corrupt-big problems and, it happens. At least I've gained some more experience. I'm considering going to a mac here lately with all the problems and constant updates and patches with Windows. Hmmmm....that 20" imac I saw last weekend really got me thinking again!!