[Ted128]

Computer:Dell Inspiron 6000
Memory/Disk Space: Plenty (1GB/80GB)
OS: Windows XP Service Pack 2 with all updates I can find
Browser: IE 7 w/all updates I can find. Firefox does same thing
Browser Internet Options Settings: Default
Virus Program: PC Cillin
Daily Cleanout: AdAware, delete temp internet files, turn computer off, then back on.
Daily Virus Scan: Program files and vulnerability
Weekly Virus Scan: Entire C drive.

Problem: Sometimes (1 or 2 of 30 times) I get a Dell message that says the browser was unable to find my site (url).

Details:

Can happen on the home page for Google (basic), Yahoo sites, my stock chart service, etc.

Most often, seems to happen on the advertisements Yahoo adds on when I access their Finance/Investment page.

Before downloading some IE 7 updates from 2007, the problem happened much more often (1 or 2 of 10 times).

Seems to happen less often if enter url into the location field directly, rather than clicking on the Links Bar buttons (toolbar at top) but this might be my imagination.

Restored computer to settings from about 2+ weeks ago when I didn't notice the problem; didn't help.

Any suggestions for fix? Tnx. Ted

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try firefox to see if its just IE...get it here.. it will get all your bookmarks (favorites) for when you launch it...
you could also try uninstalling IE7..it will roll back to IE 6

[happyrock]

try firefox to see if its just IE...get it here.. it will get all your bookmarks (favorites) for when you launch it...
you could also try uninstalling IE7..it will roll back to IE 6

[Ted128]

Thanks Happyrck. See my browser line. Does the same thing with Firefox that I loaded to see if it would.

Will uninstall IE7 and use IE6 if problem persists. Tnx for fast response. Ted

[Ted128]

simpler statement of above

For the past week or so, I fail to connect with my usual websites fairly often.

This usually occurs when the website is trying to connect to a banner ad.

However, sometimes a site as simple as google can fail to connect.

If I keep trying a few times, it usually connects ok.

I tried Firefox but it didn't help.

Is there some kind of timeout that I need to adjust to give the browser more time to connect?

Maybe Time Warner has set a lower timeout?

Could this be a weak cable signal from Time Warner?

My download speeds seem as fast as ever.

Or is this just some anomaly of the internet that will eventually pass?

[wytboy55]

Sometimes your PC CILLIN internet security does make the internet connection disconnects or make it slow.
try disabling them just for troubleshooting purposes.

Disabling the firewall using msconfig:

click start>run>type msconfig
under services tab put a check on hide all microsoft services
uncheck all the boxes relating to your internet security or firewall (uncheck all PC CILLIN components there)
click apply and close
reboot the computer

you can also disable the internet security by going to the program itself and disable.

You can also try to uninstall the internet security in add>remove programs and see if it will isolate the problem. Anyway, you can install them back in if you need them anytime.

Most of the time, uninstallation will do the work, and reinstalling them will make the internet work fine again. This happens because the internet security sometimes does updates the program and sometimes those updates has some bugs in it. So uinstalling and reinstallin will fix it.

Edited by wytboy55, 02 February 2008 - 03:25 AM.

[happyrock]

go here for how to set your "connection timed out"
to get pages to load faster AND NOT connect to the ad servers ...(they can slow down your load times)
get a new hosts file..
then Windows checks the Hosts file before it queries any DNS servers, which enables it to override addresses in the DNS.

This prevents access to the listed sites by redirecting any connection attempts back to the local machine. Another
feature of the HOSTS file is its ability to block other applications from connecting to the Internet,(think adware) providing the entry exists.

You can use a HOSTS file to block ads, banners, 3rd party Cookies, 3rd party page counters, web bugs, and even most hijackers. This is accomplished by blocking the connections that supplies these little gems....

Example - the following entry 127.0.0.1 ad.doubleclick.net blocks all files supplied by that DoubleClick Server to the
web page you are viewing. This also prevents the server from tracking your movements. Why? ... because in certain cases "Ad Servers" like Doubleclick (and many others) will try to open a separate connection on the webpage you are viewing...

Simply using a HOSTS file is not a cure-all against all the dangers on the Internet, but it does provide another very
effective "Layer of Protection"....

complete instructions here..
http://www.mvps.org/...2002/hosts2.htm

download it here...

click on the download link and select.... Save OR Save Target As hosts.zip


In the following example I will use the Desktop as a download location. From the "Save As" dialog box, click the Desktop icon on the left side....I personally have a folder on my desktop named ..NEW DOWNLOADS...by default everything I download goes there..but yours is probably different..

Click Save... this will save " hosts.zip" to your Desktop.
From your Desktop right-click (hosts.zip) and select...Extract All from the menu....

Click Next..., select the option..."Show Extracted files".. click Finish

This will open the newly created hosts folder on your Desktop.

Double-click on the included mvps.bat file, this will rename the existing HOSTS file to HOSTS.MVP, then it will copy the included updated HOSTS file to the correct location on your machine...


Note: When you run the (mvps.bat) batch file XP users may see a prompt, simply click Run and continue. Once updated you should see another prompt that the task was completed. Some users may see a pop-up from certain Security programs about changes to the HOSTS file. Allow the change ...

thats it your done ...dialup surfers will notice a huge speed bump in loading pages
you will notice that when surfing there will be blocks on the screen saying something about can't connect to blah blah
blah..those are ad servers the main page will still be there ...just no more ad's trying to sell you something you
probably don't want or need...when you are in the market to buy something or want to check prices or facts about a
product just goggle it and shop away...

Edited by happyrck, 02 February 2008 - 08:16 AM.

[Ted128]

tnx wytboy55 and happyrck for good posts. this has to be short as i have to get to work.

last night noticed that the signal strength of wireless router was varying between 2 and 5 bars (out of 5).

then i noticed a metal spray can somewhat directly in the path from router to notebook 25 ft.

haven't had the problem since but it's intermittent. signal strength is a steady 5.

still want to read your posts carefully.

this is a great site and much appreciated.

tnx again... ted

[wytboy55]

ur welcome..

[Ted128]

Final solution was that the old D-Link router DI524 needed replacing. Problem never occurred with ethernet cord connected.

Installed new Linksys WRT150N router and problem never occurred again.

Once on a website with the new router, however, was unable to access certain data. All other internet data was streaming ok, however. Come to find out that the wireless router needed a power off then power on reset in order to access the data segment.

Thanks to all.

[happyrock]

your welcome...and thanks for letting us know what it was...now someone else may find the solution to their problem
without even post a question...