Strange XP cable modem behavior

[jeaniesa]

I got a call from a friend tonight because I supposedly know a lot about computers. Unfortunately, I didn't know enough to help her, but said I'd ask some of my friends if they had any ideas...

Here's her problem: She got hooked up with cable internet about two weeks ago and everything was working fine. Then yesterday, while she was using the internet, the dial-up connection dialog box popped up and tried to dial her old connection. Ever since then, neither her cable connection nor her dial-up works at all and she has no internet access. She spent an hour on the phone with the cable company's tech support and their conclusion was that it was "her computer."

Yes, she's rebooted numerous times, unhooked the cables from the modem, etc. (All the usual things that tech support has you do when you call with a problem - been there, done that a hundred times it seems like.) She is running Windows XP (I assume Home edition.) Now, the strange thing is I know exactly what she is talking about, because my laptop runs XP and whenever I hook it up to our home network (rarely, but I need to use it occasionally), I also get the dial-up dialog at strange, random times. I have never figured out what is causing it to try to dial-up and have never been annoyed enough to figure out what is going on. But, it happens quite regularly whenever I use my laptop hooked up to our network (which is hooked up to the cable modem).

Does anyone have any ideas as to why this is happening? I had her check Internet Explorer->Tools->Internet Options and her dial-up option is set to "Never dial a connection". I don't even know where else to tell her to look. She's pretty much hosed at this point because neither her cable modem nor her dial-up connection work, so I'd like to help her out if at all possible. I assume it's a resource conflict of some sort, but don't know how to determine where it's occuring. Any pointers to other resources would be appreciated if no one here has a possible answer.

Thanks, Jeanie

[DannyRaphael]

Quite frankly I didn't scour this site as well if it was my problem, but it looked like a promising place to start poking around.
Cable Modem Troubleshooting Tips

Maybe this one...
Lots of XP discussion here. Note: Real slow site...

HTH.

~Danny~

[d_kendal]

is she using a firewall? sometimes there can be conflicts, I've had problems before trying to access the internet and eventually coming to the conclusion that it was my firewall.

- David

[jeaniesa]

Thanks for those links Danny. Looks promising. I searched the MS knowledge base and came up with a couple of suggestions for her to try as well. I'll call her tomorrow and see if anything helps.

David, if she is using a firewall, it's the built-in XP one. I doubt she even knows what a firewall is. But thanks for that tip. I'll add that to my list of things to check and have her look at her XP settings.

Jeanie

[dcarr]

Tell her to right click her internet explorer icon. then click the tab labeled connections. Make sure there is a check on Never dial a connection.Then go down to the lan settings and click there . Make sure there is a check on automatically detect settings. If that doesn't work reply or message me and I'll guide you further in network connections.
Debbie

[jeaniesa]

Thanks Debbie. I know that "Never dial a connection" is checked - I asked her about that last night. I didn't check the LAN settings though. I'll let you know if that helps.
Jeanie

[chris h]

J, Does she need old dial up connections ? if not why not just delete everything in the dial up connections folder.

[dcarr]

Any luck Jeannie?
Debbie

[jeaniesa]

Oops, sorry. Forgot to get back to all of you...

When I called my friend on Friday, she said that now it appeared that she wasn't even getting cable service, since half of the lights on her cable modem weren't on. She said that a tech support person was scheduled to be at her house on Sunday. I told her to call me if by chance her cable modem lights came back on, but I haven't heard anything from her. It seemed pointless to have her try all of the great suggestions everyone here provided me with when we wouldn't really know if anything worked without her having cable service.

The good news is I figured out some similar odd behavior on my XP laptop that I'd been ignoring because I don't use it that often and hadn't taken the time to figure it out. So, THANKS for that!

Jeanie

[dcarr]

Next time your friend or anyone else has a cable modem prob try this before having to wait for the cable man.
Turn off the computer and unplug the modem. Wait 30 seconds then 1. plug in the modem and 2. turn on the computer. If all lights return to the modem but you still cannont connect:
1.Go to Start
2,Run type ipconfig and click ok
3.look in drop down for your computer card. It should be called ethernet
4. clck button for more info, it should look like the attached photo on the right. At bottom click renew all.
5. when it renews go back to the drop down and llok for the cable control (See photo on left) Do the same thing.

That should reset everything. If not then call the cable man.
Debbie

[jeaniesa]

Thanks for that info Debbie. I've had numerous times when I've had to do the whole power down and unplug routine (AT&T support now tells you in their recorded "wait message" to do this before talking to a tech support person.) But, I hadn't ever been told by support about the ipconfig/renew all step. That is definitely going in my cable modem "support file" so the next time I have a problem (it's only a matter of time), I can try that.

Thanks!
Jeanie