connection probs - must restart each time

I have to restart my computer each time I want to connect to the internet, if I try w/o restarting I get "Server not found". Initially I thought the problem might be because I installed and had 2 anti-virus programs running together - had no idea until I found this site that that was a no-no. I've done some searches here and a little reading and have tried just about every suggestion I could find. Here's my info:

Windows XP (desktop), D-Link router, Embarq modem, Earthlink is ISP

Laptop is wireless and works fine.

I have: uninstalled extra virus/spyware stuff and now have AVG free, Zone Alarm firewall, windows firewall is disabled, installed new network card (as per phone help suggestion from Earthlink), network card came with a new cable which I used as well, all kinds of restarting/ testing/ switching ports on the router and modem as per instructions w/ Earthink help, Winsock fix, re-installation of Windows.

Not sure what to do next - I'm pretty clueless to the workings of a computer and it's possible I did any one (or two!) of the above fixes incorrectly. Is there anything else anyone can suggest may be wrong? Hopefully I can even post this and haven't been booted off for idling so long.......

Thanks!! Amy

 

Hello Amy, welcome to Major Geeks.

I believe from what you have said that you are connected to the Dlink by an ethernet LAN cable, not USB is this correct?

First, while you are internet connected, go to
start>run>typein

'cmd' then press enter

In the black box which opens typein

ipconfig /all

record the information that is shown.
One line should have a set of numbers such as
192.168.0.3

Post the details.

Then
start>connect to>show all connections
Right click LAN .................................not you internet or anthing else
choose properties
Choose TCP/IP and properties again
make sure that the compute is set to
obtain an IP address automatically
obtain DNS server automatically
click OK to finish.

then open internet explorer
choose tools>internet options
on the connections tab choose 'never dial a coneection'
click the LAN settings button
make sure none of the settings are ticked, including
auomatically detect settings.
click ok to close

close internet explorer and reopen it

Your internet should now be working.

Let us know how you get on.

 

Hi Studiot, thanks so much for your help! Have only just now been able to get back here - hope you haven't disappeared! Here's what I think you were asking for:

Description................Linksys NC100 Fast Ethernet Adapter
Physical Address.........00-18-F8-0C-98-FB
Dhcp Enabled..............Yes
Autoconfig Enabled......Yes
IP Address..................192.168.2.2
Subnet Mask...............255.255.255.0
Default Gateway.........192.168.2.1
DHCP Server..............192.168.2.1
DNS Servers..............192.168.2.1


Also, yes it is connected w/ an ethernet cable.

I went through the steps you outlined for me and at first I thought it solved the problem- I was able to connect several times in a row w/o restarting, but then the old problems resurfaced and now I'm not able to connect at all, even with a restart.

I'm going to recheck the steps you wrote out and make sure nothing reverted back - it's been a few days since I went through everything.

Thanks again, I really appreciate your time!

Amy

 

Also, I'm using Mozilla, don't know if that makes a difference in the stuff you were having me do in IE.

 

These are exactly the numbers I would expect for proper connection.

Please explain in more detail the circumstances of you needing to 'reconnect'?

The username and password are stored in the linksys which is always connnected.

With those ethernet settings you should not need to ever 'reconnect'.
If you just open (double click) Firefox, Internet Explorer, Outlook or Eudora etc they should just simply work. No further connection action is required on your part.