intermittent Internet connection problems

Hi,

I wasn't sure where to post this, but I thought I would start here.
I am having intermittent Internet connection problems on a Dell Desktop Computer . The computer seems to be running normal with other programs. It is only when accessing the Internet, I have a slow response or it cuts out off and on all together for a few seconds.

At first I thought it was a router problem because for a few weeks my Internet connection on my home network was dropping and I would have to reset the router by unplugging and then the Internet connection would come back. To test the router, I disconnected the router and hard wired the desk top to the cable box. I still had the problem. I then hard wired my laptop and Internet connection is fine. I ruled out the router and cable box.

The Computer is two years old running Vista Home Premium. I called Dell because I have an extended hardware warranty and the tech had me uninstall and reinstall the driver for the NIC card. I still had the problem in regular mode, but in safemode, the Internet seemed to work fine. He switched me to the software tech and he told me I probably have a virus called Think Point and he could fix it, but they will charge me or I could take out the software warranty for $230/3 yrs. I declined. I don't want to pay any money until I research what is going on.

I have Norton antivirus and recently upgraded to Norton 2011. I am wondering if the upgrade caused this problem. I can’t remember if I started have problems before I upgraded to 2011. I checked the configuration and can’t figure out if it could be blocking my Internet connection or slowing it up in some way. My Norton is set to automatic scanning and updating. Nothing malicious has ever been found. Last night I ran a Adaware full scan and it only found cookies. I have downloaded HijackThis, but did not get a chance to scan yet.

Is this a symptom of Think Point Trojan? What do I look for when I run HijackThis? Any other information would be very helpful.

Thank you for your time.

 

Among tech's worldwide, Norton is considered to be as bad as any virus.

One program in almost every tech's tool kit is the "Norton Removal Tool".
I use it all the time and rely on it heavily to get Norton off of customer's PC's.
Then I install AVG FREE and run it to find and remove the viruses, trojans and spyware that Norton has missed.

That would be my best advise, as a working tech, "Get rid of Norton, before you do anything else.".
There are several FREE AV programs that are lighter weight than Norton and will do you a great job. I use AVG 2011 FREE and share it with all my customers and we all stay Virus FREE.

Many Tech's also use "Malware Bytes", another FREE program to find things missed by other programs.

Good Luck,
The Shadow :cool

 

Thank you for your input. I will try this tonight when I get home and let you know how it goes.

 

I'm really loving the new AVG 2011 FREE. They have added several features that were previously only available in the full retail version. You can set the auto-updates and scans to run every day while you're on-line, so you really never need to touch the program once you have it installed and customized to suit you.

Good Luck,
Shadow

I'm glad you already did your troubleshooting on the router. I've recently had a problem with loosing my internet connection while I was online like I am now. It's been very frustrating. I had the Cable company service man out here and he said the cable modem was working OK. Then I got a hold of a tech at the Cable support company in Atlanta, GA. and he ran some tests on my cable modem and he too said it was working OK. I did a Firmware upgrade on my router and reset a few parameters and I now have it on "Watch" status. I paid $149 for that type N router so I don't want to just blow it off for a new one if I don't have to.

 

I Shadow, so sorry I never wrote you back to let you know how things went. I really did not want to remove my Norton SW because it has never given me problems before. Did some troubleshooting and found out that my desktop computer was not connecting to the Inernet because of a remote networking service program that Dell puts on their machines. It was running and using up all the Bandwidth.

Unfortunately, now I have a new problem, my router doesn't work. I am troubleshooting that now. Lights are on on the router, but a connection is not detected on the NIC card. Cablebox works fine.

Thanks for your input.

 

Concerning your antivirus, although I have no experience with Norton,
I think you should not completely discount The Shadow's comments about Norton.

Since Shadow has already mentioned AVG, I would like to throw in Avast! Free Edition

You may want to look at this antivirus comparison by AV-Comparitives

Note that Norton 2011 is identified as Symantec.
Although AVG is good, it did not get the highest 'award' level due to too many False Positives.