Media Disconnected

So, for over a week now I've been troubleshooting left and right and doing everything in my power to try and fix my desktop computer. I actually attempted THREE TIMES to get assistance on Tom's Hardware and only one time did I feel as if the answer might have been relevant, but the verdict was "You're too stupid and I'm too lazy to walk you through how you can fix your issues. Call IT people."

It's the weekend and nobody around me is really open, plus, Geeksquad doesn't come to my neighborhood, I'm too far away from a BestBuy.

Basically, I wound up taking my desktop to a guy to have it fixed and... Well... It seemed fixed, in all honest. He had it hooked up to a screen and the internet connect was perfectly fine, so I took it home and went to download my game, but the connection cut off...

A couple hours later I try my luck again and the connection stays long enough to download the Elder Scrolls Beta at... About... 3.4 MBS/S. At one point for like, two minutes it show up to 40+MBS/s, as well. But as soon as the game was done downloading and I opened it, then started to make a character, I disconnected. Now I'm back to square 1 and receiving the same issues.

I have a laptop, and my grandparents have a desktop and they both run perfectly fine. Since I'm stuck staying at their place and don't actually have my television anymore, I use their monitor, and at the same time use their ethernet cable since it's easier. I mean, why not? It's all right there!

Anyways, down to the issues and everything...

It's not the ethernet cable because that works fine, and I've used two different ones. I'm also almost 100% positive it's NOT the network card. And it's NOT a virus. I've reset my computer three times (Don't ask why.) and I've installed all sorts of new and old drivers. (Currently the newest I can get.) I'll be connected for a minute after start up, but then the connection just dies... If I shut the computer off and turn it back on, everything is fine once again.

I decided to open the CMD prompt and typed in "IPConfic /renew" and I was told I can't reset anything because "Media Disconnected".

I honestly have no clue what I'm doing, and I've never actually gone so far as to tinker with computers. I've got bad luck, so messing with ANYTHING always makes me skeptical.

Any help is accepted, and if needed I can talk over something like Skype (Text, voice, whatever. I imagine it would be quicker.) or Gmail.

Any questions will be answered.

 

Since I can't seem to find an "Edit" button...

I -AM- wired. I've tried plugging into the standard Comcast modem directly and that didn't solve anything... I also usually have things plugged into the wireless router, as they are supposed to be.

I'm using Windows 7 Pro, I believe, not Ultimate.

 

In other words, they didn't know the answer and were too egotistical to admit it! I like Toms articles for HW advice, but... ...well, let's leave it at that.

Okay, so their network and Internet access is good. That points to your machine or your connection.

BTW, you grandparents are "stuck with you" too. Be happy, and grateful they are willing, still alive, and able to "support" you.

You can only Edit posts here within a few (I think 10) minutes of posting. That said, editing does not send out new email notifications so it is best to just add a new reply, as you did.

Now to your problem. You are connected by Ethernet and you have swapped Ethernet cables, right? They are not very robust and can easily be damaged. You should also try a different port on the router - though connecting directly to the modem eliminated a bad router port.

Have you scanned for Malware? With what?

Any errors in Device Manager?

If me, I would unplug from the wall and open the case. Then I would touch bare metal of the case interior to discharge any destructive static in your body and put you and your computer "at the same potential".

Then I would inspect the interior to ensure all power and data cables are securely fastened, there is no buildup of heat trapping dust and any add-in cards are installed securely. Inspect your available slots to see what is available in case it comes to adding a PCI or (preferably) PCIe network adapter.

I might also take the PC to someone else's house and see if it works there. Don't just see if it connects, but if you can perform the tasks giving you problems.

 

I've used the free AVG and even Malware Bytes. I've also reset my computer to factory defaults probably twice thinking that would solve something. It didn't, and probably only put me in more of a rut since I lost my steam account due to that. (The Yahoo it's linked to locked up on me.)

Device Manager says there's no errors and everything is running perfectly. And all of my drivers are totally up to date. Even troubleshooting the problem doesn't come up with anything, it thinks the ethernet cable is disconnected, but when I look at the back of my tower, the cable is in and the light is green to signify that.

And thanks for the advice, I don't have any friends so I'll need to try and find family that can let me go over or something.

 

The green LED by the Ethernet card typically indicates good, full speed connection. I might try connecting a different computer using that same Ethernet connection (and cable) and see what happens.

 

I tried hooking it into my laptop, but it didn't recognize that as a connection. Would there be something extra I need to do?

 

That is odd. The notebook should have seen the connection, assuming the Ethernet port is enabled in the notebook's BIOS Setup Menu. So, I would try that elsewhere to see if it works, or borrow another computer/notebook and try hooking that up to see what happens.