Software Nightmare

Hi everyone-me again. i still cannot stay online indefinitely with my new hi-speed connection. i have cox(authentium) security suite which is anti-virus, spyware, firewall,and parental controls all in one. i have resolved some of the issues i had earlier with dll's, windows update etc. i'm not crashing all the time but every once in awhile it quits loading pages and goes back to the old "can't find server" notification. then i reboot and start all over. can someone work thru this with me? i have had hi speed a week and i can't seem to get it to a point that i can really enjoy surfing. it's been nothing but work ever since i got the modem. it's got to be better than this.

 

please be more specific..

what is your PC specs.
OS?
browser?

 

i have an hp pavilion 6736kr with windows me with ie6 sp1. it is a 667mhx celeron with 383 mb ram. what else do you need to know... i've been posting here nonstop for about 2 weeks trying to get this thing right. i have removed all malware as of last night(twice i did this). so the guys in malware support told me it was software. it would be helpful if you could read thru my past threads. it will give you a better understanding of my situation. please don't tell me to buy xp; it's in the mail on its way,as well as a new 8mb cache 80gb wd caviar hd,and new 2.0 usb card. i just would like for this thing to work as it should before i start changing the os and hardware.

 

have you try this
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/IEFIX.htm

http://www.theeldergeek.com/repair_reinstall_ie_and_oe_6.htm

 

do you have any firewalls up, could also be your hispeed internet provider, happens to me sometimes

 

it seems to be more problematic if the anti-virus, spyware and firewall are on. i don't have much prior experience with those things so i don't know if they're tweaked quite the way i'd like them to be. i have run iefix. i didn't notice any drastic change. i am on me so xp help won't do much for me at this point. i am under the impression that i shouldn't be online without all the three security features i have being on. is there a happy medium. i am on cox hi speed( now suddenlink) and they have a good reputation so i would think my connection would be great. the lights are 'go' green even if my pc won't load a page.

 

does it happen in other browser? i.e. FF, opera.....

 

well, first, take off every firewall on your computer, including windows, norton(or something like that) and others

 

if i turn off thefirewall how am i protected? as for ff or opera, i don't have them. i have this thing about getting more and more and more software. i feel like i'm filling my hard drive up with crap i'll never use.

 

FYI, FF and OPERA are more secure browser than IE6 and IE7

firewall>> you can use ZONEALARM most geeks preffered

 

you know this is ridiculous. i am so sick of working on this pc. its supposed to be enjoyable: it isn't. i have worked for 12 hours a day for a week to get it right and it is still doing the same thing. shuts down and can't find the server. i am beginning to think that no one can fix it. i really had faith in this forum. everyone has been helpful but i am tired of folks telling me to get more software instead of making this software work correctly. can't a log or something be run that someone can look at and tell what is clashing or what is wrong? i can't take this much longer. i have already made over 120.00 on purchases to improve this pc. i am tired of wasting my time with this. it has to end soon: i am running out of hair to pull.

 

You might consider getting the cable technicians to come out and check your signal strength. Although it is a relatively new installation, these things do happen. I went through the same thing as you, only worse. My cable modem lights would all be on, but couldn't connect to the internet. A small animal had chewed on my cable outside the house, and although the TV and modem appeared fine, no internet connection.

 

i don't think that's the problem. its in this software combination somewhere. i don't have any malware, and i just rebooted, turn off my firewall and let the puter sit for several hours with no one touching it.came back and it won't load a page.so reboot and here i am. if i supposedly don't have a signal then why a few secs later it loads the page? all i'm doing is a reboot.

 

I didn't mean to infer that signal strength was your problem. I was only offering a past experience. Apoligies for any trouble that I caused, and let the thread continue.

 

is there a way to log this somehow and then see where the problem is ? this is madness to reboot every 30 mins. or so for a week.

 

anybody know about registry mechanic ? i ran a scan and it shows over 100 issues. is there a way to make a log of the results? i didn't see a prompt anywhere. i guess i really got some issues.will it ever get better or am i condemned to pc hell?

 

Run the program in the link below and be sure to answer YES to everything, that's very important.

It is the MCRepair Tool and sometimes solves the problems you are having.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/msninvestor/Patch/1.0/WIN98/EN-US/mcrepair.EXE

Steve

 

that's done. don't really know if it helped or not. i suspect not. does anone know about registry mechanic? you know i am stil too new... what about kernel errors? any help there?

 

How long goes by before you get the Page Cannot Be Displayed messgae? You will know then.

Steve

 

i guess 30 mins. or so. i am cheating right now . no protecion. i am going to turn on my security suite and see how long it takes before it drops. i'll be back. wish me luck...

 

OK. I have read some of your threads (might have missed one), did all this start because of malware?

If not, what is the history of the computer, when did all this start?

Steve

 

In the run box type, cmd.exe and press okay. You'll have a black prompt window. Type ipconfig /all (space after ipconfig) then press Enter.

Is all of the information correct? You IP, Submask, and DNS? If so, then type, netsh winsock reset, in the run box. If none of that works, a tech from your ISP might need to come out.

Good Luck!

 

it started on 7/3 when i got the hi speed . i had just cleaned up my system maybe a week prior to that. chaslang helped tremendously. i was on dial up when we worked that crap out but i was clean had a firewall, active virus protect and anti- virus. hooked the modem up and here we go. nothin' but trouble. so i put in the security suite they provide, removing mine. no better...ever since i been going in circles and nothin' has helped except my breaking down buying a new hard drive and xp. that'l do it i betcha.

 

krit i got no such thing as cmd.exe. i'm still on ME...and still learning.just what should my IP submask and DNS be? i have recently seen DNS errors.

 

krit86lr, he is running Windows Me.

Steve

 

man i 'm tryin' to run it...anybody notice i been on for almost an hour and i am pushing my pc hard right now to see if it'll crater...so far so good, but no firewall yet

 

Oooops! My bad, sorry. In that case it's winipcfg, not ipconfig and type it in the Run box.

This might be worth reading through as well. http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/tcpipadr.html

 

Tat, at the risk of asking you a dumb question, how do you connect from your HP to your DSL modem? I'm also running an older HP (XE732) with Windows ME. When I first got DSL, I didn't have ethernet, so I connected via USB cable. And it sucked. So I installed a NIC (network Interface card) to connect via ethernet and it's been smooth sailing since. If you're already using ethernet, sorry for the false hope!

 

i am on cable modem with usb to my pc. just had a problem, but i was cruisin' there from about 8:30 to 10:30 when i did something and needed to reboot.security suite wouldn't shut down.so it froze then prompted me by saying it never started. did i want to fix it? i say yes and pc reboots. when i restarted i tried to bring up home on ie6. it wouldn't. the only things showing in close programs is the page that tried to load, cox security suite, and explorer.so i end the page that didn't load. rebooted. came up lookin' normal(not sure i know normal). opened fine. pages load and i'm here again. then i try to post this.no chance.had to copy it on wordpad and paste it. tried reboot. cox security suite mini window comes up that says cannot quit. with o.k. click button.i do. it reboots.reloads and opens explorer to home and here i am trying to post for the 2nd time hope i make it. whatcha think? sucky security suite huh? does that narrow it down?... yeah, i made the post

 

its about 11: 30 here and i'm crashin'. got to go run waterjets in the a.m. i'll see if i got a connect in the a.m. no body should be on it till about 4:30. the missus does bible study early,early. she'll really let me know if it f's up on her. it's her computer from when we met, and she always thinks i'm messin' it up 'cause i'm on it more than her. anyway, cya and i'll be back tomorrow.

 

update- went to bed and pc was o.k. sat on overnite with nobody touching it. got up and checked to see if ie would open .wouldn't load the home page.reboot. try again. 1st page started load then froze. hit refresh and page loaded. what is up with this? it screws up when it's not being used by anyone? no one was on it from my last night 11:30 post until 6 this morning.i do not understand . my wife won't touch it. she says it has the plague.

 

update update-i get the error Authsl has caused error in unknown.will now close. icon in tray is still on.go thru authsl error in MSVBVM60.DLL. WILL CLOSE. still on and i can still surf. icon still there.final window says it(cox security suite) needs to close and please send report which doesn't send and then nothing. i can surf icon still on. go to close programs and cox is gone. so i am now unprotected and online. i guess its the cox (duh, dummy!). solid solutions and suggestions for good free protection is appreciated. please try not to kick too hard guys.

 

Authsl is part of the Comcast Security suite.

Steve

 

That's weird. And MSVBM60.DLL is a VB runtime error. Oh! The cox software must be writted in VB I suppose?

My favorite protection is in my sig. And it's all free, except for the router.

Good Luck!

 

Just a few suggestions below. Might help you kind of resolve some of these conflicts.

1. In the Control Panel look under Add/Remove, see if you can locate any programs that you no longer need or use and uninstall them.

2. Click on Start > Run > and type MSCONFIG and click on the startup tab. These are programs that are stating when you start the computer, you can stop them from starting if you uncheck the box. You have to be careful, some are required, so make sure you know what to uncheck. As an example, if you see anything there related to Norton SystemWorks, you could uncheck it and be ok.

3. Run the two removal tools below, this will make sure that any Norton files are removed.

http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4749

http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=3077

4. Download and install this, http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=523

Steve

 

o.k. so i ran all the stuff you guys asked me to. no change at all. authsl is part of the cox security suite. it is really made by authentium. is it part of comcast security suite too? what now? where do we go from here?

 

Sill getting all the errors and disconnected?

Steve

 

when i came home the cox and explorer were on,so i tried to open explorer to my home page. can't find server. rebooted after going to msconfig and unchecking security suite in start.it restarted i went to my home page turned on coxss then next move to load a page and nothin'. here i am surfin' nekkid again after a reboot. i'm not getting any alert boxes or blue screens so far. ah, the night is young...it's definitely in the security suite. should i clean it out? is it even a good setup for privacy and safety?

 

i just ran winipcfg. how do i verify that these numbers are correct?

 

UPDATE- I say "screw" cox security suite and thru add and remove programs, the devil goes bye-bye. install counterspy,avast home edition, and outpost firewall. reboot. all is good except due to avast, pages seem to be loading a little slower, but it's not knockin' me off.now i coulda swore that when i changed from dial up to hi speed theseprograms which were already installed in my pc, gave me trouble. i don't know. i've been in a pc hurricane for a week now.....

 

update update- the avast anti-virus is givin' me trouble! i can turn it off and everything's cool. turn it on and pages don't load or load slow.... here we go... is avg better and maybe less conflicting?

 

Might it be that the problem is the computer is weighed down under the weight of everything and now with a hi speed connection. I think the poor old Celeron and its less than 512 Ram is spitting the dummy because the 'puter cannot cope with the load. 667Mhz is not really a good idea when most systems these days are based on a much higher spec.
Just a thought - if the problem worsens when you install XP then maybe its time to update to something a bit more hefty computer wise.
Cheers
Robert

 

i've heard that i can go to a 1.1 ghz pentium III OR 1.4 ghz celeron with an adapter.the mobo recognizes the FSB. i have also looked at overclocking. heard these were good candidates. since the FSB is only 66mhz now. i think i could double the speed almost. it turned off the kernel scanning on avast to get my pages to load. it's no problem at all until i turn on the anti-virus. so i would think it is in the anti-virus.

 

UPDATE- it is still screwing up.the outpost firewall seems to work fine and doesn't hinder surfing or other functions.on the other hand, the counterspy and avast home edition 4 both are messing around not letting me load a page or freezing up when loading from startup. counterspy freezes up but the tray icon says active and you can turn it on and off(i guess?). the avast doesn't start right and was the first thing i noticed. see above post from earlier. any ideas? too much longer and the xp and new hard drive will be here... nah, guys i'm tied down to makin' this work correctly because it is supposed to. that's a geek's way.

 

did panda scan july5 while i was working in malware forum and got thru all that good. i've done repair install on avast.i've uninstalled and reinstalled. i bought counterspy and it worked great in dial up. i don't think i've tried a repair on counterspy.it doesn't load right.it freezes for a long time, then loads.

 

that sux. i think i'll wait on my xp disk to get here, it's on the way. with 2.0 usb 6port card and wd caviar 80gb 7200 rpm 8mb cache hd.

 

hey guys - it won't be long now. i got my hd xp and 2.0 usb upgrade card in the mail today. only prob- no drivers or any disk came with the hd. now, where do i get the drivers from?

 

No need for drivers for the HD, or USB 2.0 card. Xp will automatically recognise them.

Is this an XP upgrade disk? If so, I highly recommend running the compatibility software on the xp cd. Also, I HIGHLY recommend uninstalling, counterspy, any antivirus program, and any firewall, BEFORE you upgrade to xp. The compatibility program will tell you what is compatible. I typically uninstall everything that is not compatible.

Now, if you are installing freshly to the new hdd, then ignore the previous paragraph.