More on troubleshooting Windows network glitches
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By
Dennis O'Reilly
The connectivity woes Scott Spanbauer reported in his Dec. 11 Top Story represent only a portion of the network problems Windows users are encountering. Finding the source of a failed or intermittent Internet link can be a mystery worthy of a fictional sleuth. |
Whether for work, play, or otherwise, our day-to-day lives rely more and more on our connection to the Internet. Unfortunately, as network links become more important, network failures become more difficult to diagnose.
Scott's story described a change Microsoft made to Vista's DHCP settings that caused problems with some routers, among other Windows network glitches. Several readers contacted us to share their tales of Windows-connectivity disaster. Richard Chase also reminds us of some other useful network-troubleshooting tips:
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"More than a few times I've seen broken antivirus programs causing the Internet to simply not work at all. Sometimes your antivirus may appear to be working correctly, but if you've tried everything and it still doesn't work, remove it. I have seen McAfee, Norton, and AVG products do this on occasion and I've seen Telus's antivirus program do it almost all the time.
"A simple uninstall .. and ... reinstall usually solves the problem. If, after the reinstall, your Internet [link] is broken again, seek out the antivirus company's full removal tool. Your Internet-connection woes could be caused by corrupt configuration settings that are left behind after a standard install.
"You guys failed to mention that it could also be as simple as a bad Ethernet cable or network card. Power surges, dust, and a million other things can fry a network card. Cables get bent, chewed, and stepped on all the time. A network cable tester costs no more than $20 ... and a network card is [priced] the same. For convenience, USB-to-LAN adapters also exist for those who want to try solutions outside the computer before going internal."
Several Windows Secrets columnists have recommended Secunia's free Online Software Inspector and downloadable Personal Software Inspector for ensuring that your applications receive all the security and other fixes they need. In fact, Ryan Russell describes the service in this week's Perimeter Scan (paid column). Also, Susan Bradley pointed to the company's software-update services in the Dec. 11 Known Issues 2 column.
However, in recent weeks we've been hearing from readers whose experience with Secunia's update service is less than perfect. Here's what Mel Slane wrote in to tell us:
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"Regarding using Secunia PSI to check whether your computer is patched and secure, be aware that they aren't perfect either. I just concluded a two-day nightmare, thinking that my Microsoft Office 2003 — specifically Word 2003 — wasn't secure (not updated).
"Secunia PSI said that [Word] wasn't being patched because it was located in the wrong folder (in C:\Program Files\MicrosoftOffice\OFFICE11). Got a lengthy explanation from Microsoft on how I could fix my 'problem,' with the fourth possible step being to uninstall Office 2003 and reinstall it. Fortunately, I resisted taking that step because I knew how much of a hassle it would be, including backing up Outlook 2003 with my e-mails and addresses.
"Then I followed one of Microsoft's recommendations, which was to check the Secunia user forum. When I did, I discovered that many, many other people had the same problem, and it wasn't with Microsoft but Secunia. Secunia wasn't responding to the problem (they apparently don't pay much attention to the user forum), even though the PSI program was apparently giving us all a false positive.
"Fortunately, [the company] finally did respond and updated their definitions, or whatever the proper word is. When I did a rescan of my software using PSI, I was suddenly not 'insecure' anymore. The moral to the story is not to trust the software people who check the software too much, because Microsoft is not the only [company that] has problems."
In his Dec. 4 LangaList Plus column (paid content), Fred Langa fielded a question from a reader who was looking for a way to track the amount of bandwidth his network connection used to avoid extra charges from his ISP. Several readers told us about their favorite network-usage meters; one of them is Rory Gordon:
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"...You mentioned various usage monitors in response to Peter Sutherland's enquiry. Like Peter, I am in Australia, and I find usage monitors essential.
"There are a number of tools that are ISP-specific. For example, I am with iiNet and use iiUsage, which grabs the usage data from the ISP on user-configurable intervals and presents the data simply and quickly. It works only for iiNet, however.
"If Peter is using Firefox, then there is an add-on called Net Usage [download page] which functions across a variety of ISPs, both Australian and [in] other countries. Again, this [program] grabs the data from the ISP. Both of these tools have (un)official support through Whirlpool forums.
"Finally, a utility that isn't ISP-specific — NetMeter [download page] — is purely a bandwidth monitor that graphically shows your PC's traffic. It also keeps a log of your daily usage and can maintain the history for years.
"All three of these tools are free. Need I say that I recommend all of them?"
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"I've been using a free utility name BitMeter2
[download page].
It does just what is needed here by tracking bandwidth usage and keeping a history of it. You can look at the results by month, day, or hour in graph or table format."
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Readers Richard, Mel, Rory, and Ken will each receive a gift certificate for
a book, CD, or DVD of their choice for sending tips we printed. Send us your
tips via the Windows Secrets
contact page. |
The Known Issues column brings you readers' comments on our recent articles. Dennis O'Reilly is technical editor of WindowsSecrets.com.
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