More Vista troubles..??

Post by **RichardW** » 08 Jan 2009, 21:20

Not really sure if this is Vista related or not (it probably is

) since I installed a wireless router (which was a challenge - maybe I should turn the router off and try again!) I have trouble accessing this site - and others which seem to need a database call. It just hangs with the message "Waiting for ....." usually can be got to work by stopping it and retrying it. No problem with the connection as I can open another tab and instantly open another page. I've turned off the Vista firewall in case that was fighting with the router firewall, but no joy. Any ideas?

If I had a copy of XP I'd be tempeted to wipe this new laptop of its HP hijcked copy of Vista and install a clean copy of XP instead.

Post by **myglaren** » 08 Jan 2009, 21:32

I get that with Gmail recently with Firefox and Flock (different accounts.
It is in part because I have so many homepages that open all together, one being a youtube video.
If I open Gmail on its own there is never a problem.
This is the same with Vista on the laptop or with Ubuntu on the desktop.
Both connect to the same wireless router.
F5 usually sorts it out in a few seconds.

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 08 Jan 2009, 22:03

First question is who's your ISP?

Second is, if you open a command prompt and type:
ipconfig /all

What information does it say under wireless?
something like:

Ethernet adapter Network Bridge:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : MAC Bridge Miniport
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.4.102(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.4.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.4.200
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

If your DNS Server is the same as your Default Gateway (something like 192.168.0.1 probably) then the issue could be with the router resolving IP addresses for you.

You can either open c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts and add the following line:
212.241.211.53 www.frenchcarforum.co.uk

That way your PC won't bother asking any remote computers how to find www.finmereairsoft.co.uk, or you could go into the network properties of your wireless card, then the properties of IPv4, and manually enter the IP address of a reliable DNS server.

Incase you weren't aware, of for anyone who isn't, when you try to connect to www.frenchcarforum.co.uk your computer asks a DNS server what it's IP address is (which is 212.241.211.53), and with that information your computer can then contact the forum's server and be sent the pages you're after.
Now, if the DNS server your computer asks doesn't know the IP address, that DNS server then forwards the request on to another DNS server, and that continues until it hits a DNS server that does know the IP address.
If your DNS server setting is the same as your default gateway (ie the router) then your PC is asking the router for the IP address of the forum.
It won't know, and will forward the request on to your ISP's DNS servers (or whatever DNS server you've configured for the router).
It could be that the router is having trouble doing that job, so if you set your PC to go to a proper DNS server rather than the router first, you'll cut out the middle man so to speak.

If after doing one of the above you still have problems, then it could be your ISP uses transparent proxies (such as Virgin Media/NTL do).
What happens there is rather than going direct to the forum's server for it's pages, you get directed to a proxy server within your ISP's network rather than on the internet. That then gets the pages for you, and if you ask for them again, the proxy provides them without contacting the forum's server again. It cuts down internet traffic for the ISP and so saves them money. The down side though is if the proxy you're being directed to is in need of a reboot, it can fail to load pages. In which case, you can find another proxy and force your browser to use that instead.

I hope that makes sense, I've been up since 9am yesterday as my hard drive decided to go twang so I spent the night rebuilding onto a new one.

reblack68 · Post by **reblack68** » 09 Jan 2009, 07:24

If you have one of the two "Pro" versions of Vista (can't remember what they are called but not Home Basic or Home Premium) you can get a free upgrade to XP Pro.

My wife has an identical laptop to mine but with XP. If I thought I would get away with it I would install XP Home on this laptop and use her product key. I've even considered buying a licensed XP disc.

Post by **RichardW** » 09 Jan 2009, 08:44

Cheers.

Xac: I will have a look later on and see what I can find. It's some problem with the router or the Vista config of that, as I don't remember having problems when I first got the laptop and was using a Speedtouch USB modem. We are on Virgin (ADSL not cable though)

It's annoying as the connection is otherwise pretty good.

Richard: Home preimum, so no free 'upgrade' then. Part of the trouble is that this copy of Vista has been HP-ised - I've got rid of a good part of the add-ons I don't want, but there is still stuff going on I've no idea about. It takes an age to get up and running once logged in.

Trouble with Vista seems to be it doesn't actually want to tell you what's going on - it just pops up with (un) helpful wizards all the time. Most frustrating!

Post by **myglaren** » 09 Jan 2009, 09:47

Someone mentioned recently that PC World had dropped the price of XP to around £40.

No that I can see

PC World

I'm sure the last copy of Vista Home Ultimate that I bought was only £60 ish! (from Overclockers)

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 09 Jan 2009, 12:56

RichardW wrote:Cheers.

Xac: I will have a look later on and see what I can find. It's some problem with the router or the Vista config of that, as I don't remember having problems when I first got the laptop and was using a Speedtouch USB modem. We are on Virgin (ADSL not cable though) It's annoying as the connection is otherwise pretty good.

Most likely an issue with Virgin rather than Vista.
They've replaced their range of proxy servers with a single one, so no bypassing it unfortunately.
I'd try adding this site to your hosts file as I said in my last post, that will eliminate any DNS issues.
What's your router saying it's up and down stream connections are?
If you were running with just a USB adsl modem, then god knows how infected your computer could be with backdoors etc (not just viruses).
I hate that ISPs gave USB modems away with ADSL and had no regard for the security of their customers!

MikeT · Post by **MikeT** » 09 Jan 2009, 13:38

I agree with xac, it's possibly a configuration problem not providing DNS(Domain Name Server) info which is how computers network. Check your network settings are set to OBTAIN IP (and Gateway and DNS server) AUTOMATICALLY and make sure your router is set as a DHCP Server (which will automatically provide the above details to configure your PC every time it boots.

I don't know Vista (purposely avoided it) but I'd guess there's a network troubleshooting program buried in the HELP and SUPPORT section under NETWORKING. Running that should highlight any problems.

Post by **RichardW** » 09 Jan 2009, 15:03

Changed to opendns servers and seems to be much better. A quick search suggests that the Virgin DNS servers it was using are pants.

No infections here as far as I know. Why is a USB modem with software firewall and AV and anti spy worse than a router?

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 09 Jan 2009, 16:14

RichardW wrote: No infections here as far as I know. Why is a USB modem with software firewall and AV and anti spy worse than a router?

A USB modem, just as the old dial up modems, in itself basically connects your PC direct to the internet, and unlike dial up, with broadband you're more likely to stay online for longer periods, so less likely to get a new IP address, and expose yourself to greater risks.

A router uses NAT (network address translation) which basically hides your internal network from the internet.

At least you had a software firewall, many people don't, and do not know how to properly configure one.
However, while a hardware firewall seperates two networks, a software one relies on just filtering network traffic. If someone is able to kill the software firewall process (and windows can be buggy enough to do that itself if you're really unlucky) then it opens your computer right up.
Also, hardware firewalls are normally based on linux, which itself is more secure and stable, while software firewalls rely on windows which itself is full of holes.
Software firewalls are normally much more detailed when it comes to logging, and they're handy for blocking outbound traffic.

Anti-virus, when it works, is always a good idea. I remember when I worked for NTL and one of our contractors said a PC had just tried to infect his laptop with Nimda, even though the PCs ran McAffee (excuse spitting sounds).
So we scanned said PC, and McAffee happily informed us that yes it was infected, but wasn't inclined to do much about it.
So not only did it fail to prevent infection in the first place, the scheduled scan wasn't detecting that it had been infected! We use McAffee at work, and it still doesn't like updating itself with the latest virus definitions, although I know some people who swear by it (course I had the pleasure of using Dr Solomons and Sophos in my first job).

Talking of NTL and nimda, have a read of http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/09/20 ... runs_riot/
I warned the person in charge of the servers they needed to be rebuilt, but he wasn't interested.
And the work I did get a mention here http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/04/19/ntl_hacked/ (oops)

newmezuk04 · Post by **newmezuk04** » 09 Jan 2009, 17:12

I just dont get the whole point with Vista with the problem of the screen blacking out briefly when you are opening something up or similar for the first time

Post by **myglaren** » 09 Jan 2009, 17:13

newmezuk04 wrote:I just dont get the whole point with Vista with the problem of the screen blacking out briefly when you are opening something up or similar for the first time

Huh?

MikeT · Post by **MikeT** » 09 Jan 2009, 17:31

Screen going black is most likely a graphic driver issue.

Perhaps we should have a dedicated PC section - mostly aimed at issues to do with Forum usage but could be a place to let the fanboys let off steam too

newmezuk04 · Post by **newmezuk04** » 09 Jan 2009, 21:14

Hmm, I've noticed it on a couple of laptops, and interesting bit of information to remember.

Post by **myglaren** » 09 Jan 2009, 21:34

newmezuk04 wrote:Hmm, I've noticed it on a couple of laptops, and interesting bit of information to remember.

Any idea of the laptop specs?
This one runs ten times faster on Ubuntu than Vista.
Never blacks out though.