modem cannot open port!!

[bigronstud266]

Hello,
REcently we had a thunderstorm where I live and I have three computers. Lighting hit and the 2 computers that were left on now cant connect to the internet. I just keep getting the message, "cannot open port". Both modems were connected through a surge protector so I know they didnt get fried. I have had this problem once before and fixed it but forgot how. Please tell me how to fix this problem. I have both win 98 and win 2000. Thank you for your help,
Ron

[glc]

Just because they were on a surge prorector does NOT mean they did not get fried. With any luck all you did was fry the modems.

[bigronstud266]

LEt me clarify myself on my post. I only mentioned lightning because of the storm. All that happened was that the power went out for a few seconds and when it came back on and I tried to get on the net, it keeps saying cannot open port. the computers work fine besides that. Sorry I mentioned lightning. Now is there anyone else who can help me out?
Thanks,
Ron

[ktkendall]

You may want to uninstall , reboot and reinstall the modems. If that does not work, and perhaps update drivers does not work then I am betting you did take a hit thru the phone line on these particular PC's. Surge protection especially on a phone line can help some spikes, but does not guarantee absolute protection of whatever device is on the end of that phone line. I've been a telcom tech 15 years and have seen many cases of equip out of service after lightning storms. The only guarantee is to completely disconnect equip during storm. There is already protection on your line by the telco, and they will tell you the same thing!!

[ktkendall]

Just a quick side note there Big Iron>>
I'm glad you did mention the lightning, cause you would probably have had people trying all kind of things and spending much time only to come to the same conclusion??? Don't you think it more than coincidence the the other PC that wasn't on during the storm is OK??
Anyways in light of that I wouldn't spend too much time beyond removing and reinstalling the modems before I went out and bought a new one if that doesn't work!

[ssahl]

It wouldnt have to be the lightning, just having the power go off while the computer is on would be enough to screw things up, especially if you were running a heafty program or writing to the disk when it happened. I'm not saying that it's not the direct cause though. I would run scan disk, or some other kind of software and see if all is ok that way. Check your phone line, and then also go into your control panel>modems and go into the properties somewhere in there (depending on what OS your running) and query the modem (get more info) and see if all is ok with your modem that way.

[Tuf]

The fact that BOTH conputers cannot connect is a good indication that the modems did take a hit.

[bigronstud266]

hEY GUYS,
i HAVE BOUGHT A NEW MODEM AND INSTALLED IT AND THE SAME THING IS STILL HAPPENING. it STILL SAYS, NO DIALTONE DETECTED. CAN ANYBODY HELP ME WITHOUT JUST SAYING THE MODEM IS FRIED?
THANKS FOR YOUR HELP,
RON

[Redo40]

Have you connected a phone to your line to see if there is a dial tone? May be a line problem. Just a thought.



Roger

[ktkendall]

Wait a minute there, your original post said the error was "modem
can not open port", now your reporting no dial tone, which says the modem is now initializing OK and in good working order. Some of those modems that have the two RJ11 ports are finicky about which one you put the DT into. Are you sure your into the one marked line in now on the new modem, and that there is DT present.

[ssahl]

Yes be sure to actually check the phone line with a phone and see if you can call out on it, also pay attention to how much noise you can hear on the line.

[SARGE]

When a modem goes flaky it can cause several error reports.

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?threadid=37434

[Charger]

I assume that after all the screaming and yelling the problem has been solved. In the interest of other users, what exactly did you do to correct the problem?