Odd Windows Problem

[skeeter]

I am running Win98se on my main computer and am having an odd problem.
My internet connection keeps getting dropped. That is it keeps kicking off the internet. I have tried several modems-no change. I put a different computer on the line and it worked fine. I have installed and reinstalled the ISP and nothing changes. Still won't stay on internet. It has got to be in Internet Exployer. Anyone know of a way to correct this without re-installing windows? That is the only thing I haven't tried so far and would like to avoid the hassle of losing all my installed program associations if possible. I even tried ISP Fix but nothing was wrong.

[thorlo6]

I know exactly what you are going through. I have Win98SE on my old PC also and I have been having the very same problem with another twist as well. My internet connection also runs as slow as molasses in a Canadian winter! I connected my son's new PC with WinXP and an AMD 300+ Athlon XP CPU and the very same ISP, and the connection is faster than greased lightening without the first disconnect! It has to be "the nature of the beast" with Win98SE. Late last year I had to reformat and reinstall Win98SE on my PC and at first my ISP ran normally without any disconnects. Only thing I can figure is that Win98SE has to be reinstalled every so often. Go Figure. I know this doesn't help too much but maybe you can get a little something out of it.
thorlo6

[galaxian]

In Outlook Express, Tools > Options > Connection tab
Check to see that Hang up after Send/Receiving is not selected

[GaryRouth]

. . . in addition to galaxian's tip [might want to save a copy of that tip for future reference, it's a good one to know] -- you might make sure that in your ISP modem setup you add the special characters necessary to disable the "Call Waiting" feature on your phone [it's usually something like *70 . . . and it only disables Call Waiting while you're online, it restores it as soon as you are done] . . .

[p.s. ...run a virus/spyware scan too, just to be sure an unwanted visitor isn't trying to start up a background process that's disrupting things]

[skeeter]

Just checked in Outlook Express......it is not selected.

[GaryRouth]

Hi again -

Did you check on the Call Waiting? (if you don't have Call Waiting on your phones, then nevermind that idea)

Another thing you can try - if you've been adding/removing a lot of modems in that older box, go into Safe Mode & make sure oldies that you're not using anymore aren't still hanging around in Device Manager. If they are, remove them (simply by selecting the "ghost" modem & clicking on "Remove"). Also remove any absentee modems from your ISP software setup.

"WinModems" ("controller-less" or "HSP:Host Signal Processing") can be very sensitive to the initializing strings that your ISP dialer uses to connect. You can sometimes find a string that works better by looking in the .inf file for your model modem [in Win9x, this would usually be in C:\Windows\Inf\Other - and you need to select "show all files" in Windows Explorer to see that hidden system folder]. WinModems also hate to be anything but the 1st device on a shared phone line (if a fax machine, or another modem in another daisy-chained computer is also connected to that phone line, try it with the WinModem as the 1st device).

I usually find that it's not an OS issue, it's more a modem/ISP setup issue.
. . . Gary