WinMe reboots minutes after dialup connection is established

Hi folks,

please help me with the following problem. Any input will be greatly
appreciated!

Here's the story:

A friend running Windows Me (at home) asked me for help. Since about two
weeks ago Windows starting crashing a few minutes after establishing a
dialup connection. It would reboot the PC spontaniously, without warning,
1 to 8 minutes (these are the values I found out after reproducing the
error a few dozen times; mean time about 3 minutes) after dialing in and
establishing (successfully) an internet connection.

What I tried:

- checked filesystem for errors (scandisk, norton disk doctor 2002)
- checked for registry and other windows errors (norton windoctor 2002),
repaired everything after choosing a suitable solution for each, one by
one
- upgraded Internet Explorer (only browser they use) from 5.5 to 6 SP1
- installed all available patches from the windowsupdate site
- tried other connections (to other ISPs) - same
- defragmented disk
- browser doesn't have to be running for the error to occur; just being
connected to the internet will trigger it after a few minutes
- this error never occurs when not connected to the net (even if Internet
Explorer is started), but every time after dialing in

After spending some three hours doing all of the above I reached the end
of my tether and threw the towel. I haven't got much experience with Win
Me, since I use only Win2000 both at home and at work.

I also browsed the internet for similar reports and possible solution to
this problem, but haven't found anything similar (yet). I suppose this is
only one of thousands of situations when Windows (esp. 9x / Me) just
crashes without apparent reason.

Please post your comments & ideas on this since my friend is already quite
desperate and the only other thing I can think of is to wipe and install
something more stable like Win2K, reinstalling all the software etc. which
would be a dog's work...

Thanks very much,

Andrei

P.S. Sorry for crossposting - wasn't sure which group was best suited for
my problem...

Please post your comments & ideas on this since my friend is already quite
desperate and the only other thing I can think of is to wipe and install
something more stable like Win2K, reinstalling all the software etc. which
would be a dog's work...



Having everything up to date is a good start, but usually doesn't help.

In no particular order:

Look he http://jayne.rockdalenet.com/freqdis.htm

Talk to ISP.

Possibly reinstalling Dial Up Networking.

Potential virus. Also spyware. I would check this first.

Antivirus program or firewall program may cause disconnects.

Modem driver may be corrupted or just old.

Any info in BSOD? Search on that error if it contains any info.

Arbitrary BSOD's or reboots in my experience can also be caused by bad or
overloaded power supply and loose cables.

I also have cards that have to be reseated periodically.

Could be some kind of modem hardware problem. Try another modem if possible.

When was the last dust/dirt cleanout.

Examine each step the signal has to go through. You are lucky that the
problem is reproducible.

Also look at what happened just before the problem started.

Hope this helps.

Dick Kistler

Thank you for your suggestions. I forgot to mention I checked (and
double-checked, using another program) for viruses, worms, dialers and the
like (none found). There isn't any message on the BSOD, simply because
there's no BSOD - the computer just reboots without warning. Apart from
that, I agree that it could as well be a hardware problem - hard to locate
though. Reseat every card and a thorough cleaning should probably be done
next...
Thanks again,
Andrei

On Fri, 2 Jul 2004, Dick Kistler wrote:

Having everything up to date is a good start, but usually doesn't help.

In no particular order:

Look he http://jayne.rockdalenet.com/freqdis.htm

Talk to ISP.

Possibly reinstalling Dial Up Networking.

Potential virus. Also spyware. I would check this first.

Antivirus program or firewall program may cause disconnects.

Modem driver may be corrupted or just old.

Any info in BSOD? Search on that error if it contains any info.

Arbitrary BSOD's or reboots in my experience can also be caused by bad or
overloaded power supply and loose cables.

I also have cards that have to be reseated periodically.

Could be some kind of modem hardware problem. Try another modem if possible.

When was the last dust/dirt cleanout.

Examine each step the signal has to go through. You are lucky that the
problem is reproducible.

Also look at what happened just before the problem started.

Hope this helps.

Dick Kistler

Thank you for your suggestions. I forgot to mention I checked (and
double-checked, using another program) for viruses, worms, dialers and the
like (none found). There isn't any message on the BSOD, simply because
there's no BSOD - the computer just reboots without warning. Apart from
that, I agree that it could as well be a hardware problem - hard to locate
though. Reseat every card and a thorough cleaning should probably be done
next...
Thanks again,
Andrei


Got this off www.boodisk.com to disable the automatic reboot. Maybe it will
work for you.

Right click on My Computer, select Properties and then the Advanced tab.
Click on Settings under 'Startup and Recovery' and then uncheck
'Automatically restart'. Next time your PC tries to restart you see a Blue
Screen [with a stop or error message which you can use to research your
problem.]

Dick

That's only for XP - ME has no such switch.


--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2004, Win9x)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
or
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/f.../Mar27pmvp.asp

"Dick Kistler" wrote in message
...


Thank you for your suggestions. I forgot to mention I checked (and
double-checked, using another program) for viruses, worms, dialers and
the
like (none found). There isn't any message on the BSOD, simply because
there's no BSOD - the computer just reboots without warning. Apart from
that, I agree that it could as well be a hardware problem - hard to
locate
though. Reseat every card and a thorough cleaning should probably be
done
next...
Thanks again,
Andrei


Got this off www.boodisk.com to disable the automatic reboot. Maybe it
will
work for you.

Right click on My Computer, select Properties and then the Advanced tab.
Click on Settings under 'Startup and Recovery' and then uncheck
'Automatically restart'. Next time your PC tries to restart you see a Blue
Screen [with a stop or error message which you can use to research your
problem.]

Dick

Firewall... get one.

www.zonelabs.com

If you have a USB modem (that takes power from the USB port), it might
be drawing more current than your MB is built to supply.


Rick



Serban Andrei Dumitrescu wrote:


Hi folks,

please help me with the following problem. Any input will be greatly
appreciated!

Here's the story:

A friend running Windows Me (at home) asked me for help. Since about two
weeks ago Windows starting crashing a few minutes after establishing a
dialup connection. It would reboot the PC spontaniously, without
warning, 1 to 8 minutes (these are the values I found out after
reproducing the error a few dozen times; mean time about 3 minutes)
after dialing in and establishing (successfully) an internet connection.

What I tried:

- checked filesystem for errors (scandisk, norton disk doctor 2002)
- checked for registry and other windows errors (norton windoctor 2002),
repaired everything after choosing a suitable solution for each, one by one
- upgraded Internet Explorer (only browser they use) from 5.5 to 6 SP1
- installed all available patches from the windowsupdate site
- tried other connections (to other ISPs) - same
- defragmented disk
- browser doesn't have to be running for the error to occur; just being
connected to the internet will trigger it after a few minutes
- this error never occurs when not connected to the net (even if
Internet Explorer is started), but every time after dialing in

After spending some three hours doing all of the above I reached the end
of my tether and threw the towel. I haven't got much experience with Win
Me, since I use only Win2000 both at home and at work.

I also browsed the internet for similar reports and possible solution to
this problem, but haven't found anything similar (yet). I suppose this
is only one of thousands of situations when Windows (esp. 9x / Me) just
crashes without apparent reason.

Please post your comments & ideas on this since my friend is already
quite desperate and the only other thing I can think of is to wipe and
install something more stable like Win2K, reinstalling all the software
etc. which would be a dog's work...

Thanks very much,

Andrei

P.S. Sorry for crossposting - wasn't sure which group was best suited
for my problem...