Network connection on Win98SE machine keeps failing

I recently installed Telus High Speed (DSL). Our secondary machine
gets a working network connection on booting, every time, but within
about 15 minutes it fails. This is a Compaq 7AP190, 2000 vintage,
Win98SE, wired connection to ethernet port, single processor at 1GHz,
256 MBy RAM. Our primary machine, a 2006 VAIO with WinXP,
seems still to be able to ping the Compaq, but neither machine can
read the other's shared files after the failure.

I've tried the obvious things like unplugging and replugging the cable
plug, even backed out with Acronis True Image to a months-old
backup (TI replaces the entire partition contents). No joy. Since
a reboot always works for a while, it seems unlikely that hardware
is to blame.

Thanks for any suggestions and/or shared experiences.

"Anthony Buckland" wrote in message
...
I recently installed Telus High Speed (DSL). Our secondary machine
gets a working network connection on booting, every time, but within
about 15 minutes it fails. This is a Compaq 7AP190, 2000 vintage,
Win98SE, wired connection to ethernet port, single processor at 1GHz,
256 MBy RAM. Our primary machine, a 2006 VAIO with WinXP,
seems still to be able to ping the Compaq, but neither machine can
read the other's shared files after the failure.

I've tried the obvious things like unplugging and replugging the cable
plug, even backed out with Acronis True Image to a months-old
backup (TI replaces the entire partition contents). No joy. Since
a reboot always works for a while, it seems unlikely that hardware
is to blame.

Thanks for any suggestions and/or shared experiences.


have you un-installed and re-installed your network card ? (drivers)

"Anthony Buckland" wrote in message
...
I recently installed Telus High Speed (DSL). Our secondary machine
gets a working network connection on booting, every time, but within
about 15 minutes it fails. This is a Compaq 7AP190, 2000 vintage,
Win98SE, wired connection to ethernet port, single processor at 1GHz,
256 MBy RAM. Our primary machine, a 2006 VAIO with WinXP,
seems still to be able to ping the Compaq, but neither machine can
read the other's shared files after the failure.

I've tried the obvious things like unplugging and replugging the cable
plug, even backed out with Acronis True Image to a months-old
backup (TI replaces the entire partition contents). No joy. Since
a reboot always works for a while, it seems unlikely that hardware
is to blame.

Thanks for any suggestions and/or shared experiences.


have you un-installed and re-installed your network card ? (drivers)

"Haggis" wrote in message
...




"Anthony Buckland" wrote in message
...
I recently installed Telus High Speed (DSL). Our secondary machine
gets a working network connection on booting, every time, but within
about 15 minutes it fails ,,,

have you un-installed and re-installed your network card ? (drivers)



Yes, and it was a delightful experience since I don't have a Win98SE
CD-ROM (just the machine manufacturer's recovery CD's, great if
I get nostalgic for 2000, although I did use them as the first stage
in replacing the hard drive last year), plus the CAB arsenal. Thing
was, I actually had all the files the reinstall wanted, just in different
directories in \WINDOWS. But it asks before finishing opening
windows, so I had to let the install fail and use my scribbled notes
to find the files, then uninstall again, ...

But it didn't, regrettably, do any good. However, today I tried a
slightly tweaked resetup of the network settings, which _might_
have worked ...

"Haggis" wrote in message
...




"Anthony Buckland" wrote in message
...
I recently installed Telus High Speed (DSL). Our secondary machine
gets a working network connection on booting, every time, but within
about 15 minutes it fails ,,,

have you un-installed and re-installed your network card ? (drivers)



Yes, and it was a delightful experience since I don't have a Win98SE
CD-ROM (just the machine manufacturer's recovery CD's, great if
I get nostalgic for 2000, although I did use them as the first stage
in replacing the hard drive last year), plus the CAB arsenal. Thing
was, I actually had all the files the reinstall wanted, just in different
directories in \WINDOWS. But it asks before finishing opening
windows, so I had to let the install fail and use my scribbled notes
to find the files, then uninstall again, ...

But it didn't, regrettably, do any good. However, today I tried a
slightly tweaked resetup of the network settings, which _might_
have worked ...

"Anthony Buckland" wrote in message
...

"Haggis" wrote in message
...




"Anthony Buckland" wrote in message
...
I recently installed Telus High Speed (DSL). Our secondary machine
gets a working network connection on booting, every time, but within
about 15 minutes it fails ,,,

have you un-installed and re-installed your network card ? (drivers)



Yes, and it was a delightful experience since I don't have a Win98SE
CD-ROM (just the machine manufacturer's recovery CD's, great if
I get nostalgic for 2000, although I did use them as the first stage
in replacing the hard drive last year), plus the CAB arsenal. Thing
was, I actually had all the files the reinstall wanted, just in different
directories in \WINDOWS. But it asks before finishing opening
windows, so I had to let the install fail and use my scribbled notes
to find the files, then uninstall again, ...

But it didn't, regrettably, do any good. However, today I tried a
slightly tweaked resetup of the network settings, which _might_
have worked ...


once installed you can usually point the installer at \windows or
\windows\system to collect the win98 files ...but you still need the correct
drivers from the manufacturer ...

"Anthony Buckland" wrote in message
...

"Haggis" wrote in message
...




"Anthony Buckland" wrote in message
...
I recently installed Telus High Speed (DSL). Our secondary machine
gets a working network connection on booting, every time, but within
about 15 minutes it fails ,,,

have you un-installed and re-installed your network card ? (drivers)



Yes, and it was a delightful experience since I don't have a Win98SE
CD-ROM (just the machine manufacturer's recovery CD's, great if
I get nostalgic for 2000, although I did use them as the first stage
in replacing the hard drive last year), plus the CAB arsenal. Thing
was, I actually had all the files the reinstall wanted, just in different
directories in \WINDOWS. But it asks before finishing opening
windows, so I had to let the install fail and use my scribbled notes
to find the files, then uninstall again, ...

But it didn't, regrettably, do any good. However, today I tried a
slightly tweaked resetup of the network settings, which _might_
have worked ...


once installed you can usually point the installer at \windows or
\windows\system to collect the win98 files ...but you still need the correct
drivers from the manufacturer ...

In a Win98SE manual, I ran across the idea that network cables
should stay away from fluorescent lights. My cable runs across
the basement ceiling and crosses right over, at a few inches
distance, a standard 2-tube fluorescent fixture. Could
interference from that fixture result in a network connection
going down after some unspecified time?

In a Win98SE manual, I ran across the idea that network cables
should stay away from fluorescent lights. My cable runs across
the basement ceiling and crosses right over, at a few inches
distance, a standard 2-tube fluorescent fixture. Could
interference from that fixture result in a network connection
going down after some unspecified time?

Today's experiment was to turn off completely power saving on
the Win98SE machine. Didn't do any good, but worth the
test.

Which leads me to a question about the state I'm in right now.
Our WinXP machine and our Win98SE machine can each ping
the other, by name or by number, but neither can see the other's
shared files, and the Win98SE machine can't access the net.
So what, exactly, does this mean? The wires are
presumably intact. But something [in software?] doesn't work.
There are only so many wires. The software is presumably (?)
intact, since rebooting the Win98SE machine cures all ills.
The Win98SE machine's Ethernet card is presumably prepared
to work if given a fresh start. Nothing seems to vary depending
on whether the fluorescent light that the cable passes near is
on or off. The new gateway device that came with my high speed
service seems to work, no better and no worse than the LAN hub
it replaces at keeping the Win98SE machine properly connected.
Nothing in the many MS documents I've investigated seems _quite_
relevant to my situation, and no hints in them, diligently applied,
leads to a solution.

Agh! Well, I have for some decades now regarded communications
as the most frustrating part of computer applications. Tout ne change
pas.