dial up locks up computer

[joysness]

Hi folks.

Long time since I needed help but this is driving me mad.

About a month ago my computer died. I ended up getting almost an new one. Same box, cd drive and floppy but got a new motherboard, cpu, hard drive, memory and power supply.

Motherboard is gigabyte S-series with amd athlon a2 64 bit cpu, hitachi SATA harddrive, 2 gb of ddr2 memory. It's got xp home sp1.

has nvidia NForce 520LE and GeForce 6100.

Ok, here's the problem... I'm on dialup and every time I connect to the net my computer locks up tight. No mouse, no keyboard, no ctrl/alt/del, no esc. The only thing I can do is turn off the power.

I have tried everything I can think of to fix it. Turned off all other programs like antivirus, firewall, spybot s&d etc. Ran troubleshooters on modem and dialup connection. Everything is working properly.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled the dialup 6 times and still can't figure out what the problem is. Contacted the ISP and the told me to do everything I've already done. :(

I spoke to another tech from another ISP that I may be changing to and he said it may have something to do with the video settings(?) (I didn't write it down as he was just giving me some maybes because he said it would probably do the same thing with their connection.)

The person I purchased the hardware from hasn't been much help and keeps telling me to update juno. Which of course I have done.

So, does anyone have any ideas of what else I might try to fix this? Thanks in advance for any advice.

joy

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

Yes, we haven't seen you around here for a while...

First thing I would check if there is anything in the Event Viewer that gives you any indication what could be going wrong (at the time when you have the lockup).

Next thing I would check if there any newer device drivers available for your modem / network card.

If nothing comes from the above suggestions, I would try to install SP3 on your Windows XP. (But not without consulting this old topic first.)

[Dencandy]

Also, did you re-install XP after making all those hardware changes? The reason to do that is, with my limited experience, if you don't re-install XP after making major hardware changes it can get confused by some aspect of the new set up.

Also, have you run scans with your anti-malware tools?

[joysness]

Thanks Pat and Dencandy,

I will check the logs and see if it says anything. I really don't want SP3 on my computer because in the past I have always had trouble with the service packs, however, since it's a new motherboard and cpu etc. I may give it a try.

I am seriously considering upgrading to Windows7 when it comes out. I've read some really good things about it but we don't expect it to be available till October.

Dencandy, Yes we reinstalled xp on the new equipment because I went from an old PATA hard drive to a SATA so everything got reinstalled.

Yes I've scanned with my antivirus and Spybot S&D and they come up clean. I've been looking for updated drivers but I'm not sure which ones I need and since I can't get on the net on my computer I can't run any checks.

It has to be something to do with the internet connection because that's the only time I have the problem.

It seems to be a real conundrum.

I'll just keep trying :D

[Dencandy]

Have a look at THIS LINK to an IE community group, especially items 7, 8 and 9.

But before that try connecting with all add-ons in IE disabled. Open All Programs > Acessories > System > Internet Explorer (No add-ons).

[joysness]

Thanks Dencandy,

I have taken the computer back to the person who put it all together for me at least four times and specifically asked him to update drivers etc. but English is not his first language and it is sometimes difficult to make him understand what I am asking.

He said that if he updated it to xp with service pack 2 and Internet explorer 7 that would take care of the problem. He did and it didn't. He said if that didn't work, he didn't know what else to do.

I have printed out the info from your link and will go over it when I am at my computer. (Using my neighbors at the moment)

I am also considering getting a different computer repair person to help me figure this out but that will cost me more money and that makes me even angrier than I already am but at this point that may be my only option.

Thanks again for your help.

joy

[catgate]

I think if I were in your position I would try to get hold of a LInux live disk and try connecting up with that. It should tell you if the fault is in the Windows software or the modem....but then again who knows.

[Alan2273]

Joysness, if you are from the UK you could try one of these http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=221377, if it does not work you can take it back and get your money back.

If not a USB modem might solve your problem.

I used one of these some years ago when i had problems with dial up and it solved them.

[joysness]

catgate, Good Idea. I actually have a Linux live cd and my isp says it can be used with that so I'll give it a try.

Alan2273, I'm not in the UK but I will look into a usb modem.

Thanks again for all the good advice. Like the old saying goes.."two (or in this case several) heads are better than one!" :D