Has this happened to anyone else?

[Occhidiangela]

1. I have three accounts on West. I can log into two of them and actually get to my 8 character screen/selection.

2. On the Occhidiangela accuont, however, I can log on, add my password, and get the screen to open, but all I get is "connecting . . ." and the characters never show up. This is tres weird.

3. I am also having no fun with frequent disconnects from Road Runner, but that is a different issue. However, for anyone with Win 98 Se smarts, what is going on here? My cable modem (on a SOHO 10/100 card) cannot and will not down load files. I can open web sites, but (and I think IE is to blame) sites that I could down load from (at a glacial pace) on dial up are now, a week later with no dial up, not able to down load anything to e at all. No files come down, everything just . . . locks up.

The dialogue box that shows you "bites, time, and time remaining" just stares at me, no growing blue strip of progress at all.

I go to Windows update, and the service pack I need from Microsloth gets to "I acctept your tyrannical EULA" and then . . . the 2.1 Megs to down load just . . . never shows up. Dialogue box just sorta . . . stands there.

I am at my wits end. I have uninstalled the modem, and the ISP software that went with it, but

I still can't down load.

Don't tell me to go to Mozilla, I can't down load that either.

What setting or option is screwing me up? I have been on to phone tech suport three times in the last three days: "Never heard of your problem" and I have gone through every stinking dialogue box in Windows to try to find what is blocking the data transfer.

Zone alarm, on, or off, no difference. Norton on or Off, no difference.

Gggggggggggah, this is irritating in the extreme.

But I can read web sites to my heart's content.

???????????????????????????????????????????

[yangman]

Now that IS weird.

If you can view webpages, then you should be able to download files. After all, viewing webpages implies that you are downloading files.

The only thing I can suggest is to wipe your network settings and restore them manually. This usually does not take long, and is a fairly simple process, unless of course your ISP does not support automatic IP assignment.

[LochnarITB]

Weird. Are these http: or ftp: file transfers? Does your cable modem/router have a built in firewall? Are you sure there are no error messages popping up behind current windows when the problems happens?

When you are loading web pages you are, of course, downloading files. Are you sure you are opening new pages and not getting cached pages? Go to a site you've never been to or clear your cache to make sure you are getting new web content - no wait - if you are posting here then you are obviously getting new content. Ok then, we are now on to the ftp question. If you have a firewall built into your modem then it may be, however unlikely, that the ports (20-21 I believe) are being blocked. If you can find such a setting, make sure those ports are open. Zone alarm can block/open ports but you said even off it doesn't work.

Anyway, that is my very amatuer attempt at tech support.

Good luck. Don't you just hate/love computers and the internet? ;)

[Den]

I had a similar problem, in a fit of Pop-Up induced frustration I deleted some Java files. So anything that downloaded via a Java window stopped working. I tried re-installing it but it never quite worked right again. I got a new M-board and ended up completely re-installing windows. That worked, but it's seems drastic in your situation. Maybe try double checking your IE settings to make sure you've got Java "enabled"?

[Occhidiangela]

Saving a file to my PC's folders. For example, the 1.13 patch for Warcraft III never arrived. We were connected to bnet, but it never came down the line after 3 hours of the little screen being open. Even on Dial up I can get stuff like that within an hour's worth of patience.


For Den: Yes, Java is enabled.

[Yrrek]

If you have some sort of instant message such as AOL Instant Messenger, you could have a friend download the update and then have them transfer to you, if you can find someone willing. That's my lame help. ;)

[ShadowHM]

But I do really hope you can find a cure for what ails you.

VolcanoShadow is plodding across the Plains of Despair (aka the home of the dreaded Fire Immunes) and would really really like to have the company of Lectric_Lips. He would rather jog behind her than do the inch by inch progress he makes in that land of despair. Not to mention the fact that wisecracks make the game go faster. :P

[Selby]

Have you tried formatting? ;-)

My friend had this identical problem (crawling pace, sites not downloading). Formatted, reinstalled multiple times. Turns out his network card was dying and needed to be replaced.

Just a suggestion. When I have problems like this I go with a format as it is usually quicker and if I am having these problems it is format time anyway =)

Selby

[Lerkur]

I do not claim to have the answer to your problem. Perhaps, however, I may be able to spark a bit of insight in some other tech-minded individual that could find a solution.

I do not have a running copy of Windows 98 at my disposal currently so any steps I mention will be from memory and possibly slightly incorrect.

Zone Alarm could be a possible cause of these problems. It is possible that your PC is refusing to open up new ports in order to allow the download to occur. I read that you have experienced the problems even with it disabled. I have had zone alarm occasionally maintain its vigil even after being supposedly closed down and disabled. Typically a reboot would clear up this condition. This is a possible cause, but not a likely one.

I take your post to mean that you have recently gotten rid of your dial up connection. What is slightly less clear is whether or not your cable connection is a recent addition. If your cable connection is a recent addition, then it is possible that this is an ISP related problem. If your frequent disconnects continue you may wish to call a tech out to your residence to test the signal strength on your end. Another thing to look at is whether or not your ISP uses a proxy server by default. A proxy server between you and your websites is a possible cause of problems. To check your proxy server settings in IE for XP you access the Internet Options selection under the Tools drop down menu at the top. Click the Connections tab and then click the LAN Settings button. In the window that pops up you could consider unchecking the Automatically Detect Settings option which is likely enabled. Remember that this is for IE for XP and IE for 98 may differ a bit.

Also of relevance to this problem is whether or not you have a router between your computer and the cable modem. I infer from your post that you do not. If you do, you could consider updating the firmware. Unfortunately, you would have to find another connection in order to download the update. You could also consider removing it temporarily and connecting the cable modem directly to your PC. (Think elimination of variables)

It has been mentioned that a network card on its way out is a possibility. If you were interested in testing that theory, an inexpensive network card--10 base T since that is all your cable modem uses anyhow--can be purchased for as little as 5-10 dollars at a local computer store. Failing hardware can cause an infinite variety of problems. This makes it a difficult cause to diagnose.

If these factors end up not being the problem, there are still network settings in the OS that could be the cause. I would want to get a 98 box in front of me before attempting to talk you through those changes.

Addendum: This may sound like common sense, but make sure the disk you are attempting to download to is not full. A wise man taught me to never hesitate in suggesting an obvious possibility for the possibility may have been overlooked. A full disk can cause some interesting problems as well and is not always something that people check.

[Zyr]

I encountered your slow/no download problem frequently during a year and a half doing DSL tech support for a Major Northeastern US Telephone Company which shall remain nameless. Here's a list of things for you to check or do; if you don't know how to do any of them, ask and I'll gladly give step by step instructions. (The Roadrunner tech support folk should have had you check or do all of these things, but I'll wager they missed some--I've been a RR user for the last year and a half. Calling ANYONE's tech support is ALWAYS a dice roll...)

1. Reboot.

2. Immediately after rebooting, check your System Resources (right-click My Computer and click the Performance tab). If the figure is below 80%, you have too much stuff in your Startup folder; you can use msconfig to remove some of them. Ask if unsure...

3. Check your free hard drive space. Your HD will work most efficiently if it's half full or less; if it's more than 80% full, it may be time to burn some CDs and/or delete some files.

4. Run Disk Cleanup (takes seconds), Scandisk (takes a few minutes), and Disk Defragmenter (could take hours if you haven't done it in a while; start it right before you go to sleep and right after Scandisk).

These are all things you should do fairly regularly, and there's a good chance they'll fix the problem. If not, stronger measures:

5. Make sure your NIC is set to 10BaseT and Half Duplex.

6. Go to this Microsoft Support page, read it, and decide whether you want to download and install the patch. (The US English version is only about 220 KB, less than many Web pages, so it may work even though bigger downloads fail. If you can't DL it on your comp, take a floppy to another comp, DL and save it to the floppy, and sneakernet it to your own.) This patch fixed MANY of my DSL customers' slow DL complaints. I never had the problem on my own W98SE system (which I'm still using), but I installed the patch anyway, and have suffered no ill effects.

7. If the problem persists, and if you have your W98SE CD (and/or the W98SE .cab files on your HD), you can try uninstalling and reinstalling Communications (Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs > Windows Setup). This will take ~10-15 minutes and a couple of reboots.

8. There's a bug in both versions of W98 that can result in hidden Temporary Internet Files gobbling HD space. To check if it's biting you, run Disk Cleanup again, and write down on a piece of paper how much HD space it says can be freed by deleting Temporary Internet Files. (This should be 0.00 MB, cuz you just ran Disk Cleanup, right?) Now, open Windows Explorer, find the Temporary Internet Files folder, right-click it and select Properties. Surprise? (And you thought the D2LoD LCS was bad...) If the figure is less than a few dozen MB, I wouldn't worry about it. If the figure is in GB, it's a real problem; post here or PM me and I'll spell out the (mildly risky) fix. (I had more than 2 GB of hidden files on my HD when I finally found them...)

I'd try all these procedures before thinking about formatting...

[Occhidiangela]

I have done a number of things. Re formatting is not one of them. :)

I could not run scan disk, it kept restarting, so I went to the ITT experts web site via Annoyances.org and downloaded regmech. That cleaned up some registry errors, though there are a few that would require me to buy the software . . . I am tempted.

Ah, now we can run scan disc, which I did, thorough scan, took forever, NP, football game was on and son needed help with fixing trampoline, and then I ran the defrag, which I had not for a couple of months. Reset Page File to 396 Meg.

I still can't download anything from Windows Update, etc. That has not changed. The feature that seems to be missing is the "download and save to X" function in WIndorw 98 SE or in the IE intertwining.

Re installed IE6. I am short two updates, will get them from my other PC and install them.

I had tried to solved my "card problem" with selecting "100 Full Duplex," but that actually changed nothing from the "auto detect speed" setting (all symptoms the same) so I suppose I can go back to the old default setting, or "10 half duplex." (thought: would that screw up my Up Load rates??)

As to the temp files, it says size is 7.28 MB and 10.6 MB are used. That strikes me as weird Microsoft Math.

Will try a few more of your ideas, thanks for the help. A new card might be in order. Even though this box is 3 years old, the card has rarely been used, due to a variety of problems with cable and dsl services.

Thought: I am runnin and Athalon 800 Machine with 512 MB or Ram. Would installing XP solve my problem? Or just create more problems? I wonder.

[Guest]

[Edit]

If you didn't know, Windows is well known for making the need for a re-format a lot. The registry gets filled up, and a bunch of weird folders stuff up on your computer everywhere, and tons of files are loaded that aren't even needed.


---------------------

I consider myself quite techy, but I think it took me over a week to get the DSL working here, so consider calling a real techy to come over and check things out.

Would installing XP solve my problem? Or just create more problems? I wonder.

It's got later drivers/features, but maybe just as many or more bugs. Re-formatting and re-installing win98 should work, if you copy the important things to cd's. If you don't have a cd burner then I really recommend buying one, they can be gotten pretty cheap.

---------------------------------

[Edit] Erh, oh. You said you reset page files, I wasted a lot of time typing for nothing then. In case I missunderstood yet again, some maybe useful info:

As to the temp files, it says size is 7.28 MB and 10.6 MB are used. That strikes me as weird Microsoft Math.

There is always a risk to this, and I've also got a Swedish version, but anyhow:

Start > settings > control panell > system (the screen, keyboard, mouse icon)

Go to the rightmost tab (performance or the like) > virtual memory > "select own settings"

> It should say how many mb are free on the drive, you should in most cases use the primary drive - C:\

> As far as I know you should have twice the mb in virtual memory as you have in ram, so enter 1024 here in min and max.



For one thing, the virtual memory could be handled on a full disk (as mentioned), and temporary files are stored there, but since it's full, any large files (since you could download a small?) get canceled since they don't fit. You don't get any space error though when this happens? Strange.

[Occhidiangela]

The Temp INternet FIles bit with the Virtual Memory bit, mostly I am sure due to the way I posted that.

The Temp Internet files bit is not the same problem as re setting up the Virtual Memory after a defrag, which I generally do.

[Selby]

I had a really nice and long response typed out when IE decided to take a dump on it and make me lose it. In summary: hardware can fail without warning due to the necessary precise nature of the fabrication process and upgrading (format your drive and then install from scratch, "upgrades" are a nightmare) to 2k/XP will make you a happier camper in the long run as they are considerably more stable than the 9x line of OSes ever can hope to be.

Selby

[LochnarITB]

I could not run scan disk, it kept restarting, so I went to the ITT experts web site via Annoyances.org and downloaded regmech. That cleaned up some registry errors, though there are a few that would require me to buy the software . . . I am tempted.

You were able to download regmech? How did that download differ from the other attempted and failed downloads? If you were able to download that but not windows updates, etc. any perceived differences might give better insight into what is worng.

wrong even <_< where nothing can possibly go worng, nothing can possibly go worng....

[Zyr]

Ah, now we can run scan disc, which I did, thorough scan, took forever...

Aaaaah, sorry, I forgot to suggest Standard, which would have been quicker, and to check "Automatically fix errors" which can be a lifesaver. (ANYONE's tech support is ALWAYS a dice roll...)

I had tried to solved my "card problem" with selecting "100 Full Duplex," but that actually changed nothing from the "auto detect speed" setting (all symptoms the same) so I suppose I can go back to the old default setting, or "10 half duplex." (thought: would that screw up my Up Load rates??)

This could be important: 100 Full is completely wrong, because your cable modem speaks only 10/Half. The fact that changing from Auto to 100/Full made no difference COULD mean that your card wasn't correctly detecting the 10/Half modem. In that case, forcing the card to 10/Half should at least solve that problem. And since the cable modem only speaks 10/Half, you won't be sacrificing speed in either direction.

Speaking of speed, what kind of results do you get from Web-based speed tests? I have a fondness for the DSLReports.com tests, because there are two different servers and because they test upload as well as download speeds; however, any speed test site is useful.

While on the Ethernet card subject, it's quite possible for drivers to become corrupted, so uninstalling/reinstalling the card (or merely Update drivers) could be useful-- but if you're getting appropriate speed test results I would think the card is working properly.

Would installing XP solve my problem?&nbsp; Or just create more problems?

Quite likely both. ;)

If you have an XP CD available, you can use it to get a clean install of W98SE without formatting your HD. (I'll tell the red-faced tale of how I accidentally discovered this if anyone wants to read it... *_^_*) If you put in the XP CD, choose to install it as an UPGRADE, and then (hours later, after the installation is finished) uninstall XP (through Add/Remove programs), XP will restore all your data from backups, but will restore W98SE from the setup files, on either the W98SE CD or the .cab files on your HD. When I did this, I didn't notice any particular download speed improvement, but Windows Explorer and Outlook Express both improved dramatically in performance.

A good thing about the XP installer is that it will test your system and tell you what installed software and hardware drivers are incompatible with XP-- definitely worth doing if you have an XP CD.

As to the temp files, it says size is 7.28 MB and 10.6 MB are used.&nbsp; That strikes me as weird Microsoft Math.

Temp and Temporary Internet Files are two different folders. Temp files may (and probably should) be deleted from within Windows Explorer. The bug is with handling of Temporary Internet Files, and I do think it's worth taking a second look to see if the Temporary Internet Files Properties reports significantly greater disk space occupied than Disk Cleanup does. If Temporary Internet Files are eating a big chunk of disk space, they need to be purged in MS-DOS mode.

Now, let's back up to something you said earlier:

The feature that seems to be missing is the "download and save to X" function in WIndorw 98 SE or in the IE intertwining.

This sounds like it could be a security setting-- in IE, ZoneAlarm, or Norton Antivirus. I don't know IE6-- I have resolutely remained in the Stone Age with IE 5.02 SP2 (though my bank is gonna force me to IE6 within the next couple of weeks), so I'm not sure of the procedure. In IE5, Tools > Internet Options > Security > Internet > Custom Level gets me to the screen where I can set permissions. I'd guess it's the same or similar in IE6.

My colleagues in the DSL tech support job used to tell horror stories about NAV and ZoneAlarm, but could never substantiate them in any specific way. I've never used NAV, and I use an ancient, free ZoneAlarm version which has never given me a lick of trouble. Still, it could be worth uninstalling both to see if that solves the problem.

[Archon_Wing]

Try saving this webpage you are viewing right now. Where folder does the file go to?

Check your security settings and for sites in the restricted zone.

Uninstall your firewall completely and reinstall it

Click Start---->>Run and Type Msconfig Click on the startup tab. What do you see there?


Throw your computer out the window. B)

[Archon_Wing]

It's a really good idea to update of IE6, even though I hate Microsoft. That's because there are about several million security exploits for the older versions of IE that were supposedly fixed. Better yet, don't use IE! :P

[ZatarRufus]

As to the temp files, it says size is 7.28 MB and 10.6 MB are used.&nbsp; That strikes me as weird Microsoft Math.

Although I really hate to defend Microsoft, the math could be correct in one or more instances.

In all cases the total bytes in files is 7.28mb (which was rounded), but we will take as 7,633,633 bytes (1 mb = 1,048,576 bytes). Used space we shall refered to as 11,114,906 bytes. Leaving 3,481,273 bytes unaccounted for.

Now, cluster size varies from hard drive to hard drive depending on size. For the moment I will assume you have the 32,768 cluster size. If a file is only one byte in length, it will still use 32k of space. With this in mind, the last cluster of any file will generally contain less than a full boat. This un-needed file space is still used.

Maximum waste is 1 byte used in the last cluster. If 106 files, then buffer space matches the discrepancy. If only one wasted byte (32,767 bytes in last cluster), then 3,481,273 files. Median 212 files.

Possible other cases (median values) cluster 16,384 then 425 files, 65,536=106.

While not helpful for your current challenge, this is the math behind the oddity.

-ZR

[ZatarRufus]

Questions not asked (iirc).

Did you install the broadband over the dial-up?

Have you ever been able to download files with the new set up?

[Thinking out loud. (Visually?)]

-ZR