At 12:34 AM 3/22/02 -0700, Vern wrote the following:

>           So what caused my original problem of not being able to connect to
>the internet? I tried a different modem, two different ISPs. Uninstalled
>both ISPs and reinstalled...


Steps to try when you can't connect
1. MyComputer -- Control Panel . Click on Modems. Click on Diagnostics tab.
Check for installed modem. Highlight COM port that is indicated for your
installed modem. Click on More Info button to test modem. Eyeball results to
see if OK.

This tests if the modem and device driver are OK. Also tests the phone line.
Failure here indicates possible phone line problems, or incorrect or bad
installation of modem and driver.

Another check for corrupted modem installation can be made by MyComputer --
Control Panel . Click on System. Click on Device Manager tab and scroll down
to modem. Click on "+" to expand if not already expanded.

An X through a device's icon means the device has been disabled. A circled
exclamation point through the device's icon means the device has a problem.
The type of problem will be displayed in the Properties dialog box for the
device.

If all OK, then let's check Dial-up (cable or DSL) connectoids.

2. MyComputer -- Dial-Up Networking. Make sure connectoid for your ISP is
shown. Right click and select properties. Eyeball the 4 tabs (General,
Server types, Scripting, Multilink). Click on Configure button. Eyeball the
4 tabs (General, Connection, Options, Forwarding). This establishes that all
the parameters required to connect to your ISP are still OK and haven't been
changed or deleted.

If all OK, then let's check the actual connection to your ISP.

3. Highlight the connectiod. Click Dial (phone icon) on tool bar. Eyeball
the  "Connect to". Click on connect button and see if you get a dial-tone
and dialing begins. If it dials and you hear the connection sound at your
ISP, you have at least established that the modem, driver, phone line, and
dialing properties at all OK. If you cannot connect now this indicates that
the ISP is probably having problems. Wait and try again. You could also
call your ISPs support line.

Very very rarely is any of the above required. It is almost always the ISP
that is having problems. I have only "trashed" my dial-up connection once in
the last 7 years (this includes replacing external with internal modem) and
never on my DSL connection. I can't count how many times Windows has been
re-installed (:>) My first reaction is always to guess that the ISP is
having problems. Before DSL, I had many days (and nights) where I had to
wait and dial again, wait and dial again (loop here until connected).


--
Gerry Boyd
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