I spent almost 90 minutes trying to help a friend solve a computer problem. The friend has two computers, a desktop and a notebook. They swap a DSL direct connection by plugging and unplugging the cord to the DSL modem. The problem is that the desktop no longer can access DSL, or dial out with its 56k modem. The friend suspects that an improper usage of Regedit when certain lines flagged by the antivirus program were deleted instead of modified. Unfortunately, no backup export of the Registry was made.
I did a cursory search for troubleshooting modems on the Internet. The home computer was working fine one day, and then the next it was not. So far the only symptoms are problems with the modem and DSL. The device driver is there. Running a modem test from the Device manager shows it there. Yet, it can not do something so simple as dialing out using the phone dialer in the accessories folder, much less dialing up for Internet. The error message is no dial tone. If wait for dial tone is disabled, the modem looks like it keeps trying to dial out, but I don't think it is doing so. (The sound is turned off.)
It may be a hardware problem, but modems rarely fail just for nothing. There are no cats or pets to dislodge the wiring. Also the DSL modem works fine for the notebook, but not at all for the desktop, so there is definitely something up with the desktop. I am tempted to go for the panic button and do a fresh install of Windows, but there must be intermediate solutions to try before the scorched earth solution. Thanks for any suggestions. I will do more research, but I may be in over my head.
Geek help: modem and DSL not working, Regedit suspected
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MarcusR
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Hi Bill!
Could be lots of things and modems do fail just for nothing. As there is a very limited voltage protection on phone lines a near by thunderstorm, short circuit etc can easily damage the modem.
If you suspect that there is something wrong with regedit the esiest solution is just to uninstall the modem drivers in the devicemanager, reboot and reinstall them again.
No dial tone problem, Did you get an error message (error 680)? To start you can ad 1,2 or 3 commas berore the phone number to make the modem wait a little longer for the dial tone. If that doesn't work you need to check if the modem reponds correctly. If you know how to use the hyperterminal in windows you can send some basic modem command lines through the com port and read out the response (if you dont know how to do this let me know and I'll see if I can find a howto on line for you). If that doesn't work it is not installed correctly, drivers are bad or a harware failure.
But as both modem and dsl suddenly stopped working my guess is that this is something else. I take it that you checket that the network/modem settings is correct already. Has any new harware been installed recently?
It could be a port or interupt conflict that's causing connection problem.
Dont spend to many hours on it if you cant get it to work and if no one else commes up with some better advice, just do a clean reinstall. If it still doesn't work at least you know it is a hardware problem.
Good luck!
/MarcusR
Could be lots of things and modems do fail just for nothing. As there is a very limited voltage protection on phone lines a near by thunderstorm, short circuit etc can easily damage the modem.
If you suspect that there is something wrong with regedit the esiest solution is just to uninstall the modem drivers in the devicemanager, reboot and reinstall them again.
No dial tone problem, Did you get an error message (error 680)? To start you can ad 1,2 or 3 commas berore the phone number to make the modem wait a little longer for the dial tone. If that doesn't work you need to check if the modem reponds correctly. If you know how to use the hyperterminal in windows you can send some basic modem command lines through the com port and read out the response (if you dont know how to do this let me know and I'll see if I can find a howto on line for you). If that doesn't work it is not installed correctly, drivers are bad or a harware failure.
But as both modem and dsl suddenly stopped working my guess is that this is something else. I take it that you checket that the network/modem settings is correct already. Has any new harware been installed recently?
It could be a port or interupt conflict that's causing connection problem.
Dont spend to many hours on it if you cant get it to work and if no one else commes up with some better advice, just do a clean reinstall. If it still doesn't work at least you know it is a hardware problem.
Good luck!
/MarcusR
There is no such thing as tailwind -- it's either against you or you're simply having great legs!
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MarcusR
- Posts: 1059
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Found this Bill, if you dont want to use the hyperterminal.
modemchk
Will autodetect the port and type of your modem, has some built in features to provide information on modem settings, signal strength, noice levels etc.
Free to try in 30 days.
/MarcusR
modemchk
Will autodetect the port and type of your modem, has some built in features to provide information on modem settings, signal strength, noice levels etc.
Free to try in 30 days.
/MarcusR
There is no such thing as tailwind -- it's either against you or you're simply having great legs!
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BillChin
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Thanks Marcus for your informed advice.
Several more things were tried including:
* uninstalling the 56k modem and then re-installing it.
* LSPFix (winsock?)
* CWShredder
* Hijackthis
In the process of trying things we also uninstalled the DSL software but could not get it reinstalled. It looks more and more like a reformat of the hard drive is the best option. I have never done that before. Of course the obvious is to backup all the data onto CD and be prepared to reinstall all the programs. I wish I had an external USB drive as that would make backing up all the data relatively easy. Anything else that might make this step easier/safer? It will probably be tackled next weekend.
Several more things were tried including:
* uninstalling the 56k modem and then re-installing it.
* LSPFix (winsock?)
* CWShredder
* Hijackthis
In the process of trying things we also uninstalled the DSL software but could not get it reinstalled. It looks more and more like a reformat of the hard drive is the best option. I have never done that before. Of course the obvious is to backup all the data onto CD and be prepared to reinstall all the programs. I wish I had an external USB drive as that would make backing up all the data relatively easy. Anything else that might make this step easier/safer? It will probably be tackled next weekend.
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Paul Thomas
- Posts: 83
- Joined: Tue May 04, 2004 9:35 pm
there are usually a few options/steps short of the full reinstall/format:
System Restore (if on XP), or some Windows versions/install disks (forgive me, it's been too long...) allow you to simply install the disk, run install, and choose the non-destructive install (also called perhaps repair, or refresh install).
Google "Reinstalling Windows" and check out the 1st and 4th options.
Many folks maintain this is a good practice in any case, esp. for Win98 & 2K
Get yerself a good disk checker/repair utility prior to excercising partial or full reinstall.
Good luck!
System Restore (if on XP), or some Windows versions/install disks (forgive me, it's been too long...) allow you to simply install the disk, run install, and choose the non-destructive install (also called perhaps repair, or refresh install).
Google "Reinstalling Windows" and check out the 1st and 4th options.
Many folks maintain this is a good practice in any case, esp. for Win98 & 2K
Get yerself a good disk checker/repair utility prior to excercising partial or full reinstall.
Good luck!