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Maldenman
25-07-2010, 15:57
A bit cheeky but I'm stumped.

I have a new desktop pc (Toshiba) and have received a new router from my provider (Talk Talk) which is compatable with the new operating system which is Windows 7. I have installed the router following the instructions, and the computer recognises it. When I try to connect however it won't.
I've followed the troubleshooting guide...ie obtain an IP address automatically and obtain DNS server address auto but no resolution.

I'm certainly no computer techy but before I have to wind myself up phoning India does anyone know if I've missed something basic?

I've tried on my old ie this pc, which has just given me a box saying I have not assigned a network address to the computer but I'm unsure what that entails if indeed it is the issue.

Conrad
25-07-2010, 16:23
I'll probably get some of this wrong as I am terrible at remote support.

For the sort of thing you are talking about you generally have 2 connections going on, the Internet to the router/modem, which will involve some settings on the router (although done through the computer). And the connection from the router/modem to your computer, which will involve settings on both the computer and router. Anyway, it helps to know which bit is not working.

So how are you sending this? Presumably using your old PC, but is it also using your old router? If so I am assuming the "not assigned a network address to the computer" is coming up when you use the new router, and you can't actually see the Internet.

Would also be interested to know if your router has a model number (feel free to PM me that for privacy)? And if it is vaguely as I have described can your new computer connect through your old router?

I am happy to try and help out here, but early warning, this could take a lot of posts :o

Maldenman
25-07-2010, 16:35
Yes Conrad, I'm on my old machine which uses an old modem.

I tried to set up firstly on the new machine but then repeated for the old one as an experiment, which is where I received the msg.

Basically I connected the router to the phone socket and mains, checked the lights, working ok, switched the pc on and found the router ID, then typed in the password as the sticker on the router. Status says connected but then says not connected to the internet. My new computer and my old modem are not compatible, modem no good for Windows 7.

I'm not sure which is the model number.

I really don't wish to take up loads of your or anyone's time, I'm just wondering if there is a basic step that I've not done.

Conrad
25-07-2010, 17:07
That all sounds reasonable to me, no obvious mistakes.

I am happy to bumble along here, it is easy enough to just throw out ideas onto the forum. Equally you will probably get quicker results by phoning our offshore friends at this point (or not if they are like Virgin :moremad:).

I probably shouldn't suggest this, but have you tried plugging your old modem into your new computer without installing the software :whistle:

If it is a router and you are connecting via a network cable (looks like a bigger telephone connector) it strikes me as quite odd getting a not assigned a network address error. If it a modem and has a USB connection (flat block like connector) then that implies to me that talktalk is not connecting to the new modem (may require an activation phone call?).

Maldenman
25-07-2010, 17:36
Ok thanks Conrad.

I tried plugging the old modem in but it seems it isn't compatible with the operating system.

Perhaps it needs a call, I'll do it tomorrow I think, my previous experiences have shown me that the competent people , who are few, do not work weekends!

Cheers anyway.

Conrad
25-07-2010, 17:54
Ah, sorry I couldn't help.

Shame that the modem is not compatible with Windows 7, that was something they were supposed to sort out, but I have to admit I have run into that problem with Win 7 as well.

Fingers crossed it is something simple that they get straight away.

oldboots
25-07-2010, 18:35
My dear old mum had the same problems with a TalkTalk modem/router when first installed, everything looked good but it couldn't connect to the Internet. I phoned up TalkTalk support and they checked out everything and it was fine but the solution was to wait 24 hours with it left on so it could "sync" (my 3com synced within 30s). BT has the same kind of issues with their Homehub. So leave it on for 24 hours then see what happens and if there's no joy phone up the support line (they are in UK I think) and get them to see if they can get into the ADSL modem from their end.

Don't these things all work on DHCP these days? The IP properties needs to be set to automatic rather than having a fixed ip address.

Maldenman
25-07-2010, 21:11
OK OB, thanks for that, I'll give it a try overnight.

The UK support is fine but it's pot luck with who you get. There is an Asian centre where sadly they can never deal with anything beyond the straightforward.

Conrad
26-07-2010, 13:55
My dear old mum had the same problems with a TalkTalk modem/router when first installed, everything looked good but it couldn't connect to the Internet. I phoned up TalkTalk support and they checked out everything and it was fine but the solution was to wait 24 hours with it left on so it could "sync" (my 3com synced within 30s). BT has the same kind of issues with their Homehub. So leave it on for 24 hours then see what happens and if there's no joy phone up the support line (they are in UK I think) and get them to see if they can get into the ADSL modem from their end.

Don't these things all work on DHCP these days? The IP properties needs to be set to automatic rather than having a fixed ip address.
I really need to learn more about networking one day, that sync stuff seems a bit extravagant but doesn't surprise me. Hopefully it sorts it, I hate trying to deal with tech support, but that may just be me.

I don't remember the last time I saw a home connection not on DHCP. Someone like AOL who run their own subnet may be using assigned IP, but I don't think so.

Maldenman
26-07-2010, 14:03
Well it didn't synch and it's still not working. Looks like an evening on the phone coming up!

Erm, what's DHCP? :confused:

ROBCamra
26-07-2010, 14:23
Well it didn't synch and it's still not working. Looks like an evening on the phone coming up!

Erm, what's DHCP? :confused:

It's the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. Basically it tries to automatically configure your computer.

Conrad
26-07-2010, 14:24
Now see you had to go and ask :)

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Host_Configuration_Protocol)

Hopefully not something you should ever have to worry about.

When connected to a network you have an address on that network, using IPv4 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipv4) which we mostly still do this is expressed as 4 numbers between 0 & 256. So for instance the Pubs Galore website is sat on a computer that has the address 70.85.209.242

On any network this address is how other computers on the same network find you.

I may be wrong on the next bit, but - When networking was first getting going it was more usual to just tell your computer its IP, and then network administrators would keep a book with a listing of all their computers and the assigned IP addresses, in this way you could just tell people the address of shared items like networked printers or storage. Moving on though we wanted something a little more flexible and DHCP is part of that flexibility, the key point in a network will frequently have a DHCP server, in your home network it would be the router/modem, in this instance though we are talking about the Talk-Talks computer that connects you to the Internet. When a new device comes onto the network it asks the DHCP server to give it an address, which means you don't have to worry about a lot of the hassle involved in network administration (hopefully, although maybe not in your case ;)).

ROBCamra
26-07-2010, 14:39
It's what Conrad says, much more eloquently put than my version. :)

As computer project manager you have to know enough about these things so that the techies don't try and flannel you all the time.

They don't know how much you know when you can ask a couple of pertinant questions.

The truth of course is that in most areas your knowledge is a thin layer, but the idea is to not to let them know that. :p

Arthurish
03-08-2010, 00:41
just a quick question,

can you connect to your router via wifi?
this may not help, but it is just a suggestion, try using wireless instead to see if it works. Also, is ur computer trying to wireless connect and cable connect at the same time?
There might be a conflict.

Arthurish

Maldenman
07-08-2010, 13:51
Cheers Arthurish and others who tried to help. It required a call to tech support who had me up and running in no time, but it would have been impossible without as I needed a Gateway number plus password I didn't already have!

Strongers
07-08-2010, 21:39
Cheers Arthurish and others who tried to help. It required a call to tech support who had me up and running in no time, but it would have been impossible without as I needed a Gateway number plus password I didn't already have!

I had the same problem with BT and then with Sky a few months ago when I lumped the TV, phone and internet into one - Soon sorted out though - although my machine is now slower than slow when booting up opening new web sites up.

Strongers
08-08-2010, 16:38
I was chatting to an associate about my machine being slow and he reckons it could be due to me now using McAfee instead of Norton for antivirus software. Seems a bit silly to me, but what do I know - Any thoughts?

Conrad
08-08-2010, 20:09
I was chatting to an associate about my machine being slow and he reckons it could be due to me now using McAfee instead of Norton for antivirus software. Seems a bit silly to me, but what do I know - Any thoughts?
This is the sort of thing that can rapidly turn into a slanging match. Personally I would use neither of McAfee or Norton. For a home user free virus checkers are good enough, AVG (http://free.avg.com/gb-en/homepage) probably being the most popular (although again I am not a fan, a few years back they really spannered life for webmasters and took quite a while to admit they were wrong). I have previously used Avast (http://www.avast.com/en-gb/index)and am currently just telling people to use Microsoft Security Essentials (http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/) as I hope they will want to protect their brand.

The trouble with the paid ones like McAfee and Norton (IMHO) is that they need to justify their charging status and chuck loads of bells and whistles on that any user would struggle to make the most of, and these bells and whistles will slow your computer down and get in the way.

So in conclusion yes McAfee may be slowing your machine down, but I would give Norton equal odds on doing exactly the same.

I think the biggest slow down on computers I have seen is just how long they have been used without being re-installed from scratch, over time they tend to just accumulate rubbish that runs in the background and it is frequently prohibitively difficult to completely remove it.

All this comes with the standard disclaimers of being my opinion, being about Windows and it is not my fault if anything goes wrong :o.

As aside do you know how to bring up the task manager? You may actually be able to spot if something is hogging your system and making a mess.

Strongers
08-08-2010, 20:17
All I have open is this web page and there are 70 processes in task manager - is this a lot?

oldboots
08-08-2010, 20:25
All I have open is this web page and there are 70 processes in task manager - is this a lot?

It's a lot for a domestic machine with nothing open but probably OK if it's a corporate one. Hit the button marked CPU to sort the processor time hoggers from top to bottom, "System Idle" should be pretty high up and you can ignore it, things that say something like "scan" or "update" or "LU" point to overactive anti virus apps. Other things may good or bad depending on what's in your hard drive.

Conrad
08-08-2010, 21:15
What ob said, and just to add, it is also worth showing Memory and each of I/O Read Bytes, I/O Write Bytes and I/O Other Bytes listed as well (you may need to click on View at the top and select columns to get all of those up). By sorting by these you can get hints suggesting if any application is leaking memory or hammering your drives as well, all of which may slow down your machine.

Strongers
08-08-2010, 22:06
Cheers for the help guys - I will try to make sense of your suggestions tomorrow when the black stuff has finished working its magic.

Strongers
10-08-2010, 13:06
So if I end a process that is needed will it just start up again when required or am I opening a big can of worms by clearing a few processes out. I have no idea what any of them do and don't want the computer to stop working all together.

Conrad
10-08-2010, 13:18
If you aren't sure what the process is doing then it is best not to stop it, some processes seemlessly restart. Others instantly kill your computer and reboot it.

If any processes are giving you cause for suspicion you can search on their name on the internet, there are a few good sites that list all the processes so that people can investigate what is going on.

Feel free to post any names on here, happy to offer any thoughts.

Strongers
11-08-2010, 17:36
I’ve looked all of the following processes up (listed under administrator) and the website advises not to remove them so I’m at a bit of a loss. I’d like to take you up on your offer, so if you could have a quick glance at these and you know of any that can be closed down I’d be very appreciative.

Asghost
Ati2evxx (system and admin)
CLI (x2)
Ctfmon
DLACTRLW
Explorer
GoogleToolbarNotifier
HP Wireless Assistant
HPQTOA~1
hpwuSchd2
iTunesHelper
jucheck
jusched
mcagent
PSDrt
Pthosttr
QLBCTRL
Scheduler
SiteAdv
Smax4pnp
SynTPEnh
Tackmgr
Wmpnscfg

Svchost is open 9 times under NETWORK SERVICE, SYSTEM and LOCAL SERVICE

Please don't waste any time on this, I'd just like it if you could let me know of any that stand out.

Cheers

Conrad
11-08-2010, 18:04
Off the cuff

Asghost
Some sort of backup imaging software I think, it is unlikely to be required unless you are using it, probably best to find the application and tell it not to run, or possibly uninstall it if possible.

Ati2evxx (system and admin)
Graphic driver at a guess, essential.

CLI (x2)
No idea, commonly command line interface, think it is something else in this case though.

Ctfmon
MS language bar, shouldn't really be creating overhead

DLACTRLW
no idea

Explorer
Graphic file interface, essential.

GoogleToolbarNotifier
Google toolbar, uninstall if you don't use it

HP Wireless Assistant
A driver relating to either your network card or router, probably essential for the moment.

HPQTOA~1
No idea Hewlett packard driver, probably printer or scanner, essential

hpwuSchd2
Possible a Hewlett Packard driver updater, probably not essential, but also not that damaging

iTunesHelper
Part of iTunes, uninstall iTunes if not used.

jucheck
no idea

jusched
again probably a driver updater.

mcagent
McAfee, your virus checker, essential unless you install another one (although worth looking at how the numbers are indicating it is working.

PSDrt, Pthosttr, QLBCTRL
No idea

Scheduler
I think this is Outlooks calendar scheduler, not sure though

SiteAdv
no idea

Smax4pnp
Sound driver, essential

SynTPEnh
No idea, but it is probably enhanced ;)

Tackmgr
Unless MS have gone back to basics I am guessing this is Taskmgr, which is the task manager, essential

Wmpnscfg
I think Windows Media player configuration tool, low overhead fairly essential

Svchost is open 9 times under NETWORK SERVICE, SYSTEM and LOCAL SERVICE
This pools connections to other services, so for instance all packages connecting to the Internet (email, browser, driver monitors) will kick off a svchost process, if you kill it they will generally seemlessly start a new one, essential in any case though.

I may have a look at some of the ones I didn't know just to see if there are any obvious hogs, but they mostly look reasonable to me.

Strongers
12-08-2010, 00:10
I've had a few beers and played russian roulette with some that were not essential and the computer didn't blow up! Thanks for the time, I wasn't expecting that level of input - you obviously deserve your avatar.

Tackmgr - lol

Conrad
12-08-2010, 15:36
Typically my home machine has decided to drop a clanger today, so I will be trying to repair that over the weekend, I hate PC's :)

To be honest all of the stuff listed looks fairly benign, unless any of them are showing some odd numbers in Task Manager it looks like they aren't responsible for the slow machine. It may just be that your hard drive(s) are getting a bit full.

Strongers
12-08-2010, 19:54
It's probably all the pictures of the kids my misses has stored on here.

Conrad
13-08-2010, 13:42
It's probably all the pictures of the kids my misses has stored on here.
You do realise in this nice trusting modern age, that a statement like that now means that the Police are already on their way round your house to confiscate the computer.

Strongers
14-08-2010, 11:45
You do realise in this nice trusting modern age, that a statement like that now means that the Police are already on their way round your house to confiscate the computer.

Hopefully they'll have some lunch on them as I've run out of bread and the ham smells a bit iffy!