Please help, dear collective wisdom!

What is the brand and model number of your cable modem?

Wired or wireless router? Brand and model number of same.

Have you opened the case and made sure that alll the fans are spinning when they should be?

Can you take your computer somewhere else and see if it works using someone else's internet service? This might seem like a pain but it's an extemely efficient way to isolate the cause of the problem.

If you have a router, switch, hub, etc. try eliminating that from the circuit by plugging the modem directly in to the computer.

Have you tried checking the built in web page that many modems and routers have and checking to see if there might be a problem there?

Sorry.. i can't start messing with the innards of my cable modem, nor can I pack up my computer and take it elsewhere (not physically capable). Suggestions like that just make me want to smash the whole thing to smithereens.
This is getting depressing.

No need to mess with the innards of your cable modem... just make sure you have a relatively new oneas well as a relatively new router - your cable company should be able to replace your modem if its a little old -

I used to have frequent clinet disconnects until I upgraded my router. The symptom for client disconnects is your av just freezes and when you type in open chat it does not show up.. you also cannot move at all but can turn and move your camera around. For me this was caused by an older router.. it worked ok for everything except SL.

If things used to work fine with another PC then this might not be the problem...

Also, try uninstalling the client and then reinstalling it... your PC should work fine.

Sorry you are having trouble..

Go to http://www.dslreports.com/tweaks and check out how your net connection is running. Not all networks cards/chips (if built-in) are equal.

Actually, Chris, my computer guru buddy says to go to the computer manufacturer's website (in this case, Dell,) and download THEIR drivers for her card, rather than the card manufacturer's generic drivers. Dell probably has written drivers specifically to make that card work with their motherboards, whereas Nvidia (or whoever) releases generic drivers to work with all motherboards.

Stop, take a deep breath.

You can do one thing that Suzanne mentioned......it's easy. First........are you using a wireless network for your computer? If you are then tomrrow make a trip to Office Depot or Best Buy and get a pre cut length of Cat 3e cable.............don't get too much extra because that stuff is expensive. I believe the precut lengths are 8, 12, 25, 50 and 100 ft. Try to stay under 50 ft due to the nature of data loss over distance in a copper wire. And hook your computer up using that wire.........connect it to the female connection on the back of your computer (if you have a phone modem in the computer there will be two connectors that look the same..........they are not. The Cat 5 won't fit in the phone connector.) Connect the other end to one of the same type connectors on the router (there are probably 5 connectors........one should already be connected to the cable modem that leaves 4 for computers......does not matter which you use but I try to keep them sequencial). If you problem is due to the wireless connection that should solve it. Windows will automatically sense the wired connection for you and set it up......you might have a wizzard pop up to configure it. Just follow the instructions.

If you are already wired and not using wireless then what Suzanne mentioned about bypassing the router is also easy. Just unplug where your computer connects to the router and plut it in where the short cable that goes to the router from the modem........unplug that one and put your computer directly in the modem. That way the router is elimenated so you can determine if the router is or is not a source of the problem.

Though, it probably will not damage anything, I would shut down the computer before doing any of this.

After you do that........you'll see just how easy it is. And not scary at all.

Unless the video graphics is onboard the drivers you get from the graphics card manufacturer are better to use. For stand alone cards I never use what the computer manufacturer supplies.........I always go directly to the graphics card manufacturer for my drivers. As long as the motherboard supports the connection to the card there is no motherboard specific criteria. It's operating system and card match for drivers........motherboards do not enter in the picture other than the connecting/communications means (AGP, PCI, PCIe, etc). Drivers are free at each place.....but the card manufacturer is more likely to have the most up to date drivers.

I bow to your buddy.

If you have a premium SL account, you qualify for support via live text chat. The one time I used it, I got a quick and helpful response. From what I've read in the forums, a lot of people who have used the live text chat help found it to be worthwhile.

Even if you don't have/want a premium SL account, fixing this problem might be worth ten bucks to you. (You just spent hundreds, if not thousands, for a new computer; ten more dollars isn't a bad deal to get it to work like you want it to work.) Get a premium account now, use the live text chat support to get SL working, then downgrade your account back down to basic before the next billing cycle.

After you've registered your copy of Vista, you should be eligible for tech support from Microsoft. Vista, from what I've read, has the feature that allows the technician to connect to your computer to look around at settings and fix things remotely. You paid a ton of money for Vista, so make use of all it has to offer, including the tech support that Microsoft touts so much.

I used remote assistance one time with my ISP............it's weird watching an expert flash through all those windows and settings He pinged my modem and found a problem and remotely installed an updated firmware to fix my problem. He could have just told me to take the modem in and exchange it....but he fixed it instead. I was impressed.

Never used Microsoft's tech support except once when I first got XP and had problems........the technician was so helpful over the phone though

Peggy: I already went to Nvidia and downloaded the drivers for my particular graphics card. It did not help.
Artemis

Peggy: I am not using wireless.. have no idea about my cable modem and all this stuff is making my eyes cross. However I will let my computer handyman read it.. Maybe he won't freak out like I am.
I want to thank everyone so much for trying to be helpful. Just unfortunately, so far none of these suggestions has worked! It really might be my cable modem or something related to it but I'm going to have to leave it to someone else to try and figure out. This is truly over my head in a big way! Am hoping my computer guy can fix it, or find someone in the Boston area who uses SL and can work out what the problem is.
Meanwhile, I am a all in a twist from missing my favorite addiction (SL)
)
Artemis

Late last night I took the advice of one of you and joined at the premium level, so that I could request help on this matter. Have been working with someone called Naz at Second Life and am hopeful that we can get to the bottom of this problem. Almost worse than anything is when my avatar reverts to looking like she did when she was a newbie! What a nightmare ... lol. All that work and expense for nothing!!!
Okay.. stay tuned, if you are interested. I will let you know if/when it all gets worked out.
Again, thanks to all for your helpful suggestions.
Artemis

Huggzzz I hope you get it worked out soon. I know how frsutrating all this is. It sure sounds like there's something interfering with your connection to SL though....be it firewall or interent connection.....don't know. But if things ran smoothly before the new computer, I would be assuming there's something in the system that is fighting SL.

Get a geek squad there.....or your computer friend.....someone WILL be able to solve this for ya. It's just so much easier when the computer's right in front of you to figure it out. You sound so much like my sister.... she's a smart cookie but she has no patience for technology.......when I told her she needed to get rid of all the start-up crap on her laptop (it takes forever just to boot up, it's almost not worth turning it on lol) she was like....I know I know.....I'm just gonna take it back to the computer guy. LOL I could have done it for her in like 3 minutes......but she didn't even want to be bothered.

Anyway.....hang in there....there IS an answer and it WILL be found!

Once upon a time (a few weeks ago),

I bought a new computer and it had Vista 64 and 4 meg of ram. It was a total disaster!. So I uninstalled Vista and installed XP. Things were much better but still not perfect. I then went and downloaded the beta 174 Nvidia drivers and lived happily ever after.

The End.

Good luck, Artemis!. I hope my little story helps!

Hi all: still working on resolving these SL problems. Sometimes it gets a bit better (like for a few minutes at a time) and then I crash again, or revert to my newbie looking self, or can't teleport or walk around or whatever. For a few minutes I was actually able to buy a couple of things and fly around, then it all went to hell again. Have not heard back regarding the ticket that has been submitted yet. This is SO frustrating (
Still hopeful for a good outcome ultimately. Thanks to Milla and 2K. I did go and download the drivers you recommended, 2K. I also tried turning off the firewall completely, which didn't help. Trying to be patient but losing the battle lol
oh well.. g'night all.
Thanks and best wishes,
Artemis

Hi Artemis. Not that being in your geographical area is going to help much (I'm just inside 495, out to the west), but I'll just mention that we had the Geek Squad come to the house a while back when we couldn't get our home network to behave. That geek must've spent four hours working the problem - which made me feel a LOT better that I had been unable to sort it out - and when he left, all was tight and right. Cost some dough, but he solved the problem thoroughly. Our subsequent additions to the network have gone smooth as silk, too.

Eveline, what the Geek Squad did!!! I had my computer guy here for 4.5 hours on Thursday night, have been trying (unsuccessfully so far) to work with Linden, and my computer guy is due back again tomorrow night. Things go fine for a little while and then it all goes south again. Horrible, truly. Best time I had was at about 4am this morning. But I've got to sleep sometime! lol...

Artemis, can you ask your computer guy to uninstall Vista, and install Windows XP on your computer?

Umm.. well I'd have to buy XP I guess. Hadn't planned on that one.
I did try turning off the firewall completely and that didn't help me.
Going 'round the bend here (
Linden claims that the problem is not on their side, that it must be either my PC or my connection. I'm stumped.
Best,
Artemis

I wouldn't go out and search for XP to buy.......you will have difficulty finding it anywhere except on the internet I'm sure. SL will run quite well on Vista. Your card will definitely work with SL.........you have plenty of RAM. It's something in your setup with your computer.......or you ISP. But, since SL ran fine before I would almost rule out the ISP. Resetting your router and modem (unplugging them both for a couple minutes and repluging them in) often helps.........but not always. Turning off the Aero stuff in Vista will definitely help. Making sure your video drivers are installed correctly is a must.....I don't think anyone said it before so I will: uninstall the old driver before you install the new driver. SL is very fussy about drivers and any hint of a driver malfunction will cause SL to act strange. Uninstalling your video driver does not mean you will not be able to see anything on your monitor....you'll just have crappy looking video until you get the new one installed. Traces of old drivers left on your computer can (and often do) cause problems.

You never said what your antivirus program is.........I know for a fact that Norton and SL don't get along. McAfee, from what I've heard, is not much better. I use AVG (the free version) and have no problems. Today I just installed COMODO free firewall (highest rated free firewall on PC magazine) and have no problem......and, again, I DID NOT have to configure it for SL to run. Except for your processor your computer is very similar to mine. SL will run once you get your setup fixed.

Things I would do:
Turn off Aero
Reset my router and modem
Get rid of Norton or McAfee if I had it
Shut down all the background programs not necessary for the computer to run and security.
Uninstall all the trail software that came with your Dell
Go to Download.com (or where ever) and get CCleaner and do a thorough disk cleanup
Defragment my hard drive
Double check my video settings in nVidia's control panel

Then try SL......all I outlined could take you all day especially the defrag if you haven't done it on that computer yet. Windows does not install neatly on the hard drive and I'm sure Dell did not defrag after they put the system on your computer.

I know you said your geek friend is coming over to help you......show him this thread. There is a ton of very good information in it.

Good luck.

I thought I did answer this.. i don't have Norton or MacAfee.. I have AVG.
I sent this last message directly to my computer handyman. Maybe it will give him some ideas! thanks so much for all this.
Artemis

They seem to think that it has something to do with the ports on the back my cable
modem box, so have to go to the knowledge base and get some port numbers and then call my ISP or something to figure it all out. GASP! Anyhow, hopefully my computer handyman can handle it from here. I sure hope so!
frustratedly yours,
Artemis F.

I had a hell of a time with AVG, but it didn't mess with SL. My computer hated it, though. Every time it updated, everything froze and I had to reboot.

It took my computer handyman 3 hours again last night to finally find and resolve my problems with staying connected in SL, not being able to do stuff once inworld, not being able to get at my inventory, teleport, talk to contacts, etc.
The problem as it happens was specifically with the firewall in my modem/router. As soon as he disabled that firewall, everything in SL went back to normal. It wasn't just that there were 2 firewalls in play. I tried turning off the firewall in windows with no results. It was the firewall in the modem that was creating the problem.
All's well that ends well but I sure spent one miserable weekend.
Best wishes and many thanks to all who replied here.
Artemis