Internet Explorer Connectivity Problem

[paul.rowling]

Hi,

I have a pc running Win 98 SE. The pc is connected to the internet via broadband. When the pc is first booted, the internet works fine, if the pc is then sat idle for 3-5 minutes the internet stops working. The browser just sits there attempting to get the web page you requested. If you close the browser and re-open it, the same thing happens. However, if I go to a DOS prompt I can still ping domain names. The machine is virus and spyware free. I have tried reinstalling IE, upgrading IE to latest version and also rolling back IE to it's previous state. I have also tried installing win98 over the top of itself, but the problem is still there. There are also no nasty processes running in the background. The web browser will only start working again after a reboot.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks

Paul

[NooNoo]

Download opera or firefox, if they behave the same you are getting a sync problem with your broadband connection.

[paul.rowling]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply NooNoo, however I have tried this machine on two different broadband installations at different locations and the problem is still there, so I guess this rules out the sync issue.

Cheers

Paul

[NooNoo]

have you tried ieeradicator and lsp fixes?

[paul.rowling]

Hi,

I will try ieeradicator and lsp fixes next, however a bit more info for you. When IE's connection breaks, any other application that can access the internet also breaks, yet I can still ping domain names from a command prompt.

Cheers

Paul

[confus-ed]

Microsoft TCP/IP Host Name Resolution Order will be helpful I think.

I'd say the fact that this works initially for a period & then on every reboot, says it may be some kind of master browser or netbios issue, once you realise that there's two ways to resolve host names depending on how your network is set up ..

Are we in a domain or a workgroup with this ?

[paul.rowling]

Hi,

This is just a stand alone pc connected to the internet via a cable modem. As it is a standalone pc it is in a Workgroup only.

Cheers

Paul

[NooNoo]

Connecting to the internet means it becomes part of the internet network... use Confus-ed's link.

[paul.rowling]

Hi,

OK, as a test I waited until the web browser could no longer find web pages. I then types the ip address of (www.google.co.uk) into the address bar. The web browser still could not get the web page, therefore I suspect that this isn't a DNS issue at all as there was no name to resolve. Plus the fact that I can resolve domain names from a command prompt.
Any other ideas, as I'm now completely stuck!

Cheers

Paul

[NooNoo]

do a tracert when it is in this state to google or yahoo by ip.. see where it stops.

[paul.rowling]

Hi,

I think I've finally resolved this. I didn't realise but this machine had Zonealarm installed, however I think it was corrupt because there was no Zonealarm icon in the taskbar and none of the zonealarm processes were running in taskmanager either. The only reason why I knew it was installed was because I briefly spotted it at the bottom of the Add/Remove programs list. I have since uninstalled the firewall and the web browser has now been running ok for the last 10 minutes or so.
Hopefully it is OK now, if I have any more problems I'll let you know.

Thanks for all your help.

Cheers

Paul