Anyone Good With Diagnosing Computer Problems?

[TAB]

kind of a dumb Q, but have you checked for driver updates?

I had all kinds of probs a few years ago with some hardware.  A driver update fixed all that.

[JSC3ATLCSO]

It is a Netgear Rangemax Wireless Router WPN824 V2. I didn't pay a lot for it at the time, so I think when Mel and I get our 2 new desktops, we'll just get a new Router as well as a new Modem. These things are getting real cheap, real fast. As Philw said, it isn't worth the time "mucking around" with it.   Bill T.

Bill..

I have all Netgear stuff.. If you login to the router.  most of the time it will automaticly check for new updates. (Firmware/driver versions)

Especially if it is a couple of years old that is probably a good place to start and it isn't too hard.. Just wish I could see it.  I have helped several people with there wireless networks and of all that I have had anything to do with the Netgear routers are the easiest to work with in my opinion.  I have had a devil of a time with the linksys routers and never been around a belkin or d-link.  Again, the Netgear that was at my parents house was doing this and all it needed was updated firmware.

[Texas_Bryan]

Modems get old and crappy, probably overheating and dropping the signal from the cable company.  Don't worry about drivers or firmware, it ain't going to help.  If you desperate, or just really want to break something, get you a can of compressed air, disassemble the bulk of the modem and clean it out, rubbing alcohol works well on electronics too.  Remember to do plenty of swearing and don't waste a good excuse to throw stuff against the wall.  Don't mess up you router, its fine, but you modem probably it screwed.  Worst case still, its not you modem, but you connection to the cable company that's gotten worse, think no speaky English crews splicing new neighborhoods and house into the grid with shovels and superglue.  Take some pictures, stuff them into a rifle case, with rifle, and send them my way, it'll help me get a better idea of the problem.

[Chromedragon]

I would start with the modem  i have been living in the same local for 11 years im on modem 4 at this time.

the cable compay support crews are a little slow. if you suspect the modem at all take it to your cable provider(provided you rent one from them) and have them swap it out with the current model. lot of times services changes done work as well on all the hardware they are shipping. will take you a small bit of time and wont cost you more that the gas to take it

other thing to test that is cheap is the net cables...they get wonky over time and can wreak havoc if they have been flopped around a lot they may have work hardened at the connector end.

just my .02

[billt]

My modem belongs to me. I bought it several years back because they were charging me by the month for theirs. I think at the time I paid $65.00 or so for it, and I believe it had a $20.00 rebate, so I'm way ahead by this time. After the Christmas holidays I'll replace both it and the router when we get our new desktops, or just before.  Bill T.

[Sponsor]

[philw]

My modem belongs to me. I bought it several years back because they were charging me by the month for theirs. I think at the time I paid $65.00 or so for it, and I believe it had a $20.00 rebate, so I'm way ahead by this time. After the Christmas holidays I'll replace both it and the router when we get our new desktops, or just before.  Bill T.

what sort of new desktops are you getting   

[billt]

what sort of new desktops are you getting    

We're not sure yet. Melanie will need everything. Monitor, keyboard, computer, speakers, etc. I'm good for everything, and just need the computer. We'll look around in a few weeks. All I know is no more AMD Processor for me! This thing has been quirky since the first day I plugged it in. It does weird things I've never had an Intel unit do. For example, if I have You Tube on the task bar playing music, and open mail and click to a link, say here to read a post, it will kill whatever is on the task bar. This thing crashes with all too frequent regularity. It will recover, then be fine for several weeks, then out of the blue comes the infamous "blue screen of death!" Anyway, I'll stick with Intel.

I have no brand loyalty per say. This is a HP, but the one before it was a Sony Vaio, and it was fine except the drives went out, (wouldn't open), and it really sucked the way they had the hard drive "partitioned". If I tried moving things from "C" drive to "D" drive, things would get screwed up badly. I'm seeing some really good prices on desktops so we should be able to get everything we need without a whole lot of damage. Especially after the holidays when everyone is spent out.  Bill T.

[Pathfinder]

Cheap desktops are exactly that - cheap desktops, small drives, limited memory, poor (and I mean POOR) graphics.

You can get good desktops for under a thousand, even if you go Intel duocore - a wise move BTW. My son who is anti-mainstream anything even said to stay away from AMD and go Intel when he built my new desktop a year or so ago. I'm partial to HP, if only because so many businesses I know go HP for their servers rather than anything else.

Of course, for ultimate performance, you can go Intel quadcore - 4 processors instead of 2 in the duo. And top-end nVidia cards, dual graphics cards if you do a lot of gaming. It will cost a little bit more than a grand (and by a "little bit" I mean 2-5 times more than a grand!  )

Also, stay away from 1TB drives - they have reports in the industry of being fragile and flakey - proven out in my case where I have never had a HD crash in almost 2 decades of computers - until I got a 1TB drive, which crashed a year-plus into use. I now have 2 500GB drives.

[billt]

About all we use computers for is the Internet, and picture storage and printing. I don't play games or do much else with them. Even my camera is an older Sony Cybershot that only has 2.3 mega pixels. It's good enough for what we use it for. I would get a better one, but to be perfectly honest, I don't want the hassle of learning a new one all over again. Mine takes the Sony Memory Stick and holds way more pictures than I take. I can see getting a lot of Ram and storage, and perhaps a Quad Core if it makes things faster. But even then, after a year or so they all get mucked up and slowed down. We were at COSTCO yesterday and they had some nice ones for under a grand, so we'll see next month when all of this traffic dies down.  Bill T.

[flynlr]

If you do get a new modem It would pay to plan for the future.. if your ISP does not yet support DOSCIS 3 it will very soon.
here is a future proof modem, a bit pricey but worth it in the long run. Comcast uses these in the upgraded areas,

http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-SB6120-SURFboard-eXtreme-Broadband/dp/B001UI2FPE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1261860020&sr=8-1