My brother has recently purchased a reconditioned dell computer with win98. The internal modem worked perfect to start with now it is not detecting a dial tone. There is nothing wrong with the phone line and I have tried using a new new phone lead but still the same. I tried an external modem but still no luck. Would anybody have any ideas? Thanks

Hi Kath Had any storms lately? Do you have a voltage surge protector? Wolfey On a hot summers night would you offer your throat to the Wolf with the Red Roses?

There are two socket in modem "line in and line out" the modem works no matter in which socket you plug in the telephone cable..so, try plugging in both.. otherwise Try reinstalling the drivers for ur modem... there's one more thing you could do... change the pci slot of ur modem..(cuz even I had this problem not once but quite a ffew times so changed the slot and everything got okay)

sorry what is a voltage surge protector?

A voltage surge protector as the name implies protects you from increases in the electricity supply coming in to your home. Normaly things like fridges, washing machines etc are not affected but Computers can die when hit by a voltage surge. I have had a modem fried because of a storm. Look at it this way ok, when lightening strikes a telephone line even just for a moment that increased voltage travels straight down into your computer. What a surge protector does is make sure you are not affected by adverse weather conditions. All good surge protectors come with a phone socket built in and up to a 6 plug sockets. Hope I have made you more aware. Wolfey On a hot summers night would you offer your throat to the Wolf with the Red Roses?

This is a common problem over here in the UK, some telephone service suppliers offer an answering service that is easily activated by accident or in some cases default, if someone calls and leaves a message the next time you pick up the phone the dial tone is different to alert you a message is waiting. You can still dial out as normal but a modem will not recognise the dial tone and report the error message you are receiving. Perhaps this is what is happening to you, pick up the phone and check the tone. Contact your phone service provider and have this option removed. Regards M

Kathrine, Go to start-settings-control panel-system-device manager. Are there any yellow exclamation marks? If so your modem may have lost its drivers. Reinstall the drivers from the modems CD. If you don't have the CD get the make and model of the modem and download the drivers from the net. Look for a free driver from a google search. Alternatively, go to start-settings-control panel-add/remover hardware and let windows do a search for the modem. See what happens and come back here if necessary.