I'm having an odd fight. I just recently moved from one coast to the other, and set up a new comcast cable connection with my machine, which has been stable for the last few years. When directly connected to the cable modem, there were no problems. However, after adding a router/firewall (Blitzz Super G Wireless, BWA711) and still connecting by ethernet cable, I get very consistent hanging of windows explorer. A sample of what causes explorer to stop responding: 1. opening internet explorer 2. selecting control panel, file search, etc. from the start menu 3. attempting to open My Computer, Recycle Bin, etc. from the desktop 4. selecting a group of icons on the desktop (for instance to move a group of icons) Some things I can do without causing explorer to hang: 1. move and drop a single file, for instance to the recycle bin 2. run non-windows software accessible by desktop or thumbnail links (for instance, Firefox, AIM, Spybot, Adaware) 3. rarely, get internet explorer to connect to my homepage (google) - but no farther What I find most odd, is that the explorer hang is directly tied to the hookup to the router. If I unplug the router, I obviously lose internet access but explorer works fine after only one more hang - I don't even have to reboot; when I plug it back in, explorer immediately hangs as before. If I remove the router totally and connect directly to the modem, no problems. Even if I attach to the router when it's not connected to the modem, explorer works fine. Comcast and Blitzz tech support have both confirmed that the problem isn't on their end , and the setup works just fine for the other computer in the apartment (Win XP). My computer really is in need of a good format and reinstall, but unfortunately the installation disks haven't made the move to this new place yet. I've been trying to patch the situation, until my disks arrive and I can start with a fresh OS. I've downloaded the latest versions and updates for Spybot and Adaware, and removed all malware, as well as using the dsostop2 utility. I have performed online scans using Trend Housecall, without finding any infections. A suggestion was made to me that the primary suspect is malware of some sort trying to get through the router/firewall, but I don't know where else to look for it. I've run through and confirmed my startup menu, and uninstalled some of the likely suspects - AIM, ZoneAlarm (in case of firewall-firewall conflicts), Ouicktime, and even internet explorer (which, not surprisingly, didn't come close to cleanly uninstalling). If any of you have some suggestions of what I can do next, that would be great. I'm happy to provide whatever other info about my hardware/software/problem that you need. Possibly by Monday or Tuesday I could get ahold of a friend's ME CD, if that would seem useful. Thanks in advance! - Karl

I have been having about the same problems with one system, but it is random and does not hang very often. It seemed to have started after I installed one of the Internet Explorer security update about five months ago. Doing a REPAIR of IE in Add/Remove programs helped the frequent hangs, but it still hangs when trying some things. My last change was to update my Ethernet device drivers and this has helped some of the problems. You could try that and see if it helps. I have been putting off rebuild Windows ME on that system as I will only have to do it all over again next month anyway. In one of the failures I see, there is an indication that a recoverable error on the local network has occurred, but the system network hangs in a loop trying to do error recovery. After a few minutes or so, it often clears and IE continues on. Or rebooting either system. It would be interesting to see if rebooting the XP system clears a hanging condition on the ME system! In your case, it sounds like a DNS resolution problem is occurring and error retries are failing when the router is connected and hanging your system. The router gets involved in DNS resolution and does some of it, where as when directly connected to the modem, these all go back to the ISP's system or their DNS servers. So if the error caused the router to get confused, it would cause problems until something such as a system rebooting caused the router to clear its DNS tables. Your Windows XP would be working because it has somewhat better error handling and and uses different packet sizes. There are several things you can try. First remove and then reinstall network support in case one of its modules are corrupted. In Add/Remove Programs, Windows Setup tab, Communications option, Details, un-check Dial-up Networking, and click Apply and then OK. Windows ME will remove it. Then go back in and check its box and Apply. You may have to use the Browse button to point it back to C:\Windows\Options\Install folder if it asks for your install CD. (You can always install Windows ME over the top of itself from these CAB files.) Because there has been a major move, there could be a minor problem with a loose cable connection or noise injection into the Ethernet cables from speaker wires or power line. Also do not place the modem or router on top of the system box near its power supply or close to the video monitor. Try swapping Ethernet cables around, including the one between the modem and router. Because you have a new Cable provider, there could be a bad Cable or too many splitters introducing errors. Check all of the Cable connectors and look for damage or loose wires, even inside the wall plug. Depending on the modem, you might be able to check the Cable signal strength at http://192.168.100.0 and see what the SNR is and if the signal strength is too far negative dBmV. You could try connecting the modem directly to the cable without a TV splitter and see if that effects the problem. Next use a program like DR_TCP to verify that your Windows ME system has "Path MTU Discovery" set to Yes or enabled. Then use it to change the network adapter MTU from the default (or blank) setting of 1500 to a value of 1400 and see if this helps the problem. Some ISP networks have trouble with 1500 byte packets and can cause strange errors like the. Windows XP in some setups use a smaller MTU and this may explain why it is working. You might have to determine what MTU XP is using and set your Windows ME to the same packet size.

Thanks so much for the information and advice. I've gone through your suggestions, with no luck so far. Reinstalling the network components following your instructions had no effect, and neither did repairing internet explorer or updating my ethernet drivers. I've also tried to move the cables away from significant noise sources, but haven't noticed any improvement in the hanging. The cables appear okay, but I may give them a very thorough inspection later. I also still need to try switching the cables attached to the modem, or attaching directly to the outlet sans splitter. I also still need to try rebooting the XP machine and seeing if that momentarily clears up the problem (though the problem exists regardless of whether the other computer is attached in any way). I followed your instructions regarding DR_TCP, setting Path MTU Discovery to "Yes" and the MTU field to 1400 - no effect. I was able to get information about my modem from the address 192.168.100.1: Status Code: Operational Software Version: ST52.01.02 Software Model: a806 Bootloader: 2.1.6d Cable Signal Details Forward Path: Signal Acquired at 723.000 MHz SNR: 31.6 dB Received Signal Strength: -7.1 dBmV Bit Error Rate: 0.000 % Modulation: 256 QAM Return Path: Connection: Acquired Frequency: 31.0 MHz Power Level: 43.5 dBmV Channel ID: 4 Modulation: QPSK Data Service Details Provisioned Address: Yes Provisioned Time: Yes Provisioned Configuration: Yes Registered: Yes BPI: Enabled This stuff is Greek to me; though as you probably would expect, the information is constantly updating, with slight variance in some values (a few tenths of a point, in general). Based on your discussion of my problem as some sort of DNS resolution problem in the router (or between the router and my computer?), would it make any difference to get a different router? If so, are there any reasonably priced brands or models you would suggest? Or, is this going to be a problem irregardless of the actual router model? Thanks again! - Karl

I am having the exact same problem. I am running ME and just upgraded to a linksys wireless g router. I have talked with linksys and HP - neither has a clue. I have tried all of the recommendations listed here plus many more. When I hook up my other computer running XP to the router there is no problem. I would appreciate any new info about this anyone might have.