Network Connections Problems
 

Every few minutes I get a pop-up window (as shown below) asking me to choose a network connection. Sometimes this pops up once in an hour, and sometimes every few seconds. When it does, any pages loading in the browser (SeaMonkey 1.1.8) freeze as if there is no network connection. I hit "close" and the browser is back to normal.

Does anyone have suggestions as to what is happening? It doesn't seem to matter if I'm connected through our office LAN, or through a public WI-FI or through home dial-up. This has been going on since last August when I got this computer. I don't remember if it happened with my previous desktop.

I also don't know if it happens with IE, because I don't use IE very often.

This seems minor, but it's a little frustrating.

Thanks.

Uuuuugh. I have vista too. I just got vista...and I don't know crap about it yet.....

Maybe the thingy that automatically finds networks for you. You may want to disable it?

I've been using Vista on an HP machine for about 6 months and I don't get that. Something similar pops up when I first fire the machine up, but goes away never to return after clicking on it the little icon.

I've now typed out all that I know about computers. Good day.

I just de-selected "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" in the Gigabit Network Connection Properties window. I'll see if this makes any difference.

What happens if your computer shuts itself off to save power and you can't ever turn it back on?

I get that all the time on my notebook HLJ, drives me bloody nuts.

Mine is a wireless connection through my mobile phone, that it wants to connect to all the time, even though I am happily connected to my NextG modem.

On a related note, something funny happened last month. My wife got a Blackberry from work and gave me her old phone - which was almost identical to the phone I already had, except that hers has Bluetooth. This allows me to synchronize my address book with MS Outlook and to use a Bluetooth headset.

When setting up the Nokia PC Suite software I noticed an option to connect the computer to the internet through the phone using Bluetooth. As we have very slow dial-up at home, I tried it and found it was about five times faster than our dial-up. I used it about three times over the next week to download e-mail attachments and some software updates.

When the phone bill arrived Monday, instead of the regular amount of about $40, it was $770. AT&T charges $10 per megabyte, so $720 of that was for a few hours of internet connection (including some time on the Cellar).

There goes my budget for the month. Sorry Tip Mug.

You're lucky.

Why?

This is why.

I'm also negotiating with the phone company. I'm glad it wasn't $85,000.

Ohhh, yuck.

I have a data plan with my phone, so its not too bad.

When a program tried to make external contact, and does not make contact on any existing connection, then that Window pops up. Normally that Window pops up when no external connection (dial-up, WiFi, Lan) exists. However some programs get upset when the existing connection is too slow (ie dial-up that is fully involved servicing data to another program) or when that connection cannot access the desired external server.

Well, what programs or processes are trying to access external servers? For example, Windows Update or your anti-Virus software does this periodically. So do some virus softwares or music sharing program. Yeah, I get nervous when a program is accessing the world without my knowledge.

Simplest tool is Task Manager - to see which processes are loaded and using CPU time. Yes, some executing processes are not attached to programs - which you will understand when viewing Task Manager.

Of course, a newbie would not know which processes should exist and which might access be trying to access the world. Another program from Microsoft might help - called TCPView.

Idea is to learn what program is trying to access what in the outside world. It might be nothing. Your computer may also be a 'bot' - part of a large network of infected computers waiting for command to attack some web site.

tw - thanks. I'm looking into it.