OT: A computer annoyance - help wanted!

Renegade 13 · #1 January 18th, 2008, 09:47 PM

For reasons unbeknownst to me, sometimes (but not always) when I connect my computer to the internet via my dial-up modem, it will "lock out" any other programs from opening for a random amount of time. By this I mean once the internet has actually finished dialing and connecting, no other programs will open, then, after a certain (random) amount of time passes, the programs will all open that I had told to open anywhere from minutes to hours ago. In addition, I can tell my computer to shut down, but it will not do so until it decides everything's fine again and ready to work.

Note that this is NOT a general computer lock up. If I open a program (say, Firefox) before the internet establishes its connection, everything's fine and dandy for whatever reason, same goes with any other program.

This problem also doesn't always occur, sometimes I can connect and programs will open immediately. It has me stumped.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to cause or possible solutions? If so, it would be greatly appreciated if you shared 'em!

Thanks!

Raapys · #2 January 18th, 2008, 09:56 PM

Ah, computers. Will we ever fully understand them?

AgentZero · #3 January 18th, 2008, 10:41 PM

My first thought is there might be something naughty on your computer that start chewing up your CPU as soon as it detects a network connection.

Renegade 13 · #4 January 18th, 2008, 11:06 PM

Quote:

AgentZero said:
My first thought is there might be something naughty on your computer that start chewing up your CPU as soon as it detects a network connection.

As far as I know (and I've done virus scans... though with Norton) there's nothing unauthorized on my computer

If there is, it's been here a loooong time, since it's been messing around like this for months and months, with this being the only symptom.

Also, I've checked CPU performance while it's refusing to load any programs, and it's at minimal levels, with no processes running that aren't "usual".

narf poit chez BOOM · #5 January 19th, 2008, 12:24 AM

Quote:

Raapys said:
Ah, computers. Will we ever fully understand them?

Ten seconds before the Machine War.

Renegade 13 · #6 January 19th, 2008, 03:12 AM

Quote:

narf poit chez BOOM said:

Quote:

Raapys said:
Ah, computers. Will we ever fully understand them?

Ten seconds before the Machine War.

Or... is that when they will understand US?

narf poit chez BOOM · #7 January 19th, 2008, 05:09 AM

Quote:

Renegade 13 said:

Quote:

narf poit chez BOOM said:

Quote:

Raapys said:
Ah, computers. Will we ever fully understand them?

Ten seconds before the Machine War.

Or... is that when they will understand US?

Too late.

But I think the guy wants a real answer.

capnq · #8 January 19th, 2008, 08:08 AM

My suggested solution is to look into upgrading to broadband. My new DSL account is actually cheaper than what I was paying for dialup.

Raapys · #9 January 19th, 2008, 11:37 AM

I've had some similar experiences, but how I solved it or even if I did is unknown to me. That said, a reinstallation of Windows usually fixes such things, although that's often not a fun thing to do. Suppose you could try to update the modem drivers, though.

Spoo · #10 January 19th, 2008, 11:56 AM

Open the task manager before dialing in with the modem. Watch to see what is using 100% cpu.