And the lightning flashed...

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

Help Support :

C

cuffs054

Well-known member
Platinum Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2005
Messages
2,041
Location
MONTICELLO, GA
We had a big storm here and suddenly my desktop can't/won't connect to the internet. I get a "cable unplugged" message. I switched all cables, went into network setup, but still nada.
The wireless modem setup is working fine for all the rest of the computers. The problem is just the desktop (not wireless).
Since I know squat about confusers I would appreciate help/suggestions. I heard tell of a USB external network card. Would this be what I need? The thought of my fat hands inside the computer case trying to put in a new internal card gives me pause! Running XP on all the computers.
 
Sounds like your NIC card

I had the same, exact thing happen to me and it was the NIC card as you suspect. They evidently are very sensitive to lightening. I went to Microcenter and purchased a USB adapter and this solved my issue. This has been several years ago--the one in the link is basically what I bought. Replacing a NIC card inside of the PC is not bad at all as long as you have plenty of expansion slots. May be a good time to clean the inside :)

Good luck!

www.microcenter.com

Trendnet TU2-ET100 USB to Fast Ethernet Adapter - Micro Center

Get it now! The TU2-ET100 is a high speed USB network adapter that allows you to instantly connect to a 10/100 Mbps network from a USB enabled desktop or Notebook PC. Compliant with USB 2.0 and backwards compatible with USB 1.0 and 1.
www.microcenter.com www.microcenter.com
 
Cuffs:

I'm from Georgia, and I well remember everything I went through trying to keep modems and network cards. Lightning storms there are just so frequent.

I used to unplug everything when I wasn't going to be around, like when I was at work. And I used to keep spares on hand, for fast, easy replacement.

That tactic also helped greatly with Georgia Power's frequent surges and outages. One of the best moves I ever made in my life was from Atlanta proper to Marietta - the difference between Georgia Power's notions of service and maintenance and those of Cobb EMC was phenomenal.
 
Dane,
I agree. Our power comes from the city (Monticello) and they have upgraded their service, so we seldom have power problems. The last storm brought a lightening bolt that I swear sounded like it was in my yard.
 
I had a nearby lightning strike 6 years ago - it knocked out my internal modem and motherboard on my '04 Dell. I didn't notice, but when I had upgraded to cable internet, the technician did not hook the cable up to my surge protector. I ordered a replacement mother board from Dell. The first two replacement mother boards that Dell sent were bad but I finally got the system running again (still using it now) but got the same error message you got. That is when I realized the modem was bad. I replaced that and everything has been fine since.
 
That powerful Derecho storm we had the next to the last Friday in June took out my modem and the NIC card, along with a phone and the nice sound system for the pooter when there was an earth-shaking BOOM outside my house. I replaced the board with a USB to ethernet cable and some software which did not want to work at first. The new modem is higher speed than the old one so that was not a real loss. If only Comcast would provide dependable internet connections I would appreciate it, but in the middle of nothing special, the connection drops. It can go fine for weeks and then you get times when you have to start from jump street three times in one day.
 
It's Comcastic

I know EXACTLY what you mean Tom! As you stated, the service would just crap out for no reason! Very frustrating!! I had to drop Comcast internet when I started working from home and needed dependable service. I went with DSL and did not have any trouble--always reliable, just a little slower--but no biggie. AT&T brought U-Verse into our hood about 2 years ago and I jumped on that--and that allowed me to be totally free of Comcast (oh, happy day!) since I could get cable TV with U-Verse. So far they have been good---I have only spent one weekend without service in 2 + years.
 
Many thanks for all the input. I just came from Wally World (where the computer associate took time from being the pet food associate) to tell me to buy a
"NETGEAR N300 WIRELESS USB ADAPTER". Before I break the seal, can anyone tell me if this is what I need?
thanks
 
Is it this one? http://www.walmart.com/ip/Netgear-Wireless-N-300Mbps-USB-Mini-Adapter/20701099

I believe it would be OK- very similar to the one I bought for a laptop that didn't have built-in wireless 5-6 years ago. Also similar to the one I bought for the desktop we have as a spare, but I wasn't under a time constraint and could afford to wait a week to get it having paid about $6 incl. shipping.

Chuck
 
Mitch, I had DSL from Verizon in the early years of this century and I spent almost as much time talking to India as I did online. I used to have to ask them to speak more slowly because I could not understand at the speed at which they were speaking. Comcast was an improvement by comparrison so you can guess how unsatisfactory the Verizon service was. Thanks for understanding about the Comcast service.
 
Hope issue is resolved with USB adapter

Cuffs--hopefully you are back in business and have not encountered anyting else amiss.

Tom--sorry to hear Verizon was bad! Sounds worse than Comcast!! I was on Bell South for DSL. I know what you mean about talking to foreign "help desks"! With my Southern accent coupled with talking to India, it is bad! I start out the call making sure I enunciate my words and trying my darndest to calm down my drawl-however when my stress level gets up there the Southern accent returns--thick :).

Mitch
 
I wish I was back up. Install was easy and did get strong connection, but it refused to "accept certificate of auth" from ATT. ATT says not my problem. As I went to call Netgear I noticed that the only number listed was for Austraila. So...
 
OH no, Lightning again...

Cuffs, I experienced a similar incident involving lightning. The strike took out our security system as well as the computer. The security company was great problem solved. Here is where it gets hard to swallow, Dells warrantly does/did not cover lightning at the time. Wally worlds service policy does cover lightning, the strike occurred during the mfr. warranty. To add to the fun, the computer had apparently been returned by someone else and sold to me as "new". Dell had someone in another state listed as the registered owner. Needless to say this took hours and hours on the phone to straigten out. In the end after the BBB got involved weeks later. Walmarts service did come fix the PC. If it would of been a $40. DvD player I would of simply thrown it out. With the purchase of over $600 I had to stand my ground. I have posted this before, its still a good question to ask when purchasing expensive electronics. Needless to say we seldom if ever shop at WM it left a really bitter taste. Cuffs, I hope you are up and running soon. arthur
 
You made me laugh, there was no time constraint, just my adu

Well, I didn't know if you needed to get up-and-running quickly because of business, or if you could wait a bit! LOL

Glad I could give you a chuckle!!!

Chuck
 

Similar threads

F
Thunderstorms
Replies
12
Views
13
vacerator
V
joeekaitis
Windows 7 Directly to Windows 10 Creators Update: Heck, Yeah
Replies
3
Views
4
joeekaitis
joeekaitis
P
Your advice needed re: end of Windows XP support...what to do?
2
Replies
20
Views
21
passatdoc
P
P
question about wireless networking and using a WiFi printer
Replies
12
Views
13
passatdoc
P
bajaespuma
GODDAMN MICROSOFT!!!!! ditto for Comcast!
Replies
16
Views
17
mayken4now
mayken4now

Latest posts

Back
Top