[jeclose]

I recently tweaked my Dell computer by doing a chkdsk run followed up by a boottime defragmentation (diskeeper 10), in order to address performance issues I have had for a long time. Following the boottime defrag, I re-booted, but when the computer re-booted, it said there was no network connection. I went into the control panel to look at the devices, and the device screen was completely blank - i.e., no modem, no nothing. In the lower right part of my screen (taskbar?), the icon showing connectivity is missing.

I thought I could solve the problem by doing a system restore, but when I opened up the system restore window, there were no system restore points except for the reboot I had just done. I did it anyway just for the heck of it, but it didn't change anything.

I also went into the task manager and looked at the processes. I noted that the "teatimer" exe was consuming a huge amount of memory (110,000 kb). This is associated with the Spybot program that runs in the background, which may be causing some of my performance issues, I suspect. I don't know whether that is related to the present issue of no connectivity, or not, but I'm just giving you as much info as I have.

I have a cable connection, and a broadcom modem (don't have model number here).

Help, please.

[JohnWill]

Use Revo Uninstaller to totally uninstall SpyBot first, let's resolve one problem at a time. Restart the machine, then please post the following.

1. Exact make and model of the modem and any router.
2. Version and patch level of Windows.

Hold the Windows key and press R, then type CMD to open a command prompt:

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following command:

Note that there is a space before the /ALL, but there is NOT a space after the / in the following command.

IPCONFIG /ALL

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter to copy the contents to the clipboard.
Paste the results in a message here.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.

[jeclose]

Ha ha.... I like the "bumbling fool" rank I have achieved.... I'm going to have to work pretty hard to get beyond that

But thanks for getting back to me. Mysteriously, the "no network device" (or similar) message disappeared the next time I booted up, and things have sort of returned to normal. I'm thinking that the teatimer.exe was consuming so much memory on startup that the system just couldn't even make the network connection, so delivered me that message.

I did install the uninstaller program you recommended, and I'm going to uninstall and re-install Spybot if you recommend the reinstall. Thanks for that lead.

I've been very aggressive about running chkdsk and boot-time defragmenter in an effort to solve performance issues, which seem to be related to high (100%) CPU usage. It seems to have worked, but I'm wondering if there is such a thing as overdoing it in an effort to clean up the hard disk?

[TerryNet]

Personally I do not like and do not trust Teatimer. When it sneaks in I uninstall it, but keep the main Spybot Search & Destroy.

[JohnWill]

We see TeaTimer a lot here, usually because it's causing problems.


You can mark your own threads solved using the button at the top of the first page of the thread in the upper left corner.©

[jeclose]

Okay - not sure how teatimer got there in the first place, or what it does above and beyond the "regular" Spybot to warrant it being there.

If I do an uninstall of the whole program, and re-install, is there an option to not install this "teatimer" thing?

[TerryNet]

If there is an option to not install I have missed it several times. I then find it in Add/Remove Programs and banish it.

The free Spybot & Destroy (the only version I have used) runs only when you request it. Teatimer runs constantly, and I do not know what it is supposed to be doing other than sometimes causing trouble.

[JohnWill]

Here's what it's supposed to do, but there seem to be MANY systems where it causes problems: http://www.wilderssecurity.com/archi...p/t-55991.html

[jeclose]

Thanks to both of you. I'll make sure to keep it out of my system from now on. This machine has been running much faster since that meltdown, so maybe some good things came out of it inadvertently.

But then there's all the missing drivers that have also gone AWOL.. I haven't figured that out yet - the device driver window is completely blank.

I guess I should post that problem in the appropriate place.

[JohnWill]

See if this helps. http://helpdeskgeek.com/windows-xp-t...mpty-or-blank/

[jeclose]

Thanks - that is spot on! I'll try those suggestions and see which one fixes the problem.

(This is quickly becoming my favorite tech forum.....)

[JohnWill]

Originally Posted by jeclose

(This is quickly becoming my favorite tech forum.....)

Music to our ears.