Cable modem going out??

This morning, my computer would only start in safe mode no matter how many times I restarted. The other night, the computer and the cable modem stopped communicating and the cable support person talked me through the "recommunication" process. This morning, in desperation, I unplugged the modem power source, then restarted the computer. The computer started normally. Then I plugged the modem power source back in. This came up:

Windows is making a new file log. Installing new port (somethin-or-other)

Help????

 

I think for anyone to help you with this you will have to provide more information such as your OS, brand of modem and whether it is connected to your computer by USB or ethernet.
I could be wrong but I don't believe your modem should have anything to do with your computer only starting in safe mode.

After you plugged the modem back in did you have internet connection and did comp work normally?
The logfile/new port message may just have been a result of your comp rerecognizing your modem after you powered it back up.
When unplugging a modem it refreshes or resets its internal memory and it should be left unplugged for a minimum of 30 seconds and as a general rule of thumb given about 2 minutes when powered back up to aquire the info it needs.
Also in my case after power is disrupted to my modem I need to restart my comp before it will recognize the internet connection. Plugging the modem in after startup as you said you did results in a "no internet connection found" message. I believe this has to do with the modem resetting itself, if the comp is on first it has the modems old settings and when the modem is powered up it has refreshed settings. The settings don't match one another so they can not connect with one another.
I also know from past experiance with my cable provider they can tell you over the phone if your modem is working properly by the in and outgoing signals they receive from it over their network. They can even tell when you disconnect your modem and for how long.

If your problem continues please post more info and I am sure someone will pick up on this to help better then I have.
Good luck

jjb

 

Thanks, jjb. I am running Win 98 and a Motorola SURFboard cable modem. It could have been just a coincidence that the computer finally started normally after about 6 tries while the modem was unplugged. Would it help to see a HIJack This log?? Obviously, something changed some boot-up settings.

 

Well, we have the same OS and cable modem in common (my modem connected via USB ).
I am not sure or clear on what you meant when you referred to your comp and modem stopped communicating other then my own experiance that I mentioned that at times the internet connection can not be found IF power is restored to the modem after the comp has been booted up. As I said, for me refreshing and then powering up the modem first and then booting comp always corrected this. It is possible that the "recommunication" process you were talked thru involved changing something in your settings?
If we have the same model surfboard you have 5 status lights and a standby button on the front, if so, do you ever use this? The reason I ask is that little button(which I have no idea why it is there or what its true purpose is) was the cause of the only major problem I experianced with my modem. I have had my cable internet service and this modem for about 2-1/2 years now. When it was initially installed I was instructed by the installer that the standby button was used to turn the modem on and off or when you didn't wish to have an internet connection( for the paranoid people ?). This was incorrect and I began experiancing frequent disconnects and had to reboot to regain my connection. At first it was just an inconvenience and I thought that the cable provider perhaps ended connections that had been idle for a given amount of time in an attempt to preserve bandwith and allow active connections higher speed. When it reached the point of ridiculous I contacted tech support. After a few questions I was told I had been instructed wrong and that the only proper way to shut the modem off was to unplug it. I was told that unless for whatever reason I may feel the need (ie: gone for extended periods like vacations, thunderstorms or not being comfortable with an always on connection) there is no need to turn the modem off. The tech person explained that every time I used the standby it remained in the memory of the modem and basically over time overloaded and confused the modem, the modems response was to end the connection. In a sense telling me something was wrong. This is when I first learned of the method of resetting or refreshing the memory by unplugging and it did correct my problem.

As far as Win98 goes it has always seemed to have a peculiar trait of being problamatic with locking up or not responding at startup, shutdown or both at times. The odd thing is some rarely encounter this and for others (myself included) it is frequent. There is much debate (with threads found here) on the pros and cons of whether it is better to leave a computer always on or if they should be shut down when not in use. Mostly because of the startup or shutdown issues I experiance I opt for the always on and only reboot if I have to after a lockup.
It is beneficial and Win98 does seem to run much smoother if you keep it as tidy as possible by defragging, clearing history, dumping files and cookies from internet temp files, dumping windows temp files and the recycle bin.

When you said your computer would only start in safemode no matter how many times you restarted, did you not get a prompt window telling you why and with the option of how you want windows to start ? Normally I believe that is what I get, with the option of "normal" to bypass the safemode.

Also,here is a startup trick that I discovered that works for me (don't ask why ?) If windows seems to be loading slower then normal or seems to hang at a particular point hitting the enter key repeatedly or holding it down seems to kick it in the butt again and speed up the process. Also, if it enters the bluescreen scandisk automatically (for what it says was an improper shutdown or any other reason) hitting the enter key will also end this task and proceed to load normally. It may bring up the prompt window then asking how you want windows to load at which time just click normal.

As far as the HJthis log, it certainly wouldn't hurt anything. To be honest I don't have a clue what the HJthis experts see or look for in those things The people that review them seem to enjoy doing it and it is something I would like to learn one day
You could try posting it in this thread to see if someone picks up on it and if not you could try directing someone to this post by posting in a thread used for HJthis logs.................or start a new thread.

Sorry that this has mostly been advice from my personal experiance but I hope you find some use in it for your problem

jjb

 

Gosh--thanks so much for that info!1 We were told the same thing re the stanby button--leave it alone.

I ran AdAware and found a trojan that had affected/added/changed registry keys, about 70 of them!! It was called Wild Tangent and was downloaded with a game a son got from the internet--no surprises there!

My computer would only boot in safe mode. I don't know if there was a connection to disconnecting the modem or just a fluke, but getting rid of the 103 items that the AdAware found had to be a good thing.

I only use the HJThis with expert help. They've gotten rid of some bad things for me before. I'm not a techie but extremely grateful for those who are!