Trevor Local
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Browsers stop browsing after certain amount of time
Hello - I just installed Win 7 64 bit on my pc. The problem is after a certain amount of time (not sure what the time length is) the browsers stop browsing. I have IE as well as Firefox 4 Beta. When this happens I can ping the firewall, I can ping public DNS servers and websites. But both browsers fail. But they don't bring up a page that says can't connect, they just kind of ignore any web request - both browsers act identical.
When this happens I've tried to disable/reenable my network connection (it's a wireless NIC), I've tried disconnecting from the wireless AP, I've tried closing all programs and firing up the browsers again. No dice. Reboot resolves it though.
Since this is a new install of Windows 7 I believe it's software related- just not sure what the culprit is. Everything worked fine with XP SP3 on the machine.
Any ideas?
When this happens I've tried to disable/reenable my network connection (it's a wireless NIC), I've tried disconnecting from the wireless AP, I've tried closing all programs and firing up the browsers again. No dice. Reboot resolves it though.
Since this is a new install of Windows 7 I believe it's software related- just not sure what the culprit is. Everything worked fine with XP SP3 on the machine.
Any ideas?
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ASKER
This is a PC on my home network. Nothing fancy. Other PC's are not affected.
It's not OS or hardware firewall (my OS firewall is off). I don't use P2P on this PC. Not sure about TCP/IP connections. Pretty sure it's not malware, as it's a brand new install (ran a few scanners to be sure anyway).
I read through the second link (all 21 pages). I don't use Avast/AVG/Comodo/NOD/ZoneA
The only thing that stood out was towards the end somebody mentioned using more than one tab in the browsers. I typically have 10-20 up, usually in Firefox. I only use IE as a test browser. I'll keep an eye on that to see if that has any relevance. But when it locked up the couple times, IE was not open, yet was still affected.
My timeout period is not as short as some of those that posted. I believe it's happened three times now, with the new install being about a week old.
It's not OS or hardware firewall (my OS firewall is off). I don't use P2P on this PC. Not sure about TCP/IP connections. Pretty sure it's not malware, as it's a brand new install (ran a few scanners to be sure anyway).
I read through the second link (all 21 pages). I don't use Avast/AVG/Comodo/NOD/ZoneA
The only thing that stood out was towards the end somebody mentioned using more than one tab in the browsers. I typically have 10-20 up, usually in Firefox. I only use IE as a test browser. I'll keep an eye on that to see if that has any relevance. But when it locked up the couple times, IE was not open, yet was still affected.
My timeout period is not as short as some of those that posted. I believe it's happened three times now, with the new install being about a week old.
ASKER
Problem happened once again while sitting overnight. I had little time, but here's more info I came up with.
In browser-frozen-state:
I can create a VPN tunnel to corporate office. I can ping across the tunnel to private IP's on that subnet, but I can't RDP to any device.
I can't create an FTP session - it gives "ENOBUFS - out of memory" error (Filezilla)
I can't browse to my local router page
I can ping 127.0.0.1
IPCONFIG /FlushDNS does not solve anything
In browser-frozen-state:
I can create a VPN tunnel to corporate office. I can ping across the tunnel to private IP's on that subnet, but I can't RDP to any device.
I can't create an FTP session - it gives "ENOBUFS - out of memory" error (Filezilla)
I can't browse to my local router page
I can ping 127.0.0.1
IPCONFIG /FlushDNS does not solve anything
ASKER
Ok, more info:
Browsers stopped working yet again. This time I was actively browsing for about two hours or so. But this time I wasn't able to ping anything beyond my router (by DNS name or by IP). I only had about 5 tabs open in Firefox. Same symptoms with RDP, FTP, browsing to router.
Whereas the other times my PC was sitting for hours, this time I was using it (surfing the web).
I checked the OS firewalls and they were on - Public/Private. I know I turned them off once, so I did it again. We'll see if that does anything.
Browsers stopped working yet again. This time I was actively browsing for about two hours or so. But this time I wasn't able to ping anything beyond my router (by DNS name or by IP). I only had about 5 tabs open in Firefox. Same symptoms with RDP, FTP, browsing to router.
Whereas the other times my PC was sitting for hours, this time I was using it (surfing the web).
I checked the OS firewalls and they were on - Public/Private. I know I turned them off once, so I did it again. We'll see if that does anything.
ASKER
I left my pc on and untouched for a couple days - about 48 hours total. I left Firefox open, with four or five tabs. No other programs open. When I came back, the browsers were working OK. I used the pc for a couple hours, then went to bed. Got up this morning and the browsing is frozen again. (I had Firefox open, and watched a video with VLC, then the monitor power settings kicked in and the monitor went to sleep.)
I'm stumped. None of this makes any sense.
I'm stumped. None of this makes any sense.
ASKER
Another test last night - I closed out all programs except Firefox, with about 10 tabs open. This morning the browsing is still working. So this is the second time that browsing is OK, with just Firefox left open. So thus far the only common factor that I can think of is that I usually watch a video with VLC and let the monitor go to sleep afterward, and then in the morning the browsing doesn't work.
(However, I believe once the browsing stopped when I was actually working on the pc.)
I've reinstalled Win7 now 4-5 times. The latest install I did install Windows updates. First I did all the critical updates and let it sit overnight. The browsing issue happened again the next day. Then I installed recommended updates, one of which was:
Bus Controllers and Ports, Display Dell 2007WFP (Analog)
Since that last update is when I didn't have the problem when only leaving Firefox running. Maybe it's a conflict with the video card driver, and allowing the power settings to turn off the monitor?
Anyone?!
(However, I believe once the browsing stopped when I was actually working on the pc.)
I've reinstalled Win7 now 4-5 times. The latest install I did install Windows updates. First I did all the critical updates and let it sit overnight. The browsing issue happened again the next day. Then I installed recommended updates, one of which was:
Bus Controllers and Ports, Display Dell 2007WFP (Analog)
Since that last update is when I didn't have the problem when only leaving Firefox running. Maybe it's a conflict with the video card driver, and allowing the power settings to turn off the monitor?
Anyone?!
ASKER
OK, I got tired of the browser issue, and decided to reinstall the OS yet again. But this time I installed Windows 7 Pro instead of Ultimate. I installed the same applications and drivers and all Windows Updates, with the only exception being Firefox 4 Beta. Instead I installed SRWare Iron. I haven't yet experienced the frozen browser issue, and it's been about 10 days, both of heavy use as well as just sitting for a few days.
So at this point the only difference is Firefox 4 Beta, and Windows 7 Ultimate vs. Professional.
Just cataloging for future reference!
So at this point the only difference is Firefox 4 Beta, and Windows 7 Ultimate vs. Professional.
Just cataloging for future reference!
ASKER
Never figured out what the culprit was. Reinstalled Win 7 Pro OS instead.
ASKER