compute freezing when downloading

[karlinhos]

i recently relocated my desktop to a room out of reach from the modem (att, uverse, 2wire), so i had to resort back to using my wireless adapter (2wire, 802.11g USB Wireless Adapter) which i haven't used in a couple of years.

i can browse the internet fine, although substantially slower (from 24mbs -> 9mbps), but soon after i open newsbin the entire computer freezes and i have to do a hard shutdown/restart.

i have made no other hardware/software changes to the computer other than installing the drivers for the wireless adapter.

thoughts?

[DThor]

You didn't mention the OS you're running. The clue, however, is probably in the driver. Not only is it the only thing you changed, but it's precisely the sort of thing that can cause Windows to lock up - with Vista and Win7 it's about the only thing - applications don't have the permission to directly cause a crash. You need a driver to cause that.

I'm unclear by 'soon after I open Newsbin'...I assume you're using it, i.e. it's actually downloading and not just sitting there? Newsbin pushes the network connection very very hard and soft spots in a network configuration can soon be found by running it. As a rule, running Newsbin over wifi isn't a good idea. Doesn't mean it can't work, but there's a crapload of variables such as OS, the adapter, the driver and your actual house that affect the result.

Things to try? It won't improve your speed, but possibly you can stop the system crashes by running a more recent firmware/driver on the adapter. You'll probably want to google around looking for others with that card and OS and if they ran into problems and options. Otherwise, and what I do, is bite the bullet, get some good quality enet cable, grab the drill and...whirrrrr.....

DT

[Quade]

Yeah, this shouldn't be something that Windows would permit Newsbin to do. Modern windows versions are pretty robust. I wonder if the system has really died of if remote access just stops working?

Can you hook a monitor and keyboard to it to verify if it's dead or not?

[karlinhos]

shoot! i tried to remember everything to list... windows xp.

i hear you on the driver issue. i downloaded the driver directly from the manufacture's website, so i assume it's the latest version. the speeds i'm not too concerned about, 9mbs still ain't too shabby. i'm really trying to avoid crawling under the house's crawl space. we have a ton of black widows, and it's not on the top of my list to get bitten by one.

unless anyone else has had experience/issues with this set-up, and has a suggestion on how to get it working, i guess i'll don the HAZMAT suit and brave the crawl space.

[karlinhos]

Yeah, this shouldn't be something that Windows would permit Newsbin to do. Modern windows versions are pretty robust. I wonder if the system has really died of if remote access just stops working?

Can you hook a monitor and keyboard to it to verify if it's dead or not?

what do you mean by hook a monitor/keyboard to it to verify if it's dead or not?

[Quade]

i'm really trying to avoid crawling under the house's crawl space. we have a ton of black widows, and it's not on the top of my list to get bitten by one.

1 - Sounds like you have a headless PC you access through some remote access tool

2 - You run Newsbin and you get disconnected from it.
- Is it dead?
- Is the remote connection dead?

That's just how I interpreted your words. If you're using something like a USB dongle style wi-fi adapter, my experience with them has been poor. Fine for casual browsing, not so fine for bulk downloads.

So, I'm not sure if the PC dies or the remote connection does. If you hook a keyboard and monitor to it, you can actually see if it's dead, if it blue screens or whatever. Or if the monitor and keyboard still work which indicates it's the connection/remote access that died and not the actual system. I assume this system worked fine with Newsbin before you remoted it. That suggest this issue isn't directly Newsbin related.

[karlinhos]

ahhh, gotcha.

the computer complete freezes. no response from the mouse, keyboard, etc. i have to hard shut it down to get it working again.

yeah, the wireless adapters one of those usb, dongle deals. (http://support.2wire.com/view/769/Insta ... _Guide.pdf)

i'm pretty certain it's not a connection deal, but rather a software/driver issue. i'm also certain it's NOT newsbin. i was just hoping someone may have experienced this before and found a resolution.

oh well, under the crawlspace i go!

*ughhhh*