Modem Connection to ISP Crashes PC

Question

I've been working on my daughter's Dimension 4600, which has a factory-installed Broadcom V.92 modem.  The PC is about 18 months old and has worked fine for about 16 of the 18 months.  After that point, she'd try to get onto the internet; the internet connection window would open up along with the browser window (as normal), the modem could be heard dialing, you'd see 'Dialing' in the connection window, then 'Connecting', and then 'verifying user name and password.'  As soon as the handshaking and 'noise' produced by the modem stopped and the modem appeared to connect the PC to the ISP, the BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) appeared.  The message on the Bllue Screen stated 'Windows has detected an error and is shutting down to prevent possible damage to the system.'  It also mentioned having the correct BIOS installed and possibly going through the Safe Mode start-up.  The error message gave a hexidecimal address for the error, followed by the the words 'Beginning Physical Memory Dump.'   Spyware, virus scans (found two Trojan horse files and three viruses), and adware scans have not helped.  Finally, contact with Dell Tech Support was temporarily successful - - we reloaded Windows XP by reinstalling the files (repair mode) and the modem worked - - four times before I ended up again with the same problems.  Tried this fix again three weeks later - - got everything to work eight times before it crashed again.  Modem diagnostics says the modem is fine (handshaking obviously works or it wouldn'd dial out).   Should I just 'nuke' the HDD and start over?  Perhaps someone might have experienced this problem or might know what to do.  I'm thinking that even though I've replaced system files with the repair efforts, there are some other files which were corrupted and are not being properly overwritten.  Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.   Thanks!   Steve / E-Bass Man Inspiron 8600 Intel Pentium M/Centrino 1.4 GHz 512Mb Ram NVidia GeForce 5200 32Mb 15.4' Samsung XGA Display Seagate 40Gb 5400 RPM HDD Intel Mini/PRO 2100 Wireless Card Win XP Pro SP2

riot1031 · Answer

You could try a format and reinstall of Windows, but before you do that do you have another modem you could try in her computer?  Could be as easy as buying a $10 modem.

E-Bass Man · Answer

Thanks for the suggestion - - already tried another (new) modem - - it didn't work; wouldn't even dial out, though all the diagnostics said it was working fine. I have a feeling that I should have probably tried another replacement, come to think of it; the one I installed was probably dead out of the box.

Steve / E-Bass Man

Inspiron 8600
Intel Pentium M/Centrino 1.4 GHz
512Mb Ram
NVidia GeForce 5200 32Mb
15.4" Samsung XGA Display
Seagate 40Gb 5400 RPM HDD
Intel Mini/PRO 2100 Wireless Card
Win XP Pro SP2

tly9 · Answer

When you put a new modem in the system, make sure that you select its model name on the setting so it knows which modem would be used to connect to the ISP.  It did not work because it might set to the old modem name by default.  The virus might kill some system files on your hard drive and make it unstable.  If the new modem still has problem, you might need to format the HDD and reinstall the OS.

E-Bass Man · Answer

Thanks for the information. I was sure to uninstall the old Broadcom when I tried the new one, so there was only one modem to select when going thru the installation process. I let the PCI plug and play process install the modem and then loaded the software.

Looks like the next step is to try another new modem, then if that doesn't work, do the "Format C:\" thing and reload the OS.

Steve / E-Bass Man

Inspiron 8600
Intel Pentium M/Centrino 1.4 GHz
512Mb Ram
NVidia GeForce 5200 32Mb
15.4" Samsung XGA Display
Seagate 40Gb 5400 RPM HDD
Intel Mini/PRO 2100 Wireless Card
Win XP Pro SP2

fireberd · Answer

If you get to the point you have to reinstall everything. Back up any user data (e.g. the My Documents folder, e-mail account and address book, Internet Explorer favorites, etc.).

When (if) you do the "clean" install (and that's the only way to do it and eliminate current problems), set the BIOS so the CD drive is the first boot device so it will boot up with the Windows XP CD, select the format the hard drive, then install the OS, next install the Dell chipset drivers, then any other Dell drivers, any Dell supplied applications and finally any user programs and restore user data. It's a hassle but somtimes it must be done.

E-Bass Man · Answer

Thank you for the additional information. I was intending to do the clean install right off the Dell CD-Roms which came with the PC; I was just sincerely hoping NOT to have to go that far. First, the replacement modem.......

Take care.

Bass - - the ONLY guitar for me!

Steve / E-Bass Man

Inspiron 8600
Intel Pentium M/Centrino 1.4 GHz
512Mb Ram
NVidia GeForce 5200 32Mb
15.4" Samsung XGA Display
Seagate 40Gb 5400 RPM HDD
Intel Mini/PRO 2100 Wireless Card
Win XP Pro SP2

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

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