Strange Computer Issue Internet Connected, but somethings will not work.

[Madkat-Z 0]

Well I have a computer issue that I ran into this week and I spent an good few days trying to figure it out with some success...I think. Ok this all stared when I would leave my computer to run over night the internet connection was good, the internet browsers, IM, and my online game that I would leave running would all be working and connected to the internet. When I wake up in the morning however, I would find my Game still running and my IM running they would still be connected, however when I tried to use my internet browser it wouldn't connect to the internet. Well I tried Opera, FireFox and Internet Explore and none of them connected to the internet. So I restarted my wiressless card, nothing, then I restarted my computer and my browsers could connect. Ok, so I thought it was a one time thing and left my computer running all night again this time I didn't leave my IM running but I let my Game running. This time I couldn't get my browsers or IM to connect to the internet, however...my Game was still connected. I had to once again restart my compute to get my IM and Browsers to connect.So over the past few days I've tried a series of combinations and have come up with this result. IM will only work in the morning if I leave it run all night. Internet Browsers wouldn't not work in the morning even if I left them run all night. My online game woudn't connect in the morning if i didn't leave it run all night. Heres the killer...I never lost my connection and it was always "Exellent". The only way for me to get my browsers, IM and Game to connect when they wouldn't was to restart the computer. Ok, so I googled the issue yesterday and I found no one who could give me an anwser, but I think I may have found an anwser. I have an Athero wireless card (Please excuse my spelling), one of the setting is for the card is Power Save Mode. Power Save Mode restricts the cards power when it is not in use. So inturn it pretty much will put the card on sleep mode when it isn't doing anything, which I think restricts the cards function to the most active programs, which would explain why it didn't effect my Game and IM as much because they have at least some activity constantly. The default setting was to the Normal Settting. So I changed it to Off. However, I was unable to test anything this morning because my computer crashed during the night. Ok...I'm wondering if my thought process is correct on this issue, since I don't know if that could of caused my problem or not. If I am wrong on what actually is wrong with my computer then please let me know what I need to do to fix the problem. I will post an update if what I did fixes the problem.

[ghostrider 0]

This really is a weird computer issue. I don't know if your thought process is exactly 100% right, but it is a good idea and I would reccomended trying it. It could also be a virus blocking port 80 (internet port) at night, however I doubt that because resetting the card wouldnt get rid of the virus. What type of game are you playing? If its not a First Person Shooter or strategy game it might not have as much data to send and receive. Either way, try it out and post back. I'm curious.

[Saint_Michael 3]

that would seem plausible, but heres hte thing why keep your computer running at night anyways especially if you have game running, because anyone who picks up on your habit, they kill off your character rob you blind and then drop the equipment off to another character without you knowing who did it.Also most messengers do offline messages as well, so their is no need ot keep that running as well. However power save shouldn't be doing what you post says it's doing, power save is used so your computer doesn't soak up energy while it's running. Although I am assuming that this computer is a laptop, power save also just trims down the battery usage so it would last more then 3 hours when unplugged.With your browser though that's still wierd, only reason I could think of is that a error happens within your virus protection software that cuts off the connection to prevent anything from going in or going out. It's happen ot me several times before.

[Madkat-Z 0]

that would seem plausible, but heres hte thing why keep your computer running at night anyways especially if you have game running, because anyone who picks up on your habit, they kill off your character rob you blind and then drop the equipment off to another character without you knowing who did it.
Also most messengers do offline messages as well, so their is no need ot keep that running as well. However power save shouldn't be doing what you post says it's doing, power save is used so your computer doesn't soak up energy while it's running. Although I am assuming that this computer is a laptop, power save also just trims down the battery usage so it would last more then 3 hours when unplugged.

With your browser though that's still wierd, only reason I could think of is that a error happens within your virus protection software that cuts off the connection to prevent anything from going in or going out. It's happen ot me several times before.

Yeah, I already did a virus scan and a spyware scan and came up with nothing. Anyway the game I play has a training area where you can train, without fear of getting killed. Plus the only reason I left my IM on that one time was on accident. I do have a firewall, good old ZoneAlarm, but it isn't blocking anything that I was using. I don't think a virus scanner would have an issue with blocking the internet, but I use Avira. I will check it out to see if it has any setting that could of caused that problem, since for all I could know that could of been my issue.

Anyway I have good news, I went to us my internet this morning, after leaving my game run all night, and it worked. So it seems to have fixed my problem. However, I did notice that my virus scanner for some reason shut it self off during the night, so I'm going to do another test to see if that might of been my issue and not the wireless card setting.
Edited September 22, 2006 by Madkat-Z (see edit history)

[AeonLan 0]

Do you mean that the antivirus shut down itself? Some worms have their own small SMTP server that can send emails to a huge number of account... Or maybe your game requires intensive data input and output?Still, im betting on the upstream or downstream being blocked due to unknown reasons. Try to find a program that will help you know what enters and leaves your PC. ^_~ Maybe that'll do.Try Search and Destroy for additional scans.

[Saint_Michael 3]

The only way antivirus will block you out is 1 settings are set up like that or 2 it errors on you and you have to shut it down. The second one being done ot me. But yes check your settings and see if their is a timer of some sorts. But if hte timer shuts your browser connection off it shut off your im and your game connection as well.

[Madkat-Z 0]

Well as a added note, my Anti-Virus shut itself down was because it had an update that requires my computer to restart. Which I'm not going to do until the server for my game goes down for its daily maintenance (It costs me 1000 silver to get into the training grounds so I'm going to get my penny worth of training) . I also read the online manual for my anti-virus scanner and from what I read there is no setting that would cause it to block my Internet connection, but when I get home today I will double check.

[Kubi 0]

Well everything has pretty much been stated but this;Don't leave your computer on over night! It's bad enough to keep it running with no programs open, but I suppose you're talking about WoW. Keeping WoW, IM, and all your other stuff open over night is horrible. Imagine how hot your proccessor would get.It may cost you 1000 silver to go train, but it'll cost you 1000 dollars to replace you're computer.

[Madkat-Z 0]

Well it happened again. So I'm guessing that option was not the right one. *bashes head on wall* So does anyone have any suggestions on what to do about this issue? I did check my virus scanner and there is no setting that would of caused that sort of an issue. I have run quite a few virus scans and spyware scans each from a different program and they have come up with nothing. So I'm pretty sure its not a virus. Just so I don't get asked repeat questions from the last time I tried to get an answer from Tech support. I do have a firewall, but it isn't blocking any of the programs that I have mention that do not to work. Plus I do have Windows Firewall disabled. My web browsers are all up to date and have the latest versions, same with my Virus and Spyware software. I have an Athero wireless card and yes I am running on a wireless router and I did check the router and my card settings to see if there was anything that could of caused my problem and came up with nothing.KuBi, its not WoW I'm running. I'm actually running a game called Conquer Online, which is less graphic intense and puts virtually no stress on my computers processor, and I normally don't leave my IM running all night. Plus on top of all that, I keep a cooling tray under my computer if I leave it on overnight and make sure the computer has all its vents cleared and open to disperse heat effectively.

[Saint_Michael 3]

best suggestion would be just turn the computer off at night, I can't think of anything else that could be causing this. Just turn it off when your not using it.

[Madkat-Z 0]

I actually may have found a lead. Out of shear desperation to find the problem to my issue, I decided to start shutting down programs one at a time that I was running to see if one of them could of been the culprate. Well the first program I decided to shut down was Zone Alarm. Well as soon as I shut it down and I went to test my Internet...it worked. So I decided to further inspect Zone Alarm Settings. Under Firewall/Zones, I noticed that my wireless card was set to Internet, not trusted. I had my Internet zone set to the highest security level well my trusted zone was set to medium. I went back inforth between the two zones and only when I had the highest security level set my Internet wouldn't work. I don't know too much about how Zone Alarm works, but could that have caused my problem all along? O.o

[AeonLan 0]

It may be the problem, because you are using a wireless card, ZoneAlarm can't possibly know that you are using it for accessing the internet. Instead, it treats the card as one of the software that is accessing to the internet. And when it set as an untrusted device, eventually it will be blocked without notice to the user.

[Madkat-Z 0]

Ok...this time I have waited two days before saying "My problem is fixed". Well I have successfully left my computer on for two days strait and my browsers, IM, and my online game can all access the internet without having to restart the computer and/or leave the programs running all night. So I now say this with great happiness...My problem is fixed. So ZoneAlarm was my problem. I guess the highest security must have a time out setting in it which I can't change for some reason. So I just set it to medium for my Wireless Card and it works find now.