TroubleShooting Tips
(GWE Technical Support: 249-6266)

This section of the website is intended as a troubleshooting resource for those who may be experiencing problems with their Internet connection, or with their computer in general.  In this respect, this page will hopefully cure some of your problems, but to get the most from these tips, they should be used as more of a preventative than a cure.  If you read through these tips and take note of the procedures to apply if things go wrong, then you will be well prepared to face and solve the problem.  If, however, you try to come here only when a problem has already occurred, then you may be out of luck--whatever is wrong may prevent you from being on-line and reading this web page.  So read-up now, and be prepared.  The alphabatized general sections below are structured in a question and answer format.

Anti-Virus Software:

Q:  My virus scanning program told me that it found a virus on my computer and that it needed to quarantine/delete/modify several files.  Now I can't get on the Internet and/or my computer is acting weird.  What happened?

A:  The files that your anti-virus software modified may have been essential to the proper operation of your computer.  For example, if the "winsock.dll" file was modified by your anti-virus software, then you won't be able to connect to the Internet.  If your anti-virus software cannot replace or otherwise fix the affected files, then your only option is to re-install whatever files were modified.  In the case of the "winsock.dll" file, a re-installation of Windows Dial-Up Networking and/or Internet Explorer (or Netscape) will usually solve the problem.

Blocking or Filtering Software:

Q:  I am concerned that my children will spend all of their time on-line looking up "objectionable" sites and material.  What can I do to stop them?

A:  There are a number of third-party programs that can block or filter out pornographic/sexual/adult material if you have one of them installed on your computer.  Here are some of the most prominent titles: CyberSitter, NetNanny, SurfWatch, and CyberPatrol.  With one of these installed, any attempt to procure "adult" material from your computer should be severely curtailed.  Any of these programs usually retails for around $30-$50.

Q:  I'm trying to access several web sites on the Internet, but when I try, I get some message about "Content Advisor" being enabled, and the page is not displayed.  What's going on?

A:  Content Advisor is a product of Microsoft Corporation that has never really been used for anything besides ruining your experience on the Internet.  Content Advisor was initially conceived of as an easy way for people (i.e., parents) to block out objectionable material from their time online, but it didn't really turn out like Mr. Gates had hoped.  For the Content Advisor to be of any use to you, the web sites that you visit must be rated using whatever ratings system the Content Advisor specifies.  The problem is that the vast majority of web sites on the Internet (including this one) do not bother rating their pages.  When Content Advisor detects a web page that is un-rated, it just assumes that you don't want/need to see it, and so it denies access.  This means that if you have Content Advisor enabled, the majority of the Internet will be denied you.  To turn the Content Advisor on and off, you need to give it a password.  For example, when you first enabled the Content Advisor, you had to give it a password to turn it on.  Likewise, to turn it off, you must give it the exact same password.  If you have forgotten this password (or someone other than you enabled the Content Advisor to begin with), then you may be in a bit of a quandary.  Microsoft designed the Content Advisor to withstand the prying efforts of children or others who might want to defeat it, so if you don't know/remember the password, you might be looking at a major operation and headaches galore.  You might think that simply uninstalling Internet Explorer and then re-installing it would do the trick, but in all the cases I've heard of, this does not work.  I think that once you enable the Content Advisor, Windows must create a key in your registry that transcends Internet Explorer entirely.  To get rid of the Content Advisor without knowing the password, you would have to format your hard drive and then re-install Windows (not a task for the uninitiated) OR you would have to try one of the several registry hacks that I have seen for disabling the Content Advisor.  Editing your registry is not something for the meek, so beware if you go this route and please realize that if something goes horribly, horribly wrong, we can't help you--proceed at your own risk.  If you want to try hacking your registry to be rid of the Content Advisor, here's what I would do: find another Internet-capable computer from which you can work unobstructed by your idiotic Content Advisor.  Surf to www.google.com, a search engine.  Type "content advisor" into the search field and do the search.  You should find a number of sites that deal with your Content Advisor problem.  Find a solution that suits you, and give it a try.  As I said above, messing with your registry can be risky business, so take precautions and make backups.  Also, be cautious when running any sort of executable program on your computer that purports to solve your Content Advisor problems.  And good luck...you'll need it.

Dial-Up Networking:

Q:  I get a message that says, "Dial-Up Networking could not negotiate a compatible set of networking protocols . . ."  What's this mean to me?

A:  First, reboot.  Then, if you're still having problems, check your dial-up networking settings.  Follow this link for some instructions, and be sure to check out the screenshots.  If you're sure all of your settings are correct, and you are still getting this message, then make sure that you are using the correct dial-up networking connection in the dial-up networking folder.  You might want to create a shortcut from your connection in dial-up networking and try connecting through it.
Special Note to Winmodem Users: If you have a particular kind of modem known as a "Winmodem," then you may get the above message when trying to connect to us with outdated drivers.  To fix the problem, you can either update your modem drivers (your modem manufacturer probably has a website on which you can download updated drivers, but you can try this link for a big list), or try dialing in to our secondary phone number (2495107).  Using either of these two remedies should solve the problem.

Q:  I can get on the Internet, but the only place I can go is the GWE.Net homepage.  I really, really, REALLY like your page, but there are other sites I'd like to visit, too.  How can I fix this?

A:  This is most likely a problem with missing DNS numbers.  Go to your Dial-Up Networking folder, find your connection to us (it's usually called "GWE" but it might appear as "Internet Signup," "My Connection," or "Connection to 2405440"), right-click on it and choose "Properties."  Next, you need to find the "Server Types" section of the page, which is a button in early versions of Windows 95, and a tab in later versions.  From "Server Types," you'll need to click on the "TCP/IP Settings" button in the lower right.  On the next screen, make sure that you have "Server assigned IP address" checked at the top.  Go down about 1/3 of the window and make sure that "Specify name server addresses" is checked.  Under this, there is room to input the primary and secondary name servers.  In "Primary DNS," enter the following: "63.172.161.2"  In "Secondary DNS," enter this: "63.172.161.4"  Leave primary and secondary "WINS" as all zeros.  Make sure that the two check-boxes at the bottom of the window are both checked.  After all of this, click on "OK" and keep clicking "OK" until you exit the Dial-Up Networking screens.  Check out this link for some more instructions, and be sure to look at the screenshots.

Q:  When I dial into the Internet, I always check the "Save Password" checkbox, but it never stays saved and I always have to type my password in again the next time I log in.  What's up with this?

A:  Believe it or not, the Windows operating system is not perfect.  In fact, the above question describes a well-documented bug in Win9x.  Take a look at the following Microsoft knowledge-base articles for a description of the problem and some possible solutions.
Q137361
Q148925
It is also possible to reproduce this error by neglecting to login with your correct Windows username and password, if you have this feature enabled.  If this is the case, make sure that you either type in your correct Windows username and password when you start the computer (rather than clicking on Cancel or typing in a bogus password), or disable the Windows login altogether.

E-Mail:

Q:  When I check my mail, I can't seem to get past message 5 (or 6, 7, 8, etc.).  It tells me that "the POP3 server has timed out."  It also seems like I'm downloading the same 5 (or 6, 7, 8, etc.) messages over and over again.  How can I stop this?

A:  What causes this is usually one of two things.  You could have an extremely large e-mail attachment on our server, or one of your incoming e-mail messages may have just gone corrupt in transit.  The effect of either of the above can be a stuck mailbox.  If you reside in an area with substandard phone lines, the speed of you Internet connection can fluctuate, sometimes dramatically.  When you attempt to download either a very large e-mail message or a corrupted e-mail message, your connection may slow to the point that our mail server thinks that the line is dead, and it will then stop sending information.  If you ever experience this problem, pretty much the only way you can deal with it is to call us (249-6266), and we'll remove the offending message from your mailbox.

But as of 3/1/01 there may be another way to solve this problem.  If you find that you have a stuck e-mail in your box as described above, you can still call us to have us remove the message, but you can also fix the problem yourself.  Simply surf to http://webmail.gwe.net/scripts and login to the GWE WebMail server to check your e-mail right over the web.  If you still can't download the problem message from here, at least you can delete it off the mail server so it will stop blocking your box.

Q:  When I try to check my mail, I get an error message saying that my POP or SMTP server is not responding or has timed out.  It also says that my POP or SMTP server is called "127.0.0.1"  I thought my server was supposed to be "gwe.net"  What's up with this?

A:  This problem could/should also be listed in the Anti-Virus section because this is almost always what causes you to see the above error messages.  So far as I know, this problem only occurs when some version of Norton Anti-Virus is installed or updated on your computer.  Quite a while ago (several years, I believe), Norton changed something in their setup that, for whatever reason, likes to change your incoming mail server to "127.0.0.1," which is computer-lingo for your own machine.  So, after Norton is installed/updated, it starts trying to check for your incoming mail on your own computer, rather than the GWE mail server, which is where it should be checking.  Of course I'd like to get even at Norton for making us do their work, so I should tell you to contact Norton technical support to fix this problem since, after all, their software caused it in the first place.  But I'm not quite that anti-social, so here's the fix: In Outlook Express, go to your Tools/Accounts.  Make sure that you're on the Mail tab on the next screen, then choose your GWE mail account by clicking on it, and then click on the Properties button to the right.  From here, you need to click on the Servers tab at the top of the screen.  Now, near the top of this screen you will see two text boxes in which you can type.  These two boxes are called "Incoming mail (POP3)" and "Outgoing mail (SMTP)."  In the incoming mail box, you probably see "127.0.0.1," and this is where the problem begins.  Change the "127.0.0.1" to read "gwe.net" and you should be cured, but there's one more thing to check on before we're done.  Look about half-way down on the same screen and find the "Account Name" field.  For an account name, you should see only your username here at GWE--if it has a slash (e.g., "/") after it and some more text, then you must delete the slash and everything that comes after it, leaving only your username.  For example, if you were to see "jsmith/gwe.net" in the account name field, you would have to delete the "/gwe.net" and leave the "jsmith" alone.  After you make the changes, be sure to click on Apply and then OK at the bottom of the screen.  Then close down Outlook Express and re-open it to check your mail.  Everything should be fine at this point.  Click HERE to see what Norton has to say on the subject (it's not much).

FTP:

Q:  I'm having trouble using my FTP program to upload my homepage to your servers.  What's wrong?

A:  FTP programs are usually fairly simple to use (we recommend CuteFTP).  Take a look at the instructions on our "How do I . . ." page (you'll be most interested in numbers 6 and 7) and be sure to look at the screenshots of CuteFTP in operation.  You should also be sure that we have created a "virtual directory" for you on our servers.  Without one of these, you will have trouble logging on.  For a bit more information about FTP, visit this page.

Internet Explorer:

Q:  When I open Internet Explorer, it immediately says, "Internet Explorer cannot find the Internet site . . ." and I can't even hear my modem dialing like it usually does.  How can I fix this?

A:  Occasionally, Internet Explorer will "forget" to dial your modem before it attempts to load a web page.  There are two ways to fix this.  The first, and easiest, is to open your Internet Explorer, go to Tools/Internet Options, and then click the Connections tab.  About half-way down this screen, you will see a section with three options, the first of which is "Never dial a connection."  You want to make sure that the third option that says "Always dial my default connection" is checked.  If this doesn't do the trick, or if you already had the correct option checked, then there is another way to work around the situation.  This fix will add one more step to dialing into the Internet, but it usually never fails.  You will need to create a shortcut to your dial-up networking connection and then use this when you want to go on-line instead of using the Internet Explorer directly.  Go to your Dial-Up Networking folder, right click on your connection to us (it's usually called "GWE" but it might appear as "Internet Signup," "My Connection," or "Connection to . . .") and then choose "Create Shortcut."  This will place a new icon on your desktop called "Shortcut to GWE."  If you double-click on this, fill in your user name and your password, then click "Connect," you will be connected to the Internet, but Internet Explorer (or Netscape, etc.) will not automatically open.  You will now have to open the Internet Explorer manually after connecting through the shortcut, but other than this, everything should remain the same.

Q:  I can get connected and everything (and I can hear my modem dialing out), but when Internet Explorer opens, it tells me that it "Cannot locate the website" or some such nonsense.  What does this mean?

A:  Your homepage may be temporarily down, your homepage may have changed locations, or you may have the URL (i.e., address) for your homepage typed in incorrectly.  Try typing the address into the URL box at the top of your browser.  If the site can be found in this manner, then you should check to make sure that you have the correct address typed into the homepage location in your browser's settings.  To find this in Internet Explorer, go to View/Internet Options (in IE 4.x) or to Tools/Internet Options (in IE 5.x).  If none of this works for you, and if you find that you can go everywhere except your homepage, then chances are that your homepage is experiencing some trouble.  Give it some time, and these things usually get sorted out in short order.

Q:  I'm getting disconnected from the Internet on a regular basis (e.g., every 20 minutes, 60 minutes, etc.).  What can I do to stop this?

A:  If you're using Internet Explorer, there is a setting you will want to check that can cause this problem.  With Internet Explorer open, go to View/Internet Options (this is Tools/Internet Options in IE 5.x), then to the Connection tab and click on the "Settings" button.  At the bottom of this screen, there will be a check-box labeled "Disconnect if idle for ___ minutes."  Un-check this box and click on "OK."  Hopefully, this will solve the problem, but there is also a section of your modem's properties that can cause the same problem, so you should probably take a look at this as well.  Go to your Control Panel, then to Modems.  From here, click on the name of your modem in the box, then click on the "Properties" button below.  Next, go to the "Connection" tab and look near the bottom for the check-box labeled "Disconnect a call if idle for more than ___ minutes."  Un-check this box, then click "OK."  There is also a setting in your dial-up networking folder that can cause random disconnections.  Inside of Dial-Up Networking, find your connection to us (e.g., "GWE" or "Connection to 2405440" or "My Connection" etc.), right-click your mouse on it and then choose "Properties."  Next, you need to find the "Server Types" section of the page, which is a button in early versions of Windows 95, and a tab in later versions.  On the "Server Types" screen, under "Advanced Options," make sure that "Log on to network" is not checked.  Then keep clicking on "OK" until you exit the Dial-Up Networking screens.

Q:  Sometimes when I get on the Internet and try to surf to [enter your favorite web site here], I get an error message saying something about "DNS Records" and my web site is not displayed.  What does this mean?

A:  The Internet can be a volatile and unpredictable place at times.  Getting to your favorite web sites is usually a fairly simple experience, but when you look behind the scenes, there's actually a lot going on.  When you tell your computer that you want to go to such-and-such web site, it will ask for directions, so to speak, and then send you on your way.  The way to your destination, however, can sometimes be a bumpy road.  Your request must be routed through many pieces of hardware (often called "servers" or "routers") before it gets to where it needs to be.  The "chain of command," so to speak, that is followed in these cases is usually pretty well established, so if one of the servers between you and your destination is out of commission, then you probably won't be able to access your web site of choice until some repairs are made.  One very handy way to find out where your connection may be failing is called a "trace route."  In Windows 95/98/NT/2000, you can do a trace route by dropping to a DOS prompt and typing, "tracert www.insert_domain_name_here.com/net/org"  So for example, to do a trace route on Yahoo, you would type "tracert www.yahoo.com" and hit enter on your keyboard.  Likewise, a trace route on Ebay, the on-line auction site, would be performed by typing "tracert www.ebay.com" and then hitting enter.  A trace route will show you through how many different servers your request is being routed, and if there is a problem, you can see exactly where it occurs (i.e., what server failed to perform its function).  For reference, here is what a basic trace route to www.yahoo.com looks like:

The first entry on this table is us (GWE).  Everything that comes after the first entry (i.e., GWERouter.gwe.net) is just another pit stop on the road that leads to Yahoo!  If, for example, you were having trouble bringing up Yahoo, and you did a trace route, you would be able to see at exactly what server the break in the chain occurred.  If your trace route did not go beyond the first entry (i.e., us), then you would know that something was wrong here at GWE.  If your trace route did not go beyond the 5th entry, for example, you would know that the trouble was with the next link in the chain, or "sl-bb22-nyc-15-0-2480M.sprintlink.net"  Even if there is a break in the chain on the way to your destination, you can usually still get there by using the IP address of your chosen site.  Yahoo's IP address is the very last entry in the list, so in this case, if there was a problem getting to Yahoo through the regular channels, you could type "216.115.108.245" into your browser's address bar, and you would probably make it there unscathed.  However, if this seems like something you would want to do, you will have to make a note of your site's IP address before things go bad.  Otherwise, your trace route won't be able to tell you the IP address of your destination because, obviously enough, the trace can't get to the destination in the first place.

Modems:

Q:  I get a message saying something like, "The computer is not receiving a response from the modem . . ." and my modem has always worked fine in the past.  What does this mean?

A:  Most likely, this means that your computer has simply "forgotten" how to wake up your modem from a period of inactivity.  This may be a familiar one to you if your computer has a power saving feature that will power down devices after they aren't used for a certain amount of time.  Often, when a computer powers devices back on, some are missed, or are initialized incorrectly.  Cardinal rule #1 usually takes care of this.  Reboot the computer and try to connect again.  Alternately, there may actually be a hardware problem with your modem.  Try performing a diagnostic (go to Control Panel, then Modems, then the Diagnostic tab, choose whatever com port your modem is installed on, then click on the More Info button).  If the modem spits back some information at you (such as IRQ numbers and so forth), then that means that your modem and computer are communicating properly--you might want to reboot the machine in this case and try to connect again.  If you receive an error message when you perform the diagnostic (like "port already open"), then there is some sort of conflict between your modem and another device in your computer, you have the modem installed on the incorrect com port, or the modem is physically damaged--your best bet at a resolution is probably a professional repair person.

Q:  I'm being told that, "There is no dialtone . . ." or some such nonsense.  How can this be?

A:  The most simple explanation is that the phone cord that plugs into your modem is loose or improperly installed.  First, make sure that the phone cord plugs into the jack that says "Line" or "Telecom" and not the one that is labeled "Phone."  If the jacks on your modem aren't labeled, try switching the cord around to see which jack works.  If you still can't resolve the problem, try plugging a regular phone into the jack with which you're working, pick up the receiver, and see if you get a dialtone.  If you do, then that narrows the problem down to your modem rather than your phone lines.  In this case, try the modem diagnostic program included with Windows 95/98 to see if your modem is responding to the computer (go to Control Panel, then Modems, then the Diagnostic tab, choose whatever com port your modem is installed on, then click on the More Info button).  If Windows spits back some information to you (like IRQ numbers and so forth), then your computer is communicating with your modem just fine, and you should probably double-check the phone lines.  If, however, you get some sort of error message, then your modem is either installed improperly, there is a conflict between your modem and another device, or your modem is fried.  In all three of these cases, you probably need to consult a professional computer technician to resolve the problem.  You might also check to see if you need to dial a special prefix to access an outside line (this is commonly done in hotels, universities, office buildings, etc.).  If you do need to dial a prefix, you can tell Windows to do this in the Dial Properties section of your Internet connection, which is located in the dial-up networking folder.

Q:  Windows tells me that, "The computer you are dialing is not answering . . ."  What's up with this?

A:  First, check to make sure that you are dialing in to the correct phone number.  Our dial-in number here is 2405440 or 2495107.  If you're dialing anything else, you're probably getting someone's private line.  The problem may also lie in your dial-up networking settings.  To check that these are correct, follow this link for some instructions, and be sure to look at the screenshots.  The problem could also be our fault (i.e., our servers could be temporarily down), but bear in mind that over our five years of operation as an Internet service provider, we have been up and running over 99% of the time.

Q:  I have a 56k/v.90 modem, and I'm only connecting at 28.8/33.6/etc.  What gives?

A:  This is always a fun one to explain.  What a lot of modem vendors won't tell you is that a true 56k connection to the Internet is impossible.  A more realistic connection speed with a 56k modem would be in the 42k-48k range.  The highest connection speed I have ever seen was 52k.  They also won't tell you that if your signal must pass through more than one digital-to-analog converter (or analog-to-digital converter, for that matter), then your connection speeds probably won't exceed 33.6k.  Generally speaking, the farther away you live from your ISP, the greater the chance that you'll have to go through more than one converter, and consequently, you will have little chance of achieving a 33.6+ connection.  The quality of the phone lines in your area also has an impact on your connection speeds.  So, if you can hear static or "noise" on the phone lines in your area, then you shouldn't expect much more from your modem and computer.

General Windows/Applications/Hardware Problems:

Q:  I get a lot of messages like, "This program has performed an illegal operation . . ." and they stop me from getting on-line.  How can I fix this?

A:  Whenever an illegal program operation occurs, it means that Windows isn't happy with how a particular program is using the system memory or the system resources in general.  Unfortunately, there is no quick fix for this.  Getting things to work correctly again usually means at least re-installing the program that seems to be causing the illegal program operations.  There are times, however, when the only thing that will fix a recurring problem like this is a re-installation of Windows.  There is also a chance that the problem could be hardware related--perhaps some bad memory, or a damaged mother board.  If you can't seem to fix the illegal program operations by re-installing, then it's probably time to talk to a repair professional.

Q:  My printer/scanner/monitor/video card/sound card isn't working right, and/or I can't get the printer/scanner/monitor/video card/sound card software to work properly.  Can you help me out?

A:  I feel for you, I really do.  But the best place to visit for advice on fixing one of the above pieces of hardware/software is the website or technical support line of the product's vendor.  Below, I have included some links to a few of the big names manufacturing computer peripherals/add-ons today.  If you don't find your product's manufacturer listed here, you can always do a web search for them using Alta Vista, Yahoo, or some other search engine.

* If you bought your entire computer system from a manufacturer like Dell, Micron, or Gateway, then you should probably go directly to their webpage.

Q:  I can't get Quake 3/ICQ/my screensaver/Hotmail to work right.  What am I doing wrong?

A:  We honestly don't know.  Really.  There are probably thousands of computer applications/games that run on or through the Internet.  If we were to be responsible for insuring the proper operation of every one of them, we'd need to request government aid to support all of the extra employees that we would need to tell people why their ICQ text is Helvitica Bold instead of Wide Latin.  What GWE provides is "Internet access," and we are here to help you with any problems that might arise relating to your access to the Internet.  That is, if you are experiencing trouble with your actual connection to the Internet, we're happy to help correct the problem--that's what we're here for.  But if the problem is that you simply do not know how a certain Internet-enabled application/game works, then we're not going to be able to help you, because chances are that we will know nothing more about it than you do.  Your best bet is to break out the documentation that undoubtedly came with your product and start reading.  And if all else fails, the vast majority of computer products/programs are supported by their own brand of technical assistance/troubleshooting for just these occasions.  Don't get me wrong...if you have questions regarding how one of your applications/games should theoretically interact with the Internet, we can provide you with some pointers.  But if you're looking for answers as to why your screensaver won't come on when it's supposed to come on, then you should probably not start your search with your ISP.

Q:  Whenever I try to get on-line, I get this MSN/AT&T/AOL/etc. screen that pops up and asks me if I want to sign up with their service.  This is totally annoying.  How can I stop this?

A:  I agree, this is annoying.  To remove the offending "sign-up" programs, go to your Control Panel, then to Add/Remove Programs.  From here, you need to find the names of the programs you want to remove (e.g., "MSN" or "AT&T" or whatever), then click on the name once and go to the add/remove button.  You may be asked if you're sure you want to remove the program--if so, say yes.  After a reboot, your computer should function normally, without all the "sign-up" interference.  NOTE: When you choose to remove a program from your computer, be absolutely certain that you are removing the correct program.  If you don't know what it is, then it's a good bet that you don't want to delete it.

Q:  When I turn my computer on, I always get a screen asking me for my username and password for Windows.  Must I type this in every time I start the computer?

A:  This really isn't an Internet-related question, but we get asked it so often that we thought adding the answer here couldn't hurt.  Some people mistakenly think that when Windows first starts and asks them for a username and a password, they should type in their Internet name and password.  What is really happening here is that Windows can accommodate multiple users on the same computer, and it's only asking for your Windows username and password so that it will know exactly which user you are.  For example, if three people used the same computer, they could each have a separate username and password so that when they logged on, Windows would know who they were and could react accordingly (with different desktop configurations, etc.).  So, as you can see, your Windows username and password has absolutely nothing to do with your Internet username and password.  But, I understand that seeing the Windows login screen when you don't want to see it can be annoying, so here's what you can do to remove it.  The removal process involves deleting some fairly important files from your computer, so proceed at your own risk; if you break something during all of this, we will most likely not be able to help you put things back together.  That said, your first step will be to find yourself a good search engine.  We recommend Google.  Do a search for "remove windows logon" or "windows logon+remove" and browse through the results until you find one describing your problem.  You should find many pages that describe the process of removing the Windows logon screen, so choose one and follow the instructions you find.

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