Okay, so this was my first build, and my internet has a very low signal. Lower than my laptop had. But my laptop connectiion was awful and constantly on and off.
And another thing, my Western Digital external hard drive freezes my computer once I plug it in..

No idea what's going on. Pretty frustrated though. haha

any help would be greatly appreciated

Me either!

What type of internet are you using? Wired or wireless? What are you comparing it to when you speak of the laptop - wireless?

As far as the external hard drive goes, what happens when you plug it into another computer? Does it work ok then?

ALRIGHTY I got the harddrive to work. Just updated to service pack 2 :D:D:D
It seems the USB stuff on SP1 couldn't recognize large drives.

And the internet problem-I was using a Edimax wireless card, but now I'm trying to hardwire it and just use an ethernet cable, but it's a good 100 or so feet. So now I've led it up to my room from the router downstairs, and after doing all that, I still don't get any signal.

So, I have 3 questions now:
Do you know how I can get a better connection with my edimax wireless?
Do you know what in the world is going on with my ethernet?
and lastly, a yes or no question, can you run 2 DSL modems in one house from different phone jacks.


okay 4 questions, but this one is unrelated. My laptop doesn't have usernames or a shutdown button. I dunno what to do. Know anything? I'm using BootSkin if that makes a difference.

Well, if you are 100 feet from the wireless router, and perhaps even on a different floor, you are asking for alot! That is considered a great distance for the average wireless system. But it also depends upon how your home is built. If there is a lot of metal between you and the router, then that is a problem. Heat ducts, plumbing, insulation with aluminum foil backing, ALL of these things along with the distance can cuase issues with the signal. Perhaps a signal repeater would help. You place this repeater approx. half way between the router and your computer and you will probably get a stronger signal.

As far as the ethernet goes, and considering this is a new build, have you checked in the Device Manager yet?

Start > right click on My Computer > Manage > Device Manager

Do you see any yellow or red question marks or Exclamation points? If so, it is probably because drivers need to be installed.

Do you see Network Adapters? Open this heading and double click on your network adaptor. What is it's status? Does Windows report that this device is working properly?

When you plug the Ethernet cable into the back of your computer do you see a light come on? There are little lights right next to where you plug the cable in on your computer. One should be green and one should be amber. Do one of these lights come on? Which one?

Also, have you tried moving your new computer NEXT to the router and trying? Or using a different cable?

As far as using BootSkin, if this was a free skin downloaded off of the internet then I would put some effort into looking for malicious software on your computer.

Well, the wireless is not 100 feet, the ethernet cable is, cause we can't make a very direct route.

Everything claims to be working properly, both network adapter and wireless, but I checked the back and there are no lights.

I'm really considering getting a 2nd modem, cause I have a phone jack in the my room.

But as for bootskins, it is free, but I've checked for junk in it before, and nothing. But my problem is I can't even log on too check it. haha

Then either you have no internet coming through the cable, or the cable is damaged or defective, or there is something wrong with your ethernet connection on your computer. Because when you plug in a working ethernet cable into a working computer one of the lights will come on.