BleepingComputer.com: Xp Home And Firewall Issue

Working on a neighbors 2.6 GB HP with XP Home. Problem encountered after other repairs were made is that it takes 3.5 to 5 minutes for the system to connect to his dial up ISP. After that, no problem and the PC works just fine but for some reason at start up (once you sign off and try to go back on) it takes this forever long connection time. In going over the system, the start up menu, the virus protection (AVG 7.5) and other potential problem areas I found that if I shut off the Firewall (Win XP) it fires up just fine with no hesitation at all. Reconnect the Firewall and we're back to the slow connection time to the ISP again. I have connected, disconnected programs, startup programs and etc. without any luck in finding the problem, other than the Firewall. He has a second PC, same unit as this one, speed and etc. with no problems, neither did this one until about 5 weeks ago when we encountered an issue caused by an adware removal program. At that time I was using the PC hooked up to my DSL and it functioned great for me but when he took it back home this issue with the long wait for the ISP connection developed. I have gone through and deleted everything reference the DSL/Lan system set up, I had it working on but still no luck. Even when we were having the other issue it still logged on real well just disconnected itself at will real well too :-). There is also no quick way to get out of the dial in process if you want to discontinue the dial up attempt. That is without many delays and hang ups. Even the ALT, CTRL - DEL usage does not work. Would anyone have any suggestions they would sure be appreciated. Thx.

Moderator Edit: Moved topic to more appropriate forum. ~ Animal

This post has been edited by Animal: 12 March 2007 - 05:11 PM

Use a different Firewall application. The change may well correct the problem, and you will have a better firewall in addition.
There are several good free firewalls available:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic3616.html
Regards,
John

jgweed, on Mar 12 2007, 08:18 PM, said:

I concur with John. Try Zone Alarm Free Edition. Its available from Download.com

The problem has been fixed. What it entailed was not the Windows XP Firewall at all, even though disconnecting the Firewall permitted the PC to function correctly. The following was the the solution I used, so others that may run into this problem may try it and see if it helps them.

1) Got to "Start" - "Control Panel
2) Clk on "Network & Internet Connections"
3) Clk on "Network Connections"
4) Right clk on the icon for your Ethernet Card that is connected to your DSL modem - Select "Properties"
5) Clk on "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) - Clk "Properties"
6) In the "General" tab check off "Use the following IP address"
7) Enter an internal IP address 192.168.xxx.xxx (replace the x's with a number of your choice)
8) Enter a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 (mine automaticly entered this # once I started the entry)
9) Clk "OK"
10) Clk "OK"

How and why this worked I have no idea. This was a solution I found posted in two different sites on the Internet and there was no reason given for why it worked eather. I do know that I had that machine hooked up to DSL while working on the orginal problem. Then when I got the first issue taken care of and the owner took it back home we disconnected and removed the DSL/Lan connection and I put him back on his Dial Up Connection. That is when the problem showed its ugly head.

Anyway it worked for me and it was one of the last proposed suggested corrections I had considered. I am posting this so others that may run into this issue in the future may see if it works for them.

Thanks for the responses Jesse Bassett, jgweed and this site for exsisting .