Numb me, drill me, floss me, bill me

[vovat]

I went to the dentist today, for the first time in a few years. It turns out I'm going to have to go back next Wednesday to get a cavity refilled. Apparently I grind my teeth a lot, and that wore out the filling. I'm glad I don't have any more cavities than that one, though.

I brought my computer back home today, and it's having problems. I'm afraid it was messed up either by hooking it up somewhere else, or by following the ultimately useless instructions the AOL tech support people gave me. It seems like a computer should work no matter how many different places you've hooked it up, but I guess not. Maybe that's one reason why a lot of people like laptops. Anyway, what's happening is that the computer apparently is connected to the Internet, but the programs that use the Internet don't realize this, and they keep crashing. I tried to reinstall the Verizon DSL software from the CD, and the modem connectivity test seemed to succeed, but then the installation program crashed. Does anyone have any idea what might be wrong? My plan is to try to uninstall and then reinstall the Verizon software from scratch, and, if that doesn't work, call up and bitch at Verizon and/or Dell tech support. If all else fails, I can always reformat and reinstall Windows, but that's a hassle I'd prefer to avoid.

Hotmail has been having long delays in sending my e-mail messages. I hope they fix that soon.

Finally, just in case you haven't realized yet that the Bush administration has no shame, I saw a billboard by the Schuylkill Expressway with a picture of the Statue of Liberty, and the words "God bless America and George W. Bush." Needless to say, it sickened me.

Comments

[bethje.livejournal.com]

Maybe it would help to make sure that the AOL software is totally uninstalled, if you haven't already done so.

I wish I'd get your emails in the same day that they are sent.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I already did uninstall AOL, but it doesn't seem like that would affect anything anyway.

I also wish you got my e-mails in the same day I sent them.

[onib.livejournal.com]

So, you can connect to your provider fine, both by dial-up and DSL, but can't get anywhere...

My inclination is to say that you might have a bad value under your internet settings. One of the tech guys might have instructed you to change it or any of the connection programs could have updated it automatically (AOL is notorious for this). If you go to "Control Panel/Internet Options" (or the "Tools/Internet Options..." dropdown from within Internet Explorer), select the Connections tab. I'm not sure which version of Windows you're running, but you should be able to check the LAN settings for your machine as well as individual connection settings. First, make sure it's not trying to put you through a Proxy. Then, check your TCP/IP settings to see if you have a DNS and/or WINS server hard-wired into it. This might be giving problems also. Also, the command "winipcfg" (be sure to click "More Info") should give you your connection information for each outgoing port and allow you to do a "release all" or "renew all" to make your computer re-obtain its setup info.

If you're having a problem finding any of this information, let me know what version of windows you are running, and I'll be able to give you more specific information. Best of luck with it!

...And I haven't even seen that billboard yet, but it already sickens me.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

It probably did have something to do with my settings. Fortunately, I didn't have to mess with them, because I was able to do a System Restore to a point before I'd unhooked the computer. Thanks anyway, though. That's information I'll probably be able to use in the future.

[onib.livejournal.com]

Ah, that's actually pretty smart. I didn't think of that.

I had also thought that maybe reinstalling the Verizon software might have fixed it too. Often, they give you the option of updating your settings for you.