# internet connection? :P **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 29, 2000, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-connection-p/27313 "2000-07-29T04:28:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SnowKat31](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@SnowKat31](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnowKat31)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2000, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-connection-p/27313/1 "2000-07-29T04:28:01Z")
Hey all šŸ™‚ I have a major question. Iā€™ve had this computer since about January. Its a Compaq 7360, and I use Compuserve for my internet. Internet Explorer hasnā€™t ever really workedā€¦I just get messages that say ā€œThis page cannot be displayed.ā€ Iā€™ve also noticed that my computer wonā€™t let me sign on to AIM, Yahoo messenger, or PhoneFree. I donā€™t know if this has to do with the fact that IE is my chosen web browser, when it doesnā€™t workā€¦there arenā€™t any other choices for browsers. Iā€™ve tried messing with the settings to see if anything helps, but nothing has fixed the problem šŸ˜› Whenever I try to sign on to AIM, Yahoo, or PhoneFree, they just tell me that basically, there was an error in reaching the server and that I need to check my internet connectionā€¦even though Iā€™m always online when I try this. Any ideas? Iā€™d really appreciate it if someone could help me with this! Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2000, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-connection-p/27313/2 "2000-07-29T04:41:36Z")
You should get in touch with the folks you bought your computer from. Sounds to me that nothing is working when you are online, is that so? You could always d-load a new browser - such as Netscape Navigator - but I think your problems run a lot deeper than that. * * * Yer pal, Satan _I HAVE BEEN SMOKE-FREE FOR: Three months, two weeks, six days, 2 hours, 41 minutes and 10 seconds. 4444 cigarettes not smoked, saving $555.56. Life saved: 2 weeks, 1 day, 10 hours, 20 minutes._ Visit [The Fabulous Forums of Fathom](http://fff.fathom.org/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi?) ---
**Author:** ![SnowKat31](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@SnowKat31](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnowKat31)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2000, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-connection-p/27313/3 "2000-07-29T04:44:31Z")
Satan, No, stuff works fine with the Compuserve browser, but that isnā€™t an option as far as making it my first choice of browser that other programs will use. you know? compuserve works fine and stuff, but any of those things that have to hook on to my modem or something using an internet connection donā€™t find compuserve and then they donā€™t work since IE doesnā€™t work. Any other ideas? šŸ˜› ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2000, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-connection-p/27313/4 "2000-07-29T06:19:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SnowKat31 \* > \*\* Any other ideas? šŸ˜› \*\* Yes, get a real ISP. Compuserve (which is now owned by AOL) and AOL are notorious for refusing to work with anything. ---
**Author:** ![Asmodeus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@Asmodeus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asmodeus)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2000, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-connection-p/27313/5 "2000-07-29T11:34:35Z")
friedoā€¦ I use AOL and I have it allā€¦AIMā€¦MSN Messangerā€¦ICQā€¦Powwowā€¦Netmeeting. And they all work fine for me. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2000, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-connection-p/27313/6 "2000-07-29T16:51:49Z")
Your dialup settings are probably corrupt. Try some free stuff like [juno.com](http://juno.com) software & see if that works. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2000, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-connection-p/27313/7 "2000-07-29T21:08:30Z")
I would dump Compuserve PDQ. ---
**Author:** ![SnowKat31](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@SnowKat31](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnowKat31)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2000, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-connection-p/27313/8 "2000-07-29T23:18:09Z")
Youā€™re all telling me to dump Compuserveā€¦problem is that I canā€™t. The only way I was able to get a new computer was to ditch AOL and sign up with Compuserve. Otherwise I couldnā€™t afford a computer (and my old computer was waaaaaay slowā€¦8 mb of RAM) Ughā€¦I really wish I could figure out how to fix this. It is very frustrating šŸ˜› ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-connection-p/27313/9 "2000-07-30T02:55:04Z")
You canā€™t make a new connection in dial up networking for one of the free ISPs? ---
**Author:** ![SnowKat31](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@SnowKat31](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnowKat31)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-connection-p/27313/10 "2000-07-30T04:09:51Z")
okay, i could try one of the free ones. what about netzero? does anybody know anything about that? i have it, supposedly. just havenā€™t signed up for it. \ donā€™t know if itā€™d solve the problem though. ---
**Author:** ![Louie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@Louie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Louie)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-connection-p/27313/11 "2000-07-30T06:16:07Z")
The file WINSOCK.DLL is either gone or not working. WINSOCK is an important file for online programs, and it sounds like Compuserve messed up WINSOCK. Check if you have a folder named C:\WINDOWS\SYSBCKUP. If you do, see if WINSOCK.DLL is in that folder and replace it with the WINSOCK.DLL file in the C:\WINDOWS folder. If not, email me and Iā€™ll send the file to you.