For the past couple of weeks I have no connection to the internet upon initial startup. I must restart and then everything is fine.
I have WinXP-Home and use Microsoft Wireless connection. Have I somehow changed a setting somewhere?
Any help would be appreciated.
Honey
I’ll admit that, even as a network administrator, I’m half-stumped (or more); I’ll also confess that, working in a secure environment, wireless is a no-no for us so my experience with it is relatively limited. My guess is that the wireless router isn’t recognizing the PC quickly enough to lock in a reservation. Basically, I’d suspect that as your OS initializes the router doesn’t have time to recognize the MAC and reserve an IP address for it. When you reboot, the NIC remains juiced and the router finally gives it an address. I’d also add that WinXP Home is a bit inferior to Pro from a variety of networking standpoints, but that’s probably not an issue here.
Do you have Service Pack 2 installed? How long do you wait before rebooting? What is your wireless router connected to? Does your wireless adapter on either end show happy blinking lights indicating that they see one another?
Kinda related to what cheezmonger said: The router and computer wouldn’t happen to be connected to the same power strip, would it? Meaning, does the router stay on even when your computer is turned off, or do they both come on at the same time when you want to use your computer?
SP2 is installed. I usually reboot right away. And the lights are blinking.
The router and computer are plugged in separately. The router stays on while the computer is off. The other computer in the office doesn’t have the same problem and it’s also plugged in separately. I’m stumped.
Thanks for trying to help. It’s very much appreciated. 