A couple of days ago, when I tried to access the internet through my dial-up connection, my HP desktop computer failed to do so and said "No dial tone." I have tried (and restarted) numerous times since then, and it still says "No dial tone" no matter how many times I try.

Important things to consider:
1. I have not changed any settings of any sort
2. The phone line is correctly connected into the computer and phone jack
3. My laptop will connect to the internet using the exact same cord that's plugged into my desktop computer when trying to connect on it
4. There is in fact a dial-tone on the phone
5. I'm running Internet Explorer 6.0 on Windows XP

If anyone has any idea what the problem could be (I've considered that the modem could have gone bad, but I'm not sure), I would greatly appreciate any suggestions! I'll probably end up having to take it to the computer repair people, but just thought I'd get some opinions on here as to what the problem could be before spending my hard earned money! Thanks!

I think the first step would be to reinstall the Modem driver file.

In Windows XP this can often be done by first removing the old driver file, then restarting the computer. The system will usually "see" the modem hardware installation and automatically reinstall the driver file. This often fixes this type of problem.

It is a good ideal to identify the old modem before removing the driver file and finding and downloading a new driver file just ins case Windows XP doesn't recognize the modem. Do this in the System Properties window. Use your laptop to download the driver and save it to a removable disk.

You can identify the modem and uninstall the old modem driver file in the Control Panel --> System Properties --> Hardware --> Device Manager. See this picture

Click the + sign to the left of the modem entry and then right click on the modem and choose "uninstall". OK the dialog box, then restart the computer.

If after restart the system shows a dialog box looking the driver file, you can put in your disk with the downloaded driver file. But in most cases the modem will have been reinstalled, so give it a try first. You will likely need to reset your dial-up settings.
Dwight

quote:

Originally posted by Sarah51:
A couple of days ago, when I tried to access the internet through my dial-up connection, my HP desktop computer failed to do so and said "No dial tone." I have tried (and restarted) numerous times since then, and it still says "No dial tone" no matter how many times I try.

Important things to consider:
1. I have not changed any settings of any sort
2. The phone line is correctly connected into the computer and phone jack
3. My laptop will connect to the internet using the exact same cord that's plugged into my desktop computer when trying to connect on it
4. There is in fact a dial-tone on the phone
5. I'm running Internet Explorer 6.0 on Windows XP

If anyone has any idea what the problem could be (I've considered that the modem could have gone bad, but I'm not sure), I would greatly appreciate any suggestions! I'll probably end up having to take it to the computer repair people, but just thought I'd get some opinions on here as to what the problem could be before spending my hard earned money! Thanks!

Sarah, do you have "call forwarding or call waiting" on. That will kill you dial-up connection even if you have a dial tone.

Just a thought. I have found the same problem on a computer I was checking for someone.
Ken Hess

Edited to separate reply from quote.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Karrow,