The page cannot be displayed ... WinXP Home/IE 6

[gpfromnc]

I have been trying unsuccessfully to solve a problem for several weeks. I encounter “The page cannot be displayed … Cannot find server or DNS Error Internet Explorer “ during nearly every session in which I access the internet. I connect using a USR Sportster 005686-03 modem. I usually connect between 45 and 49 Kbps and the connection is rarely dropped. After booting and connecting to my ISP I am always able to access web sites but after several minutes of accessing various sites without difficulty, the “The page cannot be displayed … “ error will occur and I am then unable to continue until I reboot and reconnect. Simply breaking the connection to the ISP and reconnecting doesn’t have any corrective effect. Occurrence seems to be tied more to the number of web addresses accessed than to the amount of time spent on-line. I use IE 6 - version 6.0.2900.2180.xpsp_xp2_gdr.050301-1519. OS is WIN XP Home SP2. I’ve reformatted and reinstalled the OS and applications. All patches are current. Drivers are WinXP native except motherboad and video drivers. I’ve tried running “netsh winsock reset” from the command line. I regularly run “cleanmgr /sagerun:50” from the command line. I’ve tried deleting temporary internet files during sessions. Also I’ve limited the cache size for temporary internet files to 50 Mb and set it to dump automatically. I run Spybot S&D daily to try to make sure “stuff phoning home” isn’t the problem. I have not loaded antivirus or firewall software on this installation (I thought they might be part of the problem, but there doesn’t seem to be any difference between my system set up with or without them.) Nothing I’ve done seems to help. I’m thinking there must be a systematic way to approach solving this. Any thoughts on how to approach fixing this are appreciated.

Hardware: Mainboard: Giga-byte RZ series 7VT600P-RZ;VIA KT600 chipset; Award Modular Bios v6.00PG; 7VT600-P-RZ
Memory: 512 MB Kingston ValURam (Memory is 2 sticks of 256 each (matched)) 2.6v
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2700+ (2.17 Ghz)
Video Display Adapter: (Powergene) GeForce Nvidia GeForce 2 MxMx 400 32 MB RAM
Hard Drive: On IDE1 as Master: Seagate ST3120026A Barrracuda Hard Drive. 120GB 8MB ATA100 7200 RPM
On IDE1 as Slave: Western Digital Caviar Enhanced IDE drive; Drive parameters LBA 39102336 20.0 GB
On IDE2 as Master: Philips CRDW 2400 Series CDRW
On IDE2 as Slave: Iomega Zip 100 drive
Power Supply: ANTEC Model No: PP-403X 400W ATX
Additional Peripheral Hardware: Western Digital Essential USB 2.0 80 GB external hard drive Model Number: WD800B014

 

[Peddant]

This is not a direct solution to your problem, but should be used instead of IE in the future. http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/

 

[ender]

I've had the same problem with a LAN board that had improper drivers. Updating them solved the problem like a charm. So before you do anything else make sure you install the latest drivers for your modem.

You should take Peddant's advice even if you do solve your problem some other way.

@Peddant : In my case the problem was related simply to the number of connections made. It didn't matter if they were made by Firefox or by some other program.

 

[gpfromnc]

Thanks for the information. I did download Mozilla (and also Opera). Both are great browsers, but neither solved the problem. Here's what did: I decreased the amount of disk space for temporary Internet Files to 1 Mb. In addition to using Spybot S&D, I also dowloaded and ran AdAware. As an aside, I was really surprised that Spybot found tracking cookies AFTER I had run AdAware even though I had not been online between running the two. So basically, the problem was tracking cookies set by spyware. And cleaning the system and then limiting the amount of space available before automatic dump seems to be the answer.

 

[IronDuke]

Install anti-virus

I seriously think about installing some anti-virus. Try AVG Free.

 

[gpfromnc]

Thanks. I do run AVG Free. My system is dual boot. C: is Win98SE and E: is WINXP Home. I run AVG from the C: partition and and scan as part of my daily maintenance routine (along with backups, spybot and most recently AdAware.) I know that I lose some of the functionality of AVG by doing it this way (no boot sector check, etc.,) but have decided that since I do use it, and am careful about what I open and download, that I minimize the risk. As an aside, I've used AVG for several years and am happy with the results, but I do think that adding anything to your tray slow things down. So for now at least, this seems reasonable. If I could get a fast access connection in my location, I'd probably not notice the lag in speed, but with my dial up, every little bit helps.