So I reformatted - Internet

[Denholm]

Hello guys,

I took my friend's and Skuzzy's suggestion and had my friend reformat the computer. Afterwards I was rather pleased to begin restoring files when I noticed my Internet download speed would only reach a maximum of 35 Kbps. Typically in the past  I peaked at around 75 - 80 Kbps. I remembered that I had this same issue before when the same friend reformatted the computer. He had changed some IE security settings that resulted in my Internet slowing down some. So last time I reset these security settings to default and that resolved the issue. It was the same again this time, however after resetting the security settings to default my maximum download speed was still 35 Kbps.

So this time I looked into the Components that were installed on my Local Area Connection. I ended up installing, "QoS Packet Scheduler" since I had that same component installed before the reformat. Still, my maximum download speed is 35 Kbps. The odd thing is that when I take the same CAT5 cable plugged into the Ethernet Adapter and plug it into another computer the maximum download rate is around 75 - 80 Kbps. So I know its not the cable's fault. I also know that the same drivers installed on the Ethernet adapter before the reformat are also installed on it now (SiS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter.)

Here is my current DxDiag:
http://603sqdrn.collectivelyspaced.com/DxDiag.txt

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[fuzeman]

Do you have two sound cards in that rig? I know my DxDiag reading skills aren't great but it looks that way to me.

[Estes]

Do you have two sound cards in that rig? I know my DxDiag reading skills aren't great but it looks that way to me.

I'm with fuze here, my DxDiag reading comprehension isn't great. But it looks like its showing two sound cards. Did you install your motherboard chipset drivers? Does your motherboard have integrated sound/ethernet? If so make sure they are disabled, or you could try using the onboard ethernet if its available. I do know that windows does not like two sound devices.

Oh, one more thing. Try disabling Q&S, and also SSDP discovery. You can disable TCI/IP netbios unless you have a machine running Windows 98 on your network.

[Denholm]

Yes. I'm using two sound cards. One for the output, one for the input. I did this because my main sound card (Sound Blaster Audigy) is extremely silent on the input part. My friends on TS can barely hear me when I have the mic volume in TS and in both the system and Sound Blaster configuration all the way up. So I switched my input to the secondary card. I also have onboard sound however it should be disabled (My friend said it was when I picked it up.) This setup worked fine before the reformat.

I am using the onboard Ethernet Card, which is the SiS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter Drivers.

EDIT: Is Q&S and SSDP Discovery services or components on the Local Area Connection?

[Estes]

services. And as I mentioned, windows doesn't like two sound devices. I would also double check the bios to make sure the
onboard sound is in fact disabled. Also, since you are using onboard LAN make sure you go to the motherboards website and
download the latest chipset drivers.

EDIT: My mistake, Q&S is in network connections, SSDP, and TCP/Netbios is in services.

[Denholm]

Q&S is not one of my installed network components. QoS however is. TCP/Netbios is disabled in my services, I know of its security risks, however I do not see an option for SSDP. Perhaps this is because I'm running a Windows 2000?

Now this will seem silly. However I do not know how to access the "bios" so that I can ensure that the onboard sound is disabled. Perhaps some suggestions on how to access this region? As a side-note, I am downloading the "latest" drivers from the ECS website for the LAN adapter. Let's see if that makes a difference.

Thanks for the assistance so far!

[Estes]

It is Qos, my mistake. Yes, it could possibly be that you are running Win2k. I haven't ran win2k in a long time.
As far as the bios goes, usually the default key is to hit the del key right when your computer is started up (before it starts to load the OS)

[Denholm]

Ahhh. I thought you found it in the control panel. I will check that when I restart after installing the new Ethernet Drivers. Thanks for the info.

[Estes]

no problem.

[Denholm]

Thanks a lot for your suggestion Estes. The problem was not the drivers, I never installed them. The problem lied in the settings of the BIOS. The onboard AC97 Sound and Modem was enabled. I disabled both and now I'm averaging 79 Kbps. Thank you very much! 

[Estes]

Thanks a lot for your suggestion Estes. The problem was not the drivers, I never installed them. The problem lied in the settings of the BIOS. The onboard AC97 Sound and Modem was enabled. I disabled both and now I'm averaging 79 Kbps. Thank you very much! 

No problem. Glad you're up and running like you used to. 

[Skuzzy]

Yep, those 'Modem #0' sound devices are killers on performance.