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General discussion

Internet connection/laptop USB problem?

by jlauren35 Jul 18, 2007 8:39AM PDT

Hi, I'm not sure if this is the CORRECT forum exactly, but it was the one that matched the best with my friends problem.

K, she can't post on here (Obv if her internet is not working) so I'm doing this for her. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

She sent this to me from her black berry...

"We just had a pretty big thunderstorm here and when I came home, I noticed the power/cable/internet didn't go out. Whew. BUT I noticed the PC light on my cable box wasn't on. I unplugged the power cord, the USB cord, and reset it a bunch of times. Nothing. I thought maybe it was the cord itself, so I found another USB cable, and tried it again with that. It's not the cord.

So, I'm stuck. Now I'm thinking it's the outlet that got fried in my laptop. What do you guys think, and what would you suggest I do?

Thanks!"

P.S. She has a Gateway laptop and it runs on XP.
Also, it's an ethernet cord...which goes into her USB port

Discussion is locked

2 Posts

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'I noticed the power/cable/internet didn't go out.'

by Grif Thomas Former Forum moderator Jul 18, 2007 9:04AM PDT

How does she know? The lightning broke something... She'll need to troubleshoot what that is.. It could have fried the cable box/modem first and if the laptop wasn't plugged in, it may have left the laptop alone.. If the laptop was plugged in, both could be fried...

If you've got an extra laptop, plug it in and see if it works.. If it does, then the other laptop has something bad.. like maybe the NIC.. If she's got a neighbor with a good internet connection, try plugging her current laptop into the neighbor's connection.. If it works, then the cable box/modem could be toast..

Work one thing at a time, including replacement of cables.. One item in the chain (or potentially ALL of them) could be effected.

Hope this helps.

Grif

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Lighting what/how?

by nutjob Jul 19, 2007 5:09AM PDT

If your friend lives in newer house (10 years or less) in a major city it would be pretty hard for lighting to cause damage without it also starting a fire or bringing down the whole house electrical. Between breakers and impedence devices it is unlikely to be a lighting issue. To better serve you have her try the equipment in another location and with a different laptop.

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