Strange Internet explorer

[fatboy]

I have recently installed win98 on my new PC. I have set up the internet and can connect perfectly usin cable and wireless (a respectable ISP), I am using my old cable and wireless account which has worked fine for a long time. However, after I have connected to the internet open Internet Explorer 4.x (I'm not quite sure of the actual version) I get a message saying that that it could not connect to the server (any server, I think it means the one of the website). It seems to think that I could be offline, but I am not. I am unable to go to any websites nor am I able to download my emails using outlook. the settings for my account seem fine in dial up connection. I feel that the problem could have arised after I installed Direct cable connection and specified my own TCP/IP settings.

Does anybody have a solution to this?

I would appreciate any response.

Thanks

[jad1097]

Not sure if this will help but.
Is you NIC set up correctly in Network Neigborhood?Try to run the Internet connection wizard and set it up for lan settings if you have not.

[Axel]

You might try doing a thorough scandisk & defrag, then going to www.microsoft.com/ie (http://www.microsoft.com/ie) going into the download area and selecting IE 4.01 SP2 - and doing the install of that. The download for the full version with SP2 is about an hour, so have a good VHS movie handy to pass the time.

That might do it if nothing is wrong with your TCP/IP settings.

Another thing to check with is, does your cable ISP have weird access ports set up for their access? They should have a support line with personnel capable of walking you through any TCP/IP issue - especially if they have a non-standard set-up

Another thing that comes to mind is the NIC driver - do you have the latest and does your OEM require special NIC drivers ( I know HP does - drives me nuts )

[Dave_H]

Do you have this computer networked with another?
I'm not sure about your ISP, but "direct cable connection" should't be neccesary for cable internet. (at least on mine)
Also, you mentioned the settings for dial-up networking. I have a dial-up account also, but I changed the setting to "never dial a connection" under tools/internet options/connections so that I don't get the dial-up connection box when I start IE.

Note- some cable internet services require a modem and cable to work.
Sorry if I misunderstood your post
Dave