Vista doesn't work for SL?

[LunixShadow]

I have two computers in my house, a  PC and a Laptop.  Both run off the same wireless network.

The PC runs on Vista, the Laptop runs on Windows 7. 

While I can log into SL just fine on the laptop, I get a DNS error every time I try logging into the launcher on my Vista PC. 

Does anyone else have this problem?  Is there a way to fix it?  I've tried all of the troubleshooting methods for DNS errors on my PC with no luck, plus if it really were a DNS error, the laptop wouldn't work either. 

I don't always have access to the laptop, so I'd love to be able to access SL from my PC.  Any help would be appreciated.

 

 

[Rolig Loon]

Wireless is not very reliable for SL.  It may be that you're getting just a little more interference in one spot than in another, so if your router is a little flaky it can't make a decent connection.  Try rebooting it by unplugging it from the power for a few minutes. Unless it's really impossible to do, you might also make a direct cable connection for your PC.

Vista is probably not the issue.  Plenty of people are still using Vista and handling SL.

[LunixShadow]

If this were true, I would have trouble connecting to other programs that use the internet, but that is not the case. It is just SL. Plus if I use my laptop in the same point in my house, it still works. I highly doubt it's a problem with my router.

[Rolig Loon]

No, that's a false conclusion. Just because you can do simple things like e-mail or web browsing doesn't mean that your Internet connection is reliable enough for the sort of continuous data streaming that SL demands. Unlike online video games, most of which do much of their work client-side, SL passes data back and forth from its servers all the time because all environmental information -- which is constantly being updated -- resides on LL's servers. Router errors commonly create problems for SL residents, even when those residents have no trouble with other Internet applications. Wireless is particularly problematic because it is so easily disturbed by everything from cell phones and garage door openers to fluorescent light fixtures. If your router is almost good enough to handle SL, a little interference can make the difference between success and failure.

[LunixShadow]

Maybe so, but if that were the case, it would still work SOME of the time when there isn't as much interference. And if my laptop is placed in the same location as my PC, how come it can work but not my PC when they are both running off the same router?

[Rolig Loon]

Different machines, different capabilities, who knows? Nobody here can diagnose your machine or connection accurately. All we can do is tell you where the most likely issues are, based on experience and the symptoms that you report. All I'm saying is not to dismiss the probability that your router is the problem. It's easy enough to test. Bypass the router completely. Run a cable from your PC directly to the modem. If it works, you'll know that the router is the problem spot. If not, then you can look at other possibilities.

[LunixShadow]

Well, I just tried running the internet directly into my computer rather than through the router. Got the same error.

[Lindal Kidd]

It's not Vista, per se.  I run SL on a couple of Vista computers with no problem.

[LunixShadow]

I'm being told that 64 Bit doesn't work as well though. I'm running Vista 64 Bit, which I forgot to mention.

 

Is there a way around that?

[Rolig Loon]

64 bit runs fine. If you're worried, though, you can always set your viewer to run as a 32 bit application.

[Rolig Loon]

Well, at least now you know what it isn't. Thanks for trying that. Unfortunately, that was the easy possibility.

[LunixShadow]

I'm not really sure how to do that.

[Peggy Paperdoll]

The problem is somewhere in your Vista machine's wireless connection or it's network settings.  I has nothing to do with Vista vs Windows 7 ( I run two computers.  One with Vista x64 and one with Windows 7 x64).  Both my computers connect to SL just fine (both use the SL Viewer 3 viewer and both are hardwired to my router).

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"DNS stands for Domain Name Service, and it helps in accessing various websites on the Internet. An error regarding the DNS for any particular website usually implies the lack of an active Internet connection. The purpose of DNS is to simply translate the address that a user types on the web browser from the human language into the computer language. For instance, an address like www.abclimited.com will be translated into an address like '10.58.255.14'.
This translation process makes it possible for the computer to read and understand the address that the user has typed, and then visit that particular website via its server. A DNS error will mean that the machine is unable to access the Internet in order to convert the typed address, and thus the computer will be unable to visit and access that website.
Sometimes a computer shows such an error only for some particular websites. This can happen due to two reasons. Either the address that has been typed is incorrect, or there is no entry for this website over the Internet. Either of the reasons restrict the user from accessing that particular website. This can greatly restrict a person from using the Internet to its fullest.
DNS Error Fix
In most cases, when such an error message arises, it just means that the computer is facing connectivity problems. This could be happening for a variety of reasons, especially if you are connecting to the Internet via a wireless connection. Since DNS transforms the website URL into a numerical IP address, without the DNS functioning properly, the Internet connection will be quite useless. There are a few solutions to this problemthough, and none of them are too complicated in nature.

• Locate the networking icon on your taskbar (or visit the networking tab from your 'Start' menu), and right click on it. Now select the 'Repair' option. This should be able to fix elementary DNS errors.
• Go to the 'Start' menu and select the 'Run' option. Now type 'ipconfig/release' and hit 'OK'. This will release your old IP address. Now you need to type 'ipconfig/renew' and hit 'OK' in order to renew your current IP address.
• You even have the option of entering your own DNS settings. If you are using a local wireless connection, you will be informed about the preferred DNS and the alternate DNS. You can alter this setting by going to the 'Properties' of your network connection.
• You must also check if all the cables and wires are connected properly. If nothing works, then try using a different machine with the same connection.
• You should also check the firewall settings on your machine, as it may be possible that the firewall is blocking the particular URL that you wish to visit.
• In certain cases, simply restarting the machine and reestablishing the Internet connection will be sufficient enough to get rid of this error message, and to access all the websites you wish to visit."

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/dns-error.html

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Some other things to check since one computer has the problem and the other does not.  Look for things that different between the two machines.......the network interface chipset/card are obviously different.  Most desktops do not come with a built-in wireless network interface........it's an add-on card installed after the machine was built.  Check that device (including driver/firmware).

And a little word of advice......don't discount sound advice about connections to SL from people with a lot of experience like Rolig (she's absolutely correct about an Ethernet cable being many many times more reliable than a wireless connection).  You'll just wind up eating crow when you finally fix your problem (even if you never admit that she was right).

 

[Peggy Paperdoll]

You don't need to do that.........Vista X64, Win 7 x64, Linux x64 and any Mac x64 system work fine.

[Rolig Loon]

Peggy's right. I'm just saying that if you DID want to do that, you could. Just find the viewer's exe file on your hard drive, right click and select Properties >> Compatability, and then set it to run as if it were in Win XP.

[LunixShadow]

Ah, that. I already tried that, to no avail. I'm running out of ideas.

[LunixShadow]

Except I've already tried a direct connection instead of a wireless one and it doesn't work that way either. And I already switched to Google's DNS for both wired and wireless and it still didn't work either.

Oh, and I also tried disabling my Firewall.  Still nothing.

[Peggy Paperdoll]

If you don't want to dig into your Vista machine's network settings (which, from your arguments, it appears you don't want to do) then just pack it in for your desktop running SL. It's something in your machine or it's settings, your network interface, your router, or your connection to your router. It has nothing to do with the operating system nor with SL.

I know on a Vista machine your connections are established automatically when you connect. Look in the connections for your network and make sure the proper connection is enabled. You said you connected directly directly to your router (I assume you mean you connected using an Ethernet cable) but were you connected using that Ethernet cable or were you still connected using the wireless network card? You probably will have to disable the wireless connection to use the wired connection (or remove the wireless card from you computer) to switch......operating systems are stupid that way (they will default to whatever you have set in your settings).

I don't know anything about wireless cards (because I don't use wireless) but if the wireless card also has an RJ-45 connection on it and that's where you connected the cable you have not eliminated the card, itself, as a source of the problem.......use the onboard network connection instead. After, of course, you make sure you have disabled the wireless connection.

[LunixShadow]

I DID go into my network settings. And when I tried going through a wired connection, it was directly through my DSL, not through the router. And I did disable the wireless when I went wired.

 

I'm not intending to sound rude at all, I appreciate any help I can get. I'm just trying to narrow things down.

[Peggy Paperdoll]

By that I assume you've done all this"

 

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•Locate the networking icon on your taskbar (or visit the networking tab from your 'Start' menu), and right click on it. Now select the 'Repair' option. This should be able to fix elementary DNS errors.

•Go to the 'Start' menu and select the 'Run' option. Now type 'ipconfig/release' and hit 'OK'. This will release your old IP address. Now you need to type 'ipconfig/renew' and hit 'OK' in order to renew your current IP address.

•You even have the option of entering your own DNS settings. If you are using a local wireless connection, you will be informed about the preferred DNS and the alternate DNS. You can alter this setting by going to the 'Properties' of your network connection.

•You must also check if all the cables and wires are connected properly. If nothing works, then try using a different machine with the same connection.

•You should also check the firewall settings on your machine, as it may be possible that the firewall is blocking the particular URL that you wish to visit.

•In certain cases, simply restarting the machine and reestablishing the Internet connection will be sufficient enough to get rid of this error message, and to access all the websites you wish to visit."

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And was it the onboard (or separate) Internet adapter? Also, when you connected directly to your modem did you dig out an old Cat 5e cable you had laying around the house for years? If so, did you inspect that cable for damage? I spent the better part of a week breaking my brain over a connection problem a few years ago only to find out the cable I was using had a tiny little abrasion on the jacket that looked completely harmless.....it was the problem (the abrasion was because it was pulled tight at some time and one or more the the twisted pairs was damaged).

[LunixShadow]

I took my Ethernet cable that runs from my DSL and into my router, unplugged it from the router and plugged it into my PC directly instead.

 

And yes, I tried all of the things in the points.

[Peggy Paperdoll]

Since I've never connected my desktops wirelessly I'm probably not really qualified to, technically, instruct you on anything more than basic troubleshooting of any hardware device (I have a fair amount of experience in that area having built about 8 computers in my life time......I've had to fix a lot of problems spread out over those 8 computers). I've done some searching on the Internet to see if any wireless adapter for desktops also have an Ethernet port on the card.......I haven't seen any that do so I'm assuming that they do not. But in my searches I did learn that there at two different types of adapters for desktops. A PCI (or PCI express) card that plugs into the appropriate slot on your computer's motherboard and USB that simple plugs into one of your USB ports on your computer. I'll take the easiest method first which is the USB adapter.

When you disabled your wireless connection in your Network setup did you also unplug the USB adapter from your computer.........physically remove it from the computer? Then disable the wireless, and restart your computer.....check to make sure the wireless connection is still disabled. That's important to know because if when you connected directly to your modem and the computer was still trying to connect wirelessly, you'd get errors or no change in the problem.

The other, a little more complicated method is if you have a PCI (or PCI express) card installed on the motherboard. You will have to go into your BIOS setup utility to disable the wireless card. And then there's this new way that devices are detected for the newer machines (this started about 5 years ago that I'm aware of). When you boot your computer and it goes through all the checks of active devices (posting) the computer will enable the card again even if you disabled it in BIOS (for the changes to take effect the computer restarts so you would think it's disabled when it is not really disabled). I don't know if your computer does that but most computers today do.....a hint that it does automatically enable any installed device is that you don't have an option to disable the device in your BIOS. If that's the case, the only solution is to physically remove the PCI (or PCI express) card from the machine.

What I'm trying to do is rule out your wireless network adapter as the problem. If that's not the problem then the problem lays with some corruption of your OS in the network area.