Windows 7 Wireless Network Random Disconnects Fixed Yet?
As long time readers of Best Hubris know, I have had a running battle with Microsoft operating systems and wireless networking problems. Yes, by now I may have spent less time and energy by running out and buying a bunch of brand new hardware, but I don’t think that I should have to buy all new electronic gadgets just because Windows is now too bloated and complex to ensure complete reliability. In fact, I completely understand that there are going to be issues in any operating system as powerful and feature filled as Windows 7, especially when you are constantly pushing the limits of what it can do. Add in the fact that I like to download, install, uninstall, re-install, and tweak software all the time, and you get a recipe for difficulty.
What is NOT acceptable is being unable to find solutions or workarounds for your problems. More specifically, what is not acceptable is being told that rebooting is a fix, that running in safe mode is a fix, or that disabling your firewall and security software is a fix. If those things are causing a problem, then we need to know WHY and then either adjust them, or the OS so that we can run secure computers. It would be one thing if Microsoft was telling you to disable third-party security software, after all, they can’t fix everyone else’s problems too, but when they are telling you to turn off the Windows Firewall or Security Essentials, that is not acceptable.
Wireless Network Disconnect Problem
While I have thought I have solved the Windows wireless networking issues both Windows XP Wireless Connection Randomly Dropping and Windows 7 Wireless Connection Problems, these issue keep rearing their ugly heads. The odd thing is that I have over time indeed purchased and installed new hardware. I have a new netbook for writing, I have a new PC upstairs (in the same room as the wireless router), and I even have a new wireless router (Baby Smashed!). Still I experience from time to time the dreaded random wireless networking disconnection in Windows 7.
Just to be clear, I have already done all of the standard troubleshooting, including updating all drivers, bios, and firmware. In addition, my wireless network DOES WORK. It connects without fail every time I boot my PC. I can go entire days, and sometimes even several days without a single hiccup. Other times, it seems that I lose my Windows 7 wireless network every 10 or 15 minutes.
Trying to nail down the circumstances under which the wireless connection drop is kind of difficult because I multitask extensively and let the computer do many things in the background. After all, that is the whole point of computers, letting them take care of tasks that so that we can focus our energies and resources on other things. However, over time, it seems that the there are three common scenarios that seem to proceed wireless network problems. Unfortunately, none of these 3 circumstances results in wireless trouble every time. In addition, there are times when the wireless connectivity drops when none of these three events is taking place. Nonetheless, to get anywhere, you have to start somewhere.
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Windows 7 Wireless Network Drops – Common Scenarios
Wireless Network Drop Situation #1: During large (and multiple) file downloads via Bittorrent, Rapidshare downloads, corporate server downloads, VPN downloads, etc. particularly when downloading multiple files at once. Possible causes include network overload, too many connections (old XP number of connections limit issue), too many programs trying to use the network too fast, and Windows 7 inability to keep up or manage the resource.
Wireless Networking Disconnected Scenario #2: Returning to the PC after several minutes or longer. This one is more frequent when downloads have been left running while the computer is not being used, however, it occurs frequently enough on its own to not be discounted. Possible causes include power savings settings, timeouts, security settings trying to lock things down, etc. I have disabled Windows 7 ability to turn off devices such as USB ports in order to save power.
Windows 7 Wireless Network Disconnect Scenario #3: Often the network seems to drop late at night when I am wrapping up my day by reading Facebook and playing some of the Flash-based games on Facebook. I often use Google Chrome to read Facebook and hence to play the games on Facebook. I am investigating whether a similar issue occurs while using Mozilla Firefox instead. However, the intermittent nature of the problem makes it difficult to determine if there is no problem when using Firefox, or if there just has been no problem using Firefox YET.
New Computer Problem – Windows Live Writer Crashing and Throwing Exceptions Whenever Trying to Link or use Tools Options Menu. I’ll let you know if I get this one fixed too 
Fix for WP-DBManager Error Warning: Your backup folder MIGHT be visible to the public
Recently, an upgrade to the WP-DBManager plug-in for WordPress started giving an error message on my sites. The error message is, "Error Warning: Your backup folder MIGHT be visible to the public". The plug-in goes on to recommend that you copy the .htaccess file from one folder to another.
There are two glitches with the WP-DBManager WordPress plug-in.
The first is that there is no .htaccess file where WP-DBManager says to look. It is an easy solution, on the support forums, the author notes that there are some difficulties distributing the plug-in with a real .htaccess file in it. To get around the issue, there is a htaccess.txt file instead. Just copy it to the new directory and then rename it .htaccess. All of which is easily done with Filezilla or another FTP utility.
The second glitch is a little trickier.
Even after you have copied the .htaccess file where you are supposed to, the plug-in might show the error message anyway. In other words, you still keep getting the error even if you have the right .htaccess file in the correct directory.
On the support forums, there is information to make the Warning message go away. It involves how to tweak the plug-in’s PHP code, but all this does is stop the check. It doesn’t fix the problem. That is bad news, because if the error message is broken your backups might be broken too.
What gives?
WP-DBManager Error and Dreamhost Hosting
For whatever reason, Dreamhost hosts their accounts for WordPress and other sites with a full directory path that includes a ".something" directory. WP-DBManager requires a path to mysquldump and mysql, but also the FULL directory path structure to work properly.
As a Dreamhost user, that means that you will input a Path to Backup containing a ".".
For example, /home/.swami/domain.com/wp-content/backup-db
Whether it is a Dreamhost thing or a WordPress thing, I don’t have any idea, but for whatever reason, when the WP-DBManager plugin code tries to read the Path to Backup field it uses the /.swami/ part correctly in one section, but then does NOT use it correctly in the next section.
The result?
Keep getting the Warning: Your backup folder MIGHT be visible to the public error message even though you have the right .htaccess file because the check the plug-in makes fails due to have the "wrong" path.
Even worse is that your backups are failing! The same path error that causes the warning to falsely display causes a directory write error when it tries to run the backups!
How To Fix WP-DBManager WordPress Plug-in Error Message
Fortunately, the fix is pretty easy.
Go into the DB Options under Database in your WordPress control panel and change the Path to Backup to NOT include the .directory whatever it is.
In the example above, delete the /.swami/ part of the path.
That leaves /home/domain.com/wp-content/backup-db.
Save the changes and then click on a different plug-in or control panel option and then back on the Database (to get it to re-try and read the file). The error message should disappear, and more importantly, your backups should be working again.
You can test if WP-DBManager backups are working by clicking Backup DB which runs a manual backup.
By the way, Dreamhost already backs up your mysql databases for you, so if you are in a pinch you can use those. But, WP-DBManager still provides more robust, automated backups, that are not overwritten by default and are easier to restore, so you still need the plugin.
Get Rid Of My Places Bar In Microsoft Office
I chronicle my troubleshooting and computer paradigm studies here on Best Hubris because they play so tightly into my business strategy business and models. It always starts out as just a single issue on my computer or network, but it ends up being a deliberate strategy by some technology company.
My Places Bar Slows Down Saves in Microsoft Office Word 2007 and Others
All of the sudden, my Microsoft Office programs are Initializing My Places Bar whenever I try to save a Word Document or Excel Spreadsheet or PowerPoint presentation. It works, eventually, but it is really, really slow and annoying. The worst part is that my Office 2007 never used to pop up an Initializing Places window.
What is the My Places Bar anyway, and why do I need one? The answer, is, that I don’t. You don’t either.
Unless you are one of the two people on the whole planet who use Microsoft SharePoint for group collaboration, or whatever the buzzword is these days, then you don’t need or want anything to do with the My Places Bar.
Technically, you’ve been using the My Places Bar since Office 2000 or Office 2003, but you’ve never noticed because it was never so slow and so bothersome. What has changed is that Microsoft has started adding an Office Live Workspaces location to the My Places bar as part of certain installations or updates of various software products without asking, and without even telling you about it.
I’m not 100% sure what caused this change, but I’m not happy about Microsoft choosing to promote its BETA Live Workspace at the expense of the day to day performance of my PC. Granted, I checked out the Live Workspaces beta after getting about 100 emails asking me to, and I even installed the Office Live plug-in. Of course, I did that months ago and only recently started noticing this particular annoyance, so I can only assume that it came onto my Windows system recently.
I am not amused.
Ironically, Microsoft just made it harder to get people to use Live Workspaces, not easier. I have uninstalled the Office Live plug-in and I have deleted the sample documents I had put on my Live Desktop, and I have deleted the Office Live Workspace location from my Save As dialog box. In other words, I will not touch Live Workspaces again. So much for growing the user base.
Stop Initializing Places / Initializing My Places Dialog Box
If you are sick an tired of waiting for what used to be an instant load Save box to appear, you can get rid of the Initializing My Places bar by deleting the offending entry from your Save As box.
Chances are you have never bothered to customize your My Places box before. Chances are you never even knew that it existed, because all you ever wanted was a Save As box. Fortunately, it isn’t too hard.
- Click on the Office Symbol or File Menu and choose Open.
- Right-Click on the Live Desktop icon in the bar that runs down the side of the dialog box (That’s the My Places Bar, by the way.) and choose Delete.
- If you don’t see it, expand the box to make it bigger. The default size, of course, isn’t big enough for the extra entry, because no one ever added one and it was designed to accommodate only the real world entries that were there by default before the “upgrade.”
- If you see another entry, that might be the culprit. Anything over a network will slow things down.
Basically what is happening is every time I try and save a Word document, it populates the “My Places Bar.” To do so, it apparently establishes a connection. This takes a second or two over the Internet, especially if you aren’t already connected, or it takes just as long to time out. Either way, you are waiting to do something that used to be nearly instant.
To sum up, Microsoft decided that it would be smart computing to check an Internet service I never use EVERY SINGLE TIME I save any document. Or, in other words, my computer should be slower every single hour of every single day that I use it, so it would be easier to use Live Desktop!
It is times like these, where Microsoft chooses its strategic agenda over the needs and desires of users, that causes so many people to hate the company so fiercely.
So far this year, as part of its “strategy” to combat Google and force me to use products and services I don’t want, don’t need, didn’t ask for, and certainly didn’t agree to installing, having, or using, Microsoft has tried to slow down my system twice. First, with the sneaky installation of Seaport.exe which caused me to scramble for information because I thought I had a virus, and now with this bonehead move.
In both cases, Microsoft has NOT been forthcoming with information about what they are doing to your system without your knowledge. I had to search high and low to figure out how to kill seaport. I still haven’t seen any sort of article on Microsoft.com. Now, I had to read between the lines on SharePoint TechNet pages to figure out what was wrong with my computer after Microsoft chose to AGAIN do something to my computer without my permission.
(I know that technically, Microsoft’s lawyers carefully crafted the wording of the user agreement that no one ever reads to avoid legal liability, but you, me, and Microsoft, all know that they never actually had my permission no matter what they can argue in court.)
Obviously, there is no real option to Microsoft’s Windows Operating Systems, but that doesn’t mean I’ll keep using their other junk.
I already have AbiWord loaded on my laptop because Word 2007 is too bloated to run fast enough on it, and I’ve just abandoned Live Workspace permanently. The only reason I use Live at all is because of Windows Live Writer, and frankly, if ScribeFire gets a spellcheck, I think I’ll abandon Live Writer too.
If they keep this up, the only Microsoft product I’ll be running is Windows, and if I only buy something every 10 years when they get around to releasing a decent OS again, that isn’t good business.
Thanks for nothing, guys. Again.
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Troubleshooting Wireless Home Network Random Disconnect
After a TON of consternation and A LOT of crappy information out on the Internet, I think I have finally solved a wireless networking issue that has been the bane of my home wireless network for too long.
Wireless Network Keeps Disconnecting
You’ll see those words or some just like them on message boards and forums all over the Internet as the home based network administrator struggles to find a solution to a seemingly bizarre. Wireless network issue. Often they will blame Windows or Windows XP or Vista too. They are kind-of-sort-of right, but not really.
If you read the answers, you’ll find a wide assortment of pseudo-experts throwing out impressive sounding, but utterly useless answers. The typical exchange starts out with the “network pro” suggesting something mind numbingly simple that all but the most naive computer user has probably already tried. Change the channel, or make sure you have the same WEP passwords on all your computers, or the most common of all, update your drivers.
Folks, update your drivers is a throw away answer that does not come close to troubleshooting the issue. This is what people at help desks tell people who call in because they hope that it will somehow solve the problem without having to do any actual work. Yes, you should update your drivers, but this should never be any serious person’s full answer.
So I became an expert on Intel Proset wireless troubleshooting, and Netgear wireless router troubleshooting, and Trendnet troubleshooting. Nada, zip, zilch.
Browser Elections and Wireless Networking Issues
No, really…Well, sort of. I know a lot about the answers to people who ask about intermittent wireless network dropping because it was the exact same problem I was having. After looking for an answer long enough I found out that it happens to all kinds of wireless network cards whether Intel, Linksys, Netgear, D-link, Trendnet, you name it.
Depending on where you looked though, that was one of the places the blame was pointed. “Oh, Netgear sucks, get a real router.” Some people even insisted matching up hardware, “Oh, you can’t use a Netgear card with a Linksys router.” And some people even insisted that you can’t use USB wireless adapters. No, no, no!
Here is the deal. I have one desktop PC running Windows XP Pro. It’s a sweet machine. Then, I have two laptops that are a few years old, but perfectly good for what we use them for. They are Dell Inspiron 600m with Intel 2200/BG wireless built into them. The desktop has a D-link USB adapter and the wireless router is a Trendnet. Ironically, the reason I bought the Trendnet was a seemed to be having some problems with my Netgear one.
All the computers connected just fine to the wireless network, so it wasn’t some dumb thing like mismatched passwords. The problem is they would sometimes drop off the network.
It seemed like it was random. Sometimes, I would go hours with no issue, other times it seemed like I was getting disconnected every few minutes.
I tried everything. I updated the drivers. I updated the router firmware. I changed from WEP to WPA to WPA2. I tried Windows Zero Configuration Wireless utility. I tried the Intel Wireless manager. I tried the D-link wireless manager, and every combination of the three. Nothing seemed to work.
Then, one day, I got what would turn out to be my big break. One evening, I had been working on my desktop computer when my wife joined me and turned on her laptop computer. Bam! I was off the network. I didn’t think anything of it. I reset my connection. Then, I heard a big sigh from my wife. When I asked, she had just been kicked off the network. Shortly thereafter I caught a bigger break when my Event Viewer logged a network disconnect and a browser election event at the exact same time. Yes! The problem is the computer browser, I thought.
Unfortunately, as I searched the Internet with my new keywords, I found out that it didn’t make a difference. The same half-helpful ding-dongs answering the wireless connection drops questions were the ones answering the computer browser makes the wireless connection drop questions. The answer was always, “What kind of router/card,” followed by “More details/Log files” followed by “Maybe it’s your cordless phone” and ultimately either “Buy a new router/card” or nothing, the thread would just end. Truth is, the person sounding like the expert probably never had a clue what could possibly be the issue.
Finally, I found the solution to this frustrating problem.
Whew, this is getting long. Keep going here in Part 2 – Windows Random Disconnect from Wireless Network Solution.
