An issue with my new PC, can anyone help?

[aguy]

Okay I'm done with PC World. Bought a new AIO PC from them and I have a problem. Went back to PC World following day and saw the manager who, without shame looked me in the face and said, because I had not paid them £50 to 'set up' my new purchase he would not help me.
I won't tell you how the conversation went but I'm sure you have an idea.

It's a minor thing really. Once or twice a day it freezes and says 'no internet connection' but I know there is as I have another computer whereby I can check it.
My PC is wireless to my BT router and although I do not have fibre optic I have always had good speed. If I restart my PC it's fine again.

My computer skills are very limited. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[clf]

Originally Posted by aguy

Okay I'm done with PC World. Bought a new AIO PC from them and I have a problem. Went back to PC World following day and saw the manager who, without shame looked me in the face and said, because I had not paid them £50 to 'set up' my new purchase he would not help me.
I won't tell you how the conversation went but I'm sure you have an idea.

It's a minor thing really. Once or twice a day it freezes and says 'no internet connection' but I know there is as I have another computer whereby I can check it.
My PC is wireless to my BT router and although I do not have fibre optic I have always had good speed. If I restart my PC it's fine again.

My computer skills are very limited. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

My computer skills are limited also, however I would try it for a day or two with a wired connection to your router. Is your old PC wireless? If it is, and your new PC works OK with the wired, old PC wireless also remaining connected, then it would suggest a faulty wireless setup in the new PC.

If that was to prove to be the case, take the PC back to PC World, allowing them to inspect it for a faulty wireless connection, once confirmed, demand your money back, and purchase elsewhere stating why.

Crashing though, could well be a multitude of issues, most likely software related, almost certainly so. Perhaps reinstalling the supplied set up discs would be useful, but I imagine the bundled software causing it, and reinstalling will only do the same. Hopefully someone more in the know will be along. I would think though, they will need quite a bit more info on what is installed and hardware configs to diagnose.

[Rocket]

Originally Posted by aguy

Once or twice a day it freezes and says 'no internet connection' but I know there is as I have another computer whereby I can check it.

You say it freezes.

Do you mean the whole pc stops responding

or

the internet connection stops working but the pc is still responsive. (you can still use mouse, keyboard etc.)

This may help diagnose.

[aguy]

Originally Posted by Rocket

You say it freezes.

Do you mean the whole pc stops responding

or

the internet connection stops working but the pc is still responsive. (you can still use mouse, keyboard etc.)

This may help diagnose.

Hi Paul, your response is much appreciated.

The PC is not responsive, It freezes on the page and will not allow another site to be opened. then it opens a page which says something like "this web page cannot be reached" then almost immediately to "no internet connection" both aforementioned pages are white with black writing.

If I do a restart, it works as though normal.

it appears as though the PC is more likely to 'freeze' if I have a) a few windows open.
b) using a site picture heavy or
c) a site such a youtube with videos.
It doesn't seem to like me working fast between tabs.
Hope this helps explain.

[Rocket]

I would certainly try the advice that CLF offered above. If using a cable cures the problem this will rule a few things out.

If you do connect via cable make sure to disable the wireless adapter on the PC

[aguy]

Originally Posted by Rocket

I would certainly try the advice that CLF offered above. If using a cable cures the problem this will rule a few things out.

If you do connect via cable make sure to disable the wireless adapter on the PC

So is "disabling the wireless adapter on the PC" just a case of removing it from the USB port during the wired trial and replacing it afterwards or do I need to do anything else?

[Sprinter]

Try updating the drivers.

I suspect you are using W10 so you'll need to look up how to get to Device Manager and check the driver settings for your wireless component.

It'll go something like

Control Panel
Hardware
Device Manager.
Network Adaptors.

Find your wireless one and see if the drivers will update, then restart your PC.

This video shows a similar routine for video drivers just to give you an idea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34eeYJVtWg4

Good luck.

[Rocket]

Originally Posted by aguy

So is "disabling the wireless adapter on the PC" just a case of removing it from the USB port during the wired trial and replacing it afterwards or do I need to do anything else?

Yes, if it is just a plug in USB device you can just take it out.
I assumed it was located inside the machine.(wrongly)

If you can use a cable all the time it will usually give a faster and more stable connection than Wi-Fi

As the Wi-Fi adapter is just a USB plug in device, it could well be a driver problem as it did not come as part of the pre-configured machine.

If you wish to check device manager just right click on the start icon then select device manager.

[aguy]

It's not easy to have a permanent wire as my computer is about 10 meters from the hub but to wire it discreetly I would need to run it about 25 meters. I do have a long ethernet cable I can experiment with and will set it up when I have a chance.

I wondered about the powerline adapters, are they as efficient as wired ethernet?

[Rocket]

Not a certainty to work well but they can work well. Depends on house wiring layout/interference really.