Windows Vista Connected to the internet, but can't surf

I use Windows Vista on my HP Pavilion dv6449us laptop. Firefox (version 3.0.7) is my preferred browser. My issue is that after I've been using my laptop for anywhere from 20-40 minutes, I lose the ability to surf the net. I'm still connected to the internet, and can still chat on AIM, Yahoo, and MySpaceIM. Sometimes I can switch to IE 7 (version 7.0.6001.18000) and I'll be able to surf for a short while longer, until I'm not able to surf at all.

My solution for now has been to restart my computer. Once I've done that, everything works normally. It's a toss up if the problem occurs again that day or not.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
-Victoria

 

Hi spain16, and welcome to the WndowsBBS it sounds a bit like you have a time setting that will activate after a particular time of no or not much Internet activity.
In the past there have been ISP's that will cut you off after a set time if you are on dial up.
Have you spoken to your Internet provider about this issue, it might be a good starting point at least than you will know if it is you're system or your ISP that is the cause.

 

Thanks for your response Hawk.

The time setting sounds plausible, but I've never paid that much attention to how long it actually takes before I can't surf anymore. But I'll be in the middle of surfing the net and it will stop working. Highly annoying lol

I haven't checked with my ISP because no one else in the house has this problem. We're all hooked up to the same wireless router.

 

I looked in the Event Logs and don't know how to interpret them. I can see the Application logs, but I click to view the system logs and it says, "Event Viewer cannot open the event log or custom view. Verify that Event Log service is running. The data is invalid (13)" I googled it and ended up saving & clearing the log, and now it works.

Back to the Application log...the only thing I see of significance is a warning when I restart my computer after the problem occurs. The rest are information logs. Unfortunately, this area of Windows is Greek to me.

This is the warning:

Log Name: Application
Source: Microsoft-Windows-User Profiles Service
Date: 3/16/2009 10:07:14 PM
Event ID: 1530
Task Category: None
Level: Warning
Keywords: Classic
User: SYSTEM
Computer: Tora-PC
Description:
Windows detected your registry file is still in use by other applications or services. The file will be unloaded now. The applications or services that hold your registry file may not function properly afterwards.

DETAIL -
3 user registry handles leaked from \Registry\User\S-1-5-21-2864409673-4226738911-1096553776-1000_Classes:
Process 3768 (\Device\HarddiskVolume1\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe) has opened key \REGISTRY\USER\S-1-5-21-2864409673-4226738911-1096553776-1000_CLASSES
Process 3768 (\Device\HarddiskVolume1\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe) has opened key \REGISTRY\USER\S-1-5-21-2864409673-4226738911-1096553776-1000_CLASSES
Process 976 (\Device\HarddiskVolume1\Windows\System32\svchost.exe) has opened key \REGISTRY\USER\S-1-5-21-2864409673-4226738911-1096553776-1000_CLASSES

Event Xml:
<Event xmlns= "http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event ">
<System>
<Provider Name= "Microsoft-Windows-User Profiles Service" Guid= "{89B1E9F0-5AFF-44A6-9B44-0A07A7CE5845}" EventSourceName= "profsvc" />
<EventID Qualifiers= "32768 ">1530</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>3</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime= "2009-03-17T03:07:14.000Z" />
<EventRecordID>26581</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID= "0" ThreadID= "0" />
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>Tora-PC</Computer>
<Security UserID= "S-1-5-18" />
</System>
<EventData Name= "EVENT_HIVE_LEAK ">
<Data Name= "Detail ">3 user registry handles leaked from \Registry\User\S-1-5-21-2864409673-4226738911-1096553776-1000_Classes:
Process 3768 (\Device\HarddiskVolume1\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe) has opened key \REGISTRY\USER\S-1-5-21-2864409673-4226738911-1096553776-1000_CLASSES
Process 3768 (\Device\HarddiskVolume1\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe) has opened key \REGISTRY\USER\S-1-5-21-2864409673-4226738911-1096553776-1000_CLASSES
Process 976 (\Device\HarddiskVolume1\Windows\System32\svchost.exe) has opened key \REGISTRY\USER\S-1-5-21-2864409673-4226738911-1096553776-1000_CLASSES
</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

 

in that case I would go along with Arie, someone with experience will look at your Event Log.
If it was your ISP everyone would be affected.

 

Got an error message in the system log since I cleaned it out and I don't know what it means:
"The WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service service entered the stopped state." Event 7036

Thank you for your help!