games can't connect/won't hold a connection

Mirrorboy · 25 Oct 2009

i finally got all my hardware issues fixed (no more lag as mentioned in a previous thread), but i'm still getting some issues in my games. Unreal Tournament 2004 can't connect to the internet at all and Crysis Wars can't hold a connection once connected. i checked the RTM compatibility list and didn't see UT04 (didn't look for Crysis because i'm a lot more interested in UT). i checked my firewall (Zonealarm Internet Security Suite) and it's allowed through. i even tried running it with the whole program turned off and it still wouldn't go through. Windows firewall is disabled in favor of Zonealarm, but even so, there are exceptions for the programs to go through. i also just switched from 32 bit to 64 bit, but i'm pretty sure i had the same issue on 32 bit (both Windows 7 Professional RTM). i originally though that the UT04 servers were shut down just because it's an old game, but a few google searches proved that to be wrong. any ideas?

EDIT:
i checked device manager to make sure i had all the correct drivers and i saw that under network devices, a device called "Teredo Tunneling Pseudo Device" had an exclamation point over it. it says that the device cannot start, but the drivers are installed and everything. i visited Gigabyte's website and can't find a driver for it and i can't find anything on google about it either. could this be it? and if it is, how do i fix it?

Zidane24 · 26 Oct 2009

Even with exceptions in ZoneAlarm, I have a gut feeling it is the culprit

Completely turn off ZoneAlarm and see if your games can connect again

Also that teredo device is a network driver issue...reinstall your ethernet drivers to see if that fixes it

zx81 · 26 Oct 2009

Zidane24 said:

Even with exceptions in ZoneAlarm, I have a gut feeling it is the culprit

Completely turn off ZoneAlarm and see if your games can connect again

Also that teredo device is a network driver issue...reinstall your ethernet drivers to see if that fixes it

I have experienced (Windows Vista) that ZoneAlarm can be responsible for not having normal Internet connection. In my case Internet was disabled at random intervals.

The solution for my problems was to Uninstall ZoneAlarm and ZoneAlarm add-on, after reboot Windows Firewall is automaticly enabled.

I hope this will help you.

Have a nice day!

zx81

Mirrorboy · 26 Oct 2009

i tried without Zonealarm running and it didn't work. and i've used zonealarm before (on windows xp) and never had this problem. as far as vista goes, it had it's own problems without Zonealarm, so that really doesn't help. also, i tried uninstalling the network drivers and reinstalling them and that opened a huge can of worms. the uninstaller froze and i had to kill it a few times, leaving the driver status in limbo and it wouldn't reinstall properly. i finally got it installed though. but i'm still having trouble with those games and there's nothing online that says that the servers have been pulled down.

LPDad · 26 Oct 2009

Even though you turn off you firewall, there are lots of instances (in these forums) where there are services and/or parts of the programs still active.
My suggestion.
1. Completely Uninstall Zonealarm (for now--until you get things working)
2. completely turn off windows firewall
3. From the Device Manager...completely remove the teredo device from the list (uninstall it).

then
Reboot, and let windows 7 reinstall you toredo device (you should then be able to get your driver installed without mishaps.

Then see if that solves your problem.

one by one you can then restore the firewalls to see which one is causing the problem. I would put Zonealarm on the very last, after you have verified your games are working properly.
At least this way you should be able to narrow down the culprit. There have been reports of lots of things working in XP and Vista, but when you try it on Win 7 there are still issues.

I agree with you. Win7 x64 is the way to go.

Mirrorboy · 26 Oct 2009

ok, that's a great suggestion. one problem: what do i do after i get it working and need an antivirus program? considering my dad just went through a lot of trouble for an antivirus program for all the computers in my house, i don't have many more options than zonealarm. and i don't trust those free ones, they suck.

LPDad · 26 Oct 2009

Good, valid point.
For now stay away from the Pron sites

while you are hunting down the "problem".

Seriously, Just concentrate on your game connection issue-- get that solved first, and do stay pretty much off the web until you can get connected with games. You need to find out where the problem is being caused first then, once you narrow it down, you can then look for specific answers.

I agree with your dad... you should always have protection. it may just be a simple setting in the offending program.

LPDad · 26 Oct 2009

BTW..what antivirus program is currently installed on your computer????
(or are you relying solely on Zonealarm???)

zx81 · 27 Oct 2009

Mirrorboy said:

i tried without Zonealarm running and it didn't work. and i've used zonealarm before (on windows xp) and never had this problem. as far as vista goes, it had it's own problems without Zonealarm, so that really doesn't help. also, i tried uninstalling the network drivers and reinstalling them and that opened a huge can of worms. the uninstaller froze and i had to kill it a few times, leaving the driver status in limbo and it wouldn't reinstall properly. i finally got it installed though. but i'm still having trouble with those games and there's nothing online that says that the servers have been pulled down.

Try to uninstall ZoneAlarm, and look in installed programs if ZoneAlarm has an add-on. Also uninstall the add-on.
Then try if your game works well.

zx81

LPDad · 31 Oct 2009

Just curious as to whether or not you got this problem resolved, and if so--What was the culprit????
How did you solve it. (a lot of people seem to be running ZoneAlarm)