Windows 7: Home Premium Repeated Loss of Network

I've got a Shuttle SK22G2B (AMD Socket AM2) XPC kit that I recently transitioned from the RC 7300 'Ultimate' Windows 7 edition to a paid Windows HP version. Installation was smooth and basic functionality seems to work fine. However I now have a persistant loss of network connectivity mostly connected with large file UPLOADs, it has happened after long absenses where I don't really have a connecting event but more often than not it happens during a sync with my dropbox.com account or with my windows home server (on the network). I try to let the Network and Sharing Center repair the connection but that fails, when I try to reboot it usually hangs during the shut down process and requires a reset to get it running again.

This did not happen over 3 months of heavy Windows 7 RC7300 use with EXACTLY the same hardware. When the XPC is showing no connectivity I have full internet and intranet access from my Win Home Server (wired) and netbook (wireless) on the same router. Here is some h/w stats, I'm desperate for some help!

AMD 64 X2 4400+
2gb crucial RAM
500gb Seagate SATA hdd
ATI Radeon HD4300 vid card
Win 7 Home Premium (32bit)
Onboard NIC - Via Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter, driver v 1.12.0.0 (7/20/2009) - latest version available

D-Link DIR 655 Wireless router fw 1.32NA, 07/09/2009 - latest version
-XPC is hooked in via ethernet, NOT wireless.

Thanks,
Tony

What are the power options for the hardware set to, and what programs are running in the background?

DMHolt57, power mgmt tab on the NIC Properties box has an unchecked box for 'allow the computer to turn off this device to save power' the other options in the tab are greyed out. is there anywhere else to check power options for the NIC?

Programs in the background, not consistent but the last time i had IE8, MS outlook 07, word 07, windows explorer, sync toy (was pushing data to the WHS). Has also happened while i"m editing images in LightRoom2 but not this most recent time.

bump... new twist, seems to be more stable since yesterday's post (no corrective action taken) but in the past hour i've lost internet connectivity for a matter of 10-30seconds and it has then recovered by itself... sound familiar to anyone?!?

If you right click "Computer", select Manage and then look at Event Viewer, is there any indication of an error that could be causing the loss of connection?

mgmcc, thanks for the question. I'll check the next time it fails and post the log as best I can.

I have almost the same hardware, except an Intel CPU rather than the AMD, Windows 7 Home Premium, and am experiencing the same problem. Windows reports that the installed NIC driver is a Broadcom NetLink Gigabit Ethernet, and repeated attempts to update the driver with something newer end up unsuccessful with Windows telling me that the driver I have installed is the most current. I unchecked the option to allow Windows to manage the power settings on the NIC more than a month ago, and I still have the intermittent drop in connectivity.

Every time my connection drops, I get an event in the System Event Log talking about "Name resolution for the name x.domain.whatever timed out after none of the configured DNS servers responded." Invariably, I must then reboot the machine to get the NIC back. Performing a Windows repair on the adapter results in much thinking, but ultimately no solution. Also, an attempt to manually disable and re-enable the adapter after this happens causes my machine to hang, then BSOD with a power related error (don't have it verbatim at the moment).

Basically, the connection randomly drops, seemingly more often when returning to the computer after a period of inactivity, and it doesn't come back without a reboot. This is HIGHLY annoying, and although all the potential solutions I've seen talk about turning off power management or disabling AVG anti-virus, they haven't resolved the problem for me.

If I do find a solution, I'll return to this thread with an update.

You appear to have a DNS Server problem and could try using fixed DNS Server addresses, entering the Router's IP address as the "Preferred DNS Server" and one of your ISP's servers as the "Alternate DNS Server". You could also try using one of the Open DNS server addresses as the "Alternate DNS Server" - 208.67.222.222 or 208.67.220.220