A slew of problems

Good afternoon,
I'm hoping to get some help with my machine as i've had a few problems since completely rebuilding my computer a couple months ago.

Problem 1: My internet connection is very unstable. It has a hard time loading multiple pages at once. Furthermore, the connection will drop out for a few seconds but then recover on its own and go back to regular speeds. I don't have any trouble streaming video, that is, once the video starts to stream its able to keep up with the buffer. I originally wondered if it had to do with my router/port and or ISP connection, so i tried plugging a laptop into the same connection. It had no problems, so i know it has to do with my computer somewhere. i was plugged into the network port on my motherboard (asus ma478-E), so i figured that it could just be a faulty network port so i installed a new network card. This didn't seem to fix the problem either. I read somewhere else that the anti-virus (AVG) could be interfering. I uninstalled that and am now running symantec. Still the same problem.

Problem 2: I have a lexmark printer/scanner that installs properly. its connected through a USB connection. After installation, i tried to print and am getting an error "computer cannot communicate with printer" try x,y,z. I've tried doing all the suggestions and this doesn't seem to help fix the problem.

Problem 3: I have a microphone. When i plug it in, i get sounds but it has a 0.5 second delay and the sound is low and distorted. also, there is a buzz in the background. I've tinkered with the settings but i can't anything to adjust this sort of thing.

Problem 4: I have 2 dvd drives and neither of them are showing up in explorer. They were working at one point and i don't know why they aren't working now. i've tried uninstalling the drivers and rebooting the computer several times. the computer recognizes them as being there, but they fail to install properly.


I think those are my problems for now. I'm really sick of trying to fix this crap so i'm really hoping somebody can tell me that there are easy fixes to these one or more of these problems.

Thanks in advance.

i don't really remember. i'm thinking i must have just upgraded from vista.

Well maybe i'll have to do a clean install. The question now is how do I do this without my DVD drives working?

I've updated my system specs.

richc46 said:

jfuerstneau said:

i don't really remember. i'm thinking i must have just upgraded from vista.

My advice is to do a clean install. Yes, you can avoid it and save a little time by not having to reinstall your programs, but it will cost you much more time in the future.

Think back, if you did not reinstall all of your programs, it was an upgrade.

richc is right, generally speaking doing a clean install of any OS will always fix 99.99 % of all problems. Anyways Upgrading from one OS to another without doing a clean install is just asking for trouble. I dunno why MS even provides that option, they should only allow Clean Installs, yea it takes more time but saves a lot of headaches in the long run !

ok i reinstalled windows 7. this seems to have fixed the printer and dvd drive detection issues.

The same problems are occurring with the microphone and slow/patchy internet. i'm connected to the network via network card, but i'm wondering if this could still have something to do with my motherboard drivers.

Check for newer or different drivers for Network card. Windows Updates should provide a newer one if the installer isn't current.

Check your computer maker's Support Downloads webpage for your model for network driver. Also check the card maker's Downloads page for that card.