Internet links don't load on new computer
Judy661
Enthusiast - Level 2

I just bought my son a new computer. At my house it loads anything I want on the internet. But at his house it can only initially access the internet and sometimes give a list of search results. But when you click any link or type in an address, the page tries to load but never succeeds. This happens with Firefox, Chrome, and IE. He has no internet problems with his old computer which runs Vista. The new computer is an eMachine 1360G computer. It is wired and runs Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit, and has 10/100/1000 Ethernet. He has no router. His modem says Verizon model 6100F. It is a Westell model P90-610015-06. It also says ADSL2+ Modem. I don't know what service level he has from Verizon. Thank you for your help.

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Re: Internet links don't load on new computer
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

Visit this website: http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=13&PFid=5&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTy...

Choose the driver with the following description and category:

Win7 and WinServer 2008 R2 Driver7.0582012/5/22761k

From this point, choose any of the download sites to the right of the driver and save the file supplied to your computer. When it is downloaded, Extract the ZIP file to a folder on your system. From that point, do the following:

Open your Start Menu, right click on "Computer" and then click Manage. If you receive a UAC Prompt, click Yes past the screen. From this point on the left hand side of the window, you will see an option called "Device Manager." Open this up, and then in the main section of the window collapse the category "Network Adapters." Under Network Adapters, double click on the Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller so that a properties window appears. In the properties window, click on the Driver tab and then click on the button in this tab called "Update Driver."

In the wizard, click on "Browse my computer for driver software."  In the next screen you will see a box with a path potentially filled into it. Click on the Browse button. From this point, locate the extracted driver folder. From this point once the folder is found, select the folder "WIN7" then select "64" since you have a 64-bit Operating System, and finally, click on OK. Once you're back to the main Wizard, go ahead and select on Next. If everything goes well, the system should pick up on the new driver, install it, restart your network adapter and from that point, your network connection should come back up and everything should be working.

If not, there's another method we can use to get a driver installed. If anything, in the unlikely event that something goes wrong happens, System Restore will undo this change.

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Re: Internet links don't load on new computer
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

Hey Judy66,

This sounds like a common issue some folks have seen. What you'll want to do is update the Ethernet drivers on the new computer. A lot of newer machines seem to be coming with drivers that don't exactly make the hardware talk to the equipment correctly.

My guess is eMachines is still using Realtek NICs. You can check this by opening the device manager in Windows (search for Device Manager using the Start Menu search box), and in the Device Manager, choose the Network Adapters category. Note down the name of the card. From that point, you'll want to visit the chip manufacturer's website (Not eMachines's website!) and obtain the latest driver. If you want our help to ensure you've got the right one, post up what operating system you have (Windows 7 32-bit or Windows 7 64-bit most likely) if you could and also give the name of the card the Device Manager offered.

Re: Internet links don't load on new computer
Judy661
Enthusiast - Level 2

The OS is 64 bit.

The card is Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller Properties

7.45.516.2011         dated 5/16/11

I've had to bring the computer back to my house (and network) where it works pretty well. Is there a test I can run before and after the update so I can see the effect of the update? Thanks

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Re: Internet links don't load on new computer
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

Visit this website: http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=13&PFid=5&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTy...

Choose the driver with the following description and category:

Win7 and WinServer 2008 R2 Driver7.0582012/5/22761k

From this point, choose any of the download sites to the right of the driver and save the file supplied to your computer. When it is downloaded, Extract the ZIP file to a folder on your system. From that point, do the following:

Open your Start Menu, right click on "Computer" and then click Manage. If you receive a UAC Prompt, click Yes past the screen. From this point on the left hand side of the window, you will see an option called "Device Manager." Open this up, and then in the main section of the window collapse the category "Network Adapters." Under Network Adapters, double click on the Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller so that a properties window appears. In the properties window, click on the Driver tab and then click on the button in this tab called "Update Driver."

In the wizard, click on "Browse my computer for driver software."  In the next screen you will see a box with a path potentially filled into it. Click on the Browse button. From this point, locate the extracted driver folder. From this point once the folder is found, select the folder "WIN7" then select "64" since you have a 64-bit Operating System, and finally, click on OK. Once you're back to the main Wizard, go ahead and select on Next. If everything goes well, the system should pick up on the new driver, install it, restart your network adapter and from that point, your network connection should come back up and everything should be working.

If not, there's another method we can use to get a driver installed. If anything, in the unlikely event that something goes wrong happens, System Restore will undo this change.

Re: Internet links don't load on new computer
Judy661
Enthusiast - Level 2

I updated the driver with no problem. Thank you for your step by step instructions. I really won't know if that solved the problem until I take the computer back to my son's house in about a week.  I tried to check the speed before and after and there was a little improvement. 2wire.com went from 2.4 Mbps to 2.6. Speedtest.net went from 3.12 Mbps to 3.17 for download and from 0.45 Mbps to 0.53 for upload. I'll let you know when I find out updating the driver solved the problem. Thanks again.

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Re: Internet links don't load on new computer
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

You're welcome 🙂 Keep us updated!

Re: Internet links don't load on new computer
Judy661
Enthusiast - Level 2

It worked! The internet links loaded as they should. Thank you so much for your help. The emachines tech couldn't help and a local tech support couldn't help, but your first suggestion was the solution.

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Re: Internet links don't load on new computer
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

Awesome to hear that worked. It's not a very common problem for NICs to have but often times silly driver updates will fix those weird ones. At least NICs aren't like Graphics Cards trying to run games or accelerate HD video though. There's a reason they get driver updates every few weeks and NICs are often "push as needed."

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