Trouble coonecting to internet browsers

Elenor

At the outset I must say I havent really got a clue about computers.

I have a Dell laptop just over a year old. A few weeks ago when I switched it on I get message "Battery cannot be found. The battery will not be charged" It offers the option to go into setup but I cant find anything there that might help. If I press any key it lets me continue. I get into Vista and can logon. The battety icon at he bottom of the screen indicates that the battery is being charged.

In the last few weeks about 3 times out of 4 when I start Firefox or Internet Explorer it just hangs waiting to open my home page. I know I am connected to the internet as it shows in the corner that I have a strong connection to the router. I can receive internet updates and can send and receive emails through Thunderbird, yet my browser just hangs.

Some times I will connect immediately but it seems to be more frequent that it hangs.

Could this be related to the battery problem or might it be something else.

Any suggestions are welcome as I am on the verge of chucking the bloody thing in the bin.

P.S It took me over 2 hours to finally get connected to post this.
When it is hanging in Firefox or IE I cant ven get to the router's home page

Dell CA

Elenor,

My name is Jesse and I work for Dell. I was reading your post on this forum in reference to your battery not charging. Since you do not mention the system type I can only speculate as to the problem. One thing that you may want to do is to go out to the Dell File Library to download drivers. Once there you can choose your system type. The first step is to maybe update the system bios file. This may fix the battery error that you are receiving.

As far as this error causing you to not connect to the internet it is highly unlikely since your system is already on. The problem is more than likely with your isp or router issue.

Thanks
Jesse- Dell CA

Lazarus2.0

What firewall/antivirus are you using ? Are they up to date ? They may be blocking your connection or taking an age to filter the traffic . Any anti-spyware installed ?

The battery problem is separate to your internet issue but needs to be looked into too . Is this a continuing problem or was it just a one-off battery error message ? If it's ongoing have you tried physically removing the battery and reinserting it , then see if it charges ok . I wouldnt update BIOS just yet , that's generally used as a last resort or for a known issue .

rrpc

Intermittent problems are always a curse to deal with. I think the Dell person is correct and you have a problem connecting to your router. I'm assuming you're using a wireless connection and that's where the problem might lie.

When it happens again, try connecting directly to the router with a patch lead and see if this solves the issue. If you're spending two hours trying to get a browser page to load, then 5 minutes connecting a cable shouldn't be an issue

If the cable resolves the problem, then you may have interference blocking your signal. Getting a connection in the Excellent or Very Good range doesn't mean diddly until you start sending data. That's when you see wireless signals breaking down.