Anyone still running Windows 7?

Matthew Young35 said:I really need some help here.
After a little while—sometimes an hour, sometimes two or three—my internet just dies. Well, it doesn't die completely, but I can only access certain sites like Google or YouTube...
Nothing I try seems to fix it; the only thing that actually works is a full restart.

I'm guessing it's some kind of mess with my DNS or IPv4 settings.
I've tried pretty much everything at this point, and honestly, I'm getting close to just wiping everything and reinstalling Windows. But man, I really don't want to deal with that.

Any ideas?

To start off, maybe try reinstalling your network card drivers? Also, try power cycling the router—just unplug it, wait a bit, and plug it back in.

Larry Ortiz5 said:Start by reinstalling your network card drivers, then try power cycling the router—unplug it, wait a second, and plug it back in.

I already went through the driver reinstallation process.
It isn't a router issue; everything else is working fine, and my phone connects to the internet via the router without any hiccups.
I even tried using USB tethering through my phone to bypass the router entirely, but the result was identical.
So, we can be absolutely certain the problem lies within the computer itself.

It’s a toss-up between Windows acting up or just a hardware issue—maybe the network card on your motherboard is giving out. If you aren't sitting on any critical files, I’d personally just wipe the drive and do a clean install of Windows. If things still act glitchy after that, then you’ll know for sure you're looking at a physical hardware failure.

Larry Ortiz5 said:Either Windows is acting up, or you're looking at a hardware issue—maybe the network card on the motherboard. If you don't have critical data backed up, I’d personally just wipe the drive and perform a clean install of Windows. If the exact same thing happens after a fresh install, then you know for sure you're dealing with a physical hardware failure.

I am certain this isn't a hardware failure. As I mentioned before, this happens whether I'm using a USB connection or the network card. Besides, Google sites load perfectly fine.

The real headache is that the system won't even let me attempt a clean installation of Windows from scratch.
Initially, I'd be satisfied with a fix that lets me restart the internet connection without having to reboot the entire machine, and eventually, a solution that stops the system from dying on me altogether.

It feels like there is an issue involving IPv4; Google works because they utilize IPv6.

Matthew Young35 said:Honestly, I'd settle for just being able to reset my connection without having to reboot the whole damn machine first.

Just try disabling and then re-enabling the network adapter...

Gave it a shot. It’s a no-go.

Have you tried running this on different browsers yet?
And if you’ve got some security suite or antivirus running in the background, have you actually tried turning it off to see if that's the culprit?

I’ve already tried restarting the adapter. I even tested it with both the firewall and antivirus disabled.
The browser works fine for Google and YouTube, but nothing else will load.
It’s enough to drive me insane.
Oh, and I tried a DNS flush as well. Not a single thing worked.

@placidtinker39/">@@placidtinker39, I’ve been noticing that some of these Windows 7 patches are causing nothing but headaches.
For instance, KB 3086255 basically kills the ability to launch any newly installed software—even the legitimate stuff. I’m guessing you might be running into similar issues with some of these updates too.
I’m starting to seriously consider making the jump to Linux...

Honestly, I’m about fed up with Windows. Last time I tried to run an update, it dragged on for twelve hours straight. And that isn't even an exaggeration.

Just switch over to Windows 10—it'll honestly solve just about everything you're dealing with 🙂

I wouldn't say that's quite the case... I stuck with Windows 10 for about six months and it was decent enough, but the constant stream of updates was driving me absolutely insane. Eventually, I just gave up and moved back to Windows 8, which has actually been working out fine for me so far.
Windows 7 was also pretty solid if you ask me.

So, I started this thread about some glitches I've been dealing with across various Windows versions. I even tried emailing the tech support teams for the software I use, but honestly, even they seemed pretty stumped on where things were actually breaking... so I figured, maybe there's a better way. A buddy of mine used to run a dual boot setup back in the day with Windows XP and Vista, which got me thinking: would there be any real point if I set up a dual boot with Windows 7 and Windows 10? Like, does that even make sense for anyone?

I don't see it that way personally, but at the end of the day, everyone has to make their own call.

I'm with you on that.
But honestly, it all comes down to why you're even looking into it. Are you trying to run some specific piece of hardware or old software that only works on Windows 7?
If you really need it for something niche, Windows 10 has Hyper-V built-in, so you can just spin up a Windows 7 virtual machine and call it a day.

So, I’ve got a few "halfway" software situations going on where things either work or they don't depending on which version of Windows I'm running. Like, my microphone won't boot properly on Windows 7, but then on Windows 10, it works just fine. Or I'll be missing certain codecs on Windows 10, even though everything runs perfectly on Windows 7—specifically when I'm messing around with Bandicam and Audacity. So, I guess I might give dual booting a shot.

So, I picked up an original Windows 7 Key about two and a half years ago.
Everything went smoothly at first—I activated Windows without any issues and used it just fine for those two and a half years. It worked perfectly, I was getting all my updates, everything was totally fine.

But then, out of nowhere a couple of days ago, this message pops up claiming my Windows might not be genuine and telling me I need to download some kind of verification tool.
I guess that program actually installed itself or whatever, and at the time, everything seemed okay. But then I turned my computer back on today, and now it’s straight-up telling me my Windows isn't genuine, throwing this error box right in my face: "Windows 7 build 7601 this copy of windows is not genuine"

Honestly, wtf? Like, if it wasn't original, there's absolutely no way I would have been able to activate it two and a half years ago.🤦

Where'd you pick up the key?

Take a look over on eBay—you can usually snag a key for around $3. Just check out the seller's feedback first, and you'll see they have a perfect rating. Honestly, there's really nothing to worry about; if anyone tried to pull a scam, those sellers would get absolutely crushed by the community in no time.

My audio keeps cutting out on Windows 7. A quick restart seems to fix it temporarily, but I’m starting to suspect my antivirus might be the culprit behind the chaos.
Does anyone have any bright ideas on how I can actually keep AVG running without losing my sound every single time?