Windows 7 Network connection, no internet access

[talisman26]

ACER Eee PC running Win7 with all windows updates. The problem is the machine running Windows 7 Home Premium intermittently loses "internet access". Where the bars are full, but the ! shows and there is no connectivity. The other Win7 machine is set to automatically install updates and is running fine, although it seemed as though I was restoring it every week or so to get connectivity.

Back to the point, the machine in question is Win7 and all available updates are installed. Bonjour service is "stopped" (but it runs fine on the other Win7 machine), TCP/IP was reset, Winsock is reset, registry/temp files cleaned via CCleaner. Zone Alarm Free and AVG are running, but they were running this morning, yesterday and a while ago when it lost connectivity again. One time I went to bed annoyed ready to set the %^&* thing on fire, but in the morning it was working fine!

I'm not exactly a N00B, but I'm dying for an explanation or a fix other than restoring every time "internet access" isn't available. Mind you, this house is full of nerds...Android phone, two iPhones, Lubuntu, Win7 Basic, Wii...all wireless and a wired Vonage that all works great.

I was a member of That Computer Guy forums for a couple of years and learned a lot from the moderators and know how much work you guys do to give us this free service. Thanks a bunch fellahs and am looking forward to working with you!

****EDIT****
I trolled through a bunch of threads, but none of the problems/solutions worked for me. I thought I should mention I've done a little homework.

 

[Trouble]

Hello and welcome to the forum.
double check taskmanager processes tab, show processes for all users, for any instance of mDNSresponder.exe
It doesn't always or only come by way of Bonjour / iTunes, it can also be a product of multiple Adobe apps as well as several other things.
Additionally, when the "intermittent loss" occurs to a quick check of what's going on by launching a command prompt and typing
ipconfig /all
examine the IP addressing schema specific to the adapter you are using and see if there is anything missing (default gateway or DNS server address(es).
type
ipconfig /release
and then
ipconfig /renew
confirm the renewal of a complete and proper IP addressing schema by retyping
ipconfig /all
use the ping command and see what you can ping
inside edge of the router
external IP address like 209.85.145.105

other than restoring every time "internet access" isn't available

when you say "restoring", do you mean a system restore to an earlier point in time is how you typically resolve the issue?
If so then it may very well be a driver being installed by the Windows Update Utility which is problematic or less than optimal for your hardware device. So..... stop that!
Click the start orb and type
advanced system settings
and hit enter
select the hardware tab
click the device installation settings button
select
no let me choose what to do
and
never install driver software from Windows Update
click save changes.
Personally if I was having network problems I would remove (uninstall) both Zone Alarm and AVG completely, at least until such time as I was able to stabilize my network. Not sure about Zone Alarm and how to get rid of all remnants but use this for the AVG AVG - Download tools and utilities
Consider replacing with Link Removed due to 404 Error for the time being.
After removing double check the properties of your network adapter
click the start orb and type
ncpa.cpl
select then right click your network adapter and choose properties
In the middle frame titled This connection uses the following items:
uncheck any references to any such third party products.
Regards
Randy

 

[talisman26]

Randy, thanks for the reply. We did a system restore last night to an earlier time, and that didn't work either. I suggested an even earlier time, but Win7 reported a failure, so we just "undid" the system restore and that fixed our problem. This morning checking your suggestions I'd done everything except mDNSresponder.exe and it is running now. I'm loathe to uninstall AVG/Zone Alarm because they work so well (I don't think it's my problem) but I'll keep it in mind. The updates aren't drivers for anything; they're all security updates. We don't use IE but Chrome as a browser, but on my old forums we always recommended Automatic Updates enabled. Is this not good advice anymore? For now since all the restoring operations, connectivity is fine and everything is running as it should. I'm sure it will come back however.

 

[Trouble]

but on my old forums we always recommended Automatic Updates enabled. Is this not good advice anymore? For now since all the restoring operations, connectivity is fine and everything is running as it should. I'm sure it will come back however.

I wasn't suggesting that you prevent automatic updates from running, just that you prevent the Windows Update Utility from including device drivers in those updates. While I am sure others will disagree, I haven't had any issues with allowing Automatic Updates for years. But I never allow device drivers to be installed from Microsoft (as those have often and will likely continue to result in problems). If I ever get desperate enough to actually need a driver from Microsoft (which has happened on occasion) I just fire up IE and go to the Microsoft Update Catalog and use the device's hardware IDs to get it manually.
If or probably more likely when the problem returns use the command prompt and the ipconfig /all as well as the ping utility to see if you can figure out what is going on when the problem is present and compare that information with the same data when everything is working fine.
You can also use the
route print command to make sure that none of your network interfaces are being directed to a 0.0.0.0 gateway as per
The Default Gateway may have been set to 0.0.0.0 on a Windows Vista-based or later OS running Apple
Regards
Randy