Update:

Did get the java downloaded & installed. No change.
Also turned off Power Mgmt options - in that other dialog of similar symptom
affected users that had left their PC for some time. No change.

Did both links that you recommended. The second one seems to have made
things worse; previously when browser would hang - the XP Network
Diagnostics would appear - and that process would clear the browser for more
browsing. Now - it results in the message that winsock needs to be reset.
So I do a netsh winsock reset catalog - - - but unfortunately that requires a
reboot....so that is a bummer.

checked XP system update - and I am current in that department.

bottom line: whether IE8 or Firefox, with firewall & anti virus off, direct
connect to cable modem; and can browse to some sites - like google and this
site and southwest airlines.....but some sites always hang: delta airlines
delta.com, any streaming video....

it would seem the sites that hang are dishing out alot of things...or
perhaps it is the type of things they are dishing out....or possibly refer to
an extremely long url string........but either way during the prolonged
connection the handshaking goes bad.....

as noted in the original post - XP network diagnostics use to note a
semaphore timeout.....not sure if that is a red herring or not.....


"John Wunderlich" wrote:

=?Utf-8?B?R0JB?= wrote in
:

sorry for leaving out info; am connected directly to a TimeWarner
cable modem.

the firewall/antivirus are off just as a trouble shooting need....

my MTU field was blank - so I put in 1300.

one more thing - downloads such as a file attachment to an email
seem to work....at least so far I've done a couple upto 2M and
they've worked ok...

it is the streaming media that really never works at all or at
least not for very long....I went to youtube and tried it after
the 1300 MTU entry and the download to fireup the video went again
into hang mode of never ending....of course I never let it run
forever to see if it ever completes....

in the dslreports...mine were not all at default like their
example; mine a scale: yes
timestamp: no
select acks: yes
path mtu disc yes
black hole: no
max dup: 2
ttl: 64

and then went to http://www.dslreports.com/tweaks and saw my
java applets weren't working....so haven't resolved that point....


For the Java problem, try a manual download on another computer,
transfer the file to yours, and run the install:
http://java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

You might try to reset your IP Stack:
"How to reset Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/299357

LSPFix or WinXPFix will sometimes solve stubborn network problems.

LSPFix:
http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm
WinsockxpFix:
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/winsockxpfix.html

Jack's recommendation to use a router is, IMHO, a good one although it
doesn't help you solve this problem. Make sure you have a good anti-
virus checker.

Good Luck,
John
.