Curmudgeonly & Skeptical

The blue screen sounds like the NIC card in your wife's computer is bad. You can try uninstalling the card, taking it out, rebooting and then reinstalling it. If it STILL craps out, then the card is prolly bad. I'm amazed at how often those cards crap out.

Make sure your NIC cards are set to dynamic IP assignment. Sometimes it can take a minute or so for the network to find the other computers. That ALWAYS happens. Try doing a "find a computer" and enter the name of your wife's computer. That has the effect of "kicking" the network to recognize the other machine.

If you have to buy another NIC card, I'd recommend you buy a wireless hub and a wireless NIC for your wife's machine (they sell a bundle at Costco for about $130). DO NOT BUY THE MICROSOFT BUNDLE! Or a Microsoft HUB. Linksys, US Robotics, etc., not NOT Microsoft (it sucks). I know it seems like overkill, but you get to throw away the 100' of cord AND your wife can move the computer to different places in the house, without having to rerun the wire. (Not that I have ANY experience with women who rearrange and redecorate and hate being confined to a particular place because of a silly cord.)

The wireless NIC connects with USB.

Yup, I concur. It sounds like the NIC card.

Unfortunately you're much too far away for me to come around and beat the shit (in the figurative sense) out of your PC's. I have lots of experience with that (I rate my computer skill at "professional").

Okay, but answer me this. If I buy that deal and plug them in, is that it? No fooling around with settings, blah blah blah? The cards on both machines are Net Gear 311's, and both seem to be working. The blue screen message is "Explorer has performed an illegal function and must shut down."

No Rodger there's always settings ;-) Plug'n'Pray has made things a lot easier than the old DOS days (been there done that) but networking is one of those area's where you need to have some knowledge of what's going on.

I'm not sure why explorer blue screens. That sounds more like a software configuration issue. I assume that you router is set to be a DHCP server and your machines are configured to get an IP addy from a DHCP server.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about then you prob need a local expert. Debugging remotely is very hard.

I'm sorry, but not everyone is meant to network.

Seriously, what you're complaining about is that computers are general purpose machines. This makes them infinitely adjustable, and therefore in need of configuration.

Toasters do one thing - no flexibility, and consequently no configuration. Same with refrigerators.

If you don't want to pay someone money to do it, then you'll have to pay with your time, with study and learning by doing.

I'm afraid the medium of blog comments probably won't suffice...

Rodger- you are in desperate need of some serious feng shui.

Or you could call Senator Orrin Hatch and tell him you downloaded some pirated music. BOOM--no more computers ;-)

ROTFLOL.

By cooincidence I just saw this link on Drudge. Seems Hatch is using unlicensed software on his official website. As someone once said in a movie "Smoke 'Em!".

Julie, if anyone could tempt me it would be you, but I'm happily married.

That was a joke Julie.

There are relatively few settings in the hardware I've suggested--which is why I said "no microsoft hardware" becuase you'll spend the next two days with settings and putting pins into doll repicas of me.

The Linksys wireless router requires that you plug it in to your existing hub and make ONE minor setting on the USB Wireless NIC on your wife's machine. I'll even be happy to send you my phone number and can talk you through that setting.

For the purposes of determining the source of the error, I'd agree with Annoyed. Your Explorer problem may be a software issue. When you say "Explorer" do you mean IE or do you mean "Windows Explorer"? If you mean the latter, I'd think you have a serious corruption problem with the NIC card installation. If reinstalling it does solve the problem (and yes, you have to PHYSICALLY remove the card to test that out), then your problems may be more serious. Try this: Swap the card in your machine with your wife's (you don't have to uninstall anything, since they are the same). If it still blue screens, then you know it's software and not hardware.

I'd offer to drive over, which is the easiest solution all around, but it may be a little far. You could put everything in the car and drive it to me, but that solution prolly isn't workable either.

BTW, I really do understand and can offer sympathy. When I started looking into setting up the VPN on my router, I went in to full denial "I DO NOT WANT TO KNOW THIS" mode. A geek friend is coming in July and will do it for me.

Rodger, Did this blue screen just start happening once you installed the card? I once had a problem like that and it was because there was spyware installed and it crashed, VX2 I think it was. Now I run spybot and adaware/AND also virus check with AVG. That seemed to clear up my internet explorer problem. You may wanna look at the blue screen and research the code or problem on the internet (it may be a common problem with the brand). It isnt hard at all to make it work, your router shoulda come with some sort of software. hope this may help.

The wife's hard disk was bad. Am replacing it.

You see? You think you could at least trust your wife, and what happens? She shows up with a bad hard disk.

I blame it on the corrosive effect of TV on American society and morals...

Oh Christ, you take advice from anyone don't you. I'm willing to bet that there's nothing wrong with the HDD. However, the total reinstall of the OS and application software will probably fix at least one of your problems.

"feng shui", isn't that where they shove the pearls up your rectum and pull them out at the moment of truth?

I see you've served in Korea Casca?

Anyway - MY WIFE's COMPUTER - not the drive - is what crapped out.

Yanking those pearls, without warning, will certainly cause something to crap out...

Hey, check out this guy's Flight Simulator set up: Here

Or, if the comment thingee strips out html:

http://members.chello.nl/~s.ferris/

That's the same deal. I shot him down with a Spad over France and took his set up. His woman too.

Very interesting post