Hi Hugh, I'm glad I can finally answer questions I know something about! I work on computers, and I know a few things about them. I read over a lot of the comments, and some of them offer some good advice. I'll summarize them in the order in which I think you should do them. Hopefully that will help get you stable. But I have to assume that you didn't install the new modem yourself? And that the modem that was installed was different than the one that got fried? First and Foremost... Reinstall the driver! If it was installed incorrectly, you will pull your hair out trying to figure out other reasons. So just reinstall it correctly to make sure. Your new modem came with a disk. Put the disk in. Right Click "My Computer", then go to "Properties", then to "Hardware", then to "Device manager". Once in there you should see "Network Adapaters", and in there you should see your modem listed. Double click your modem, and then go to the "Driver" tab, then "Update Driver". From there I can't follow the specifc steps since I am at work and locked out of those functions. But you want to tell the computer to find a new driver, and that YOU want to install it. Do NOT do the auto install. When it asks you from where, tell it from the CD drive. Then browse within the CD to find the specifc driver for that modem for your operating system. Select it, then hit OK and install it. Then reboot your computer. (If you need me to walk you through this on the phone, I will be more than happy to. I will e-mail you my phone number) I think that the driver update is your best bet. That's what the problem sounds like to me. The second culprit could be the modem itself. The third would be the motherboard... but you would probably have bigger problems then just the one you are describing. I doubt that the phone lines are an issue. They don't just go bad like that, lightening or not... but there is always that outside chance, so you are well within your rights to have the phone company do a noise check and integrity check of your lines. Have you looked into internet options other than dial-up? Is DSL an option? or Cable? Cable can get pricey. I had DSL for $15 a month, but I have no idea what they offer where you are. It's certainly worth some investigation.
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