Skype
 

I downloaded Skype today, and although it allowed me to set up an account and add my personal contact's telephone phone numbers, etc.... everytime I hit on anything Skype related, I lost my DSL connection!

I've rebooted my computer several times now and that seems to work, but I'm not overly impressed about having to do that over and over.

For those who do use Skype, does this sound normal to you?

Is it Internet OR Skype, but not both at once?

I did have it downloaded once before, and I remember having similar problems when I first tried to set it up. I un-installed it that time because no-one else I knew was using it.

no Anne that doesnt sound normal is the firewall blocking skype by chance? you may need to add it to the exceptions list, you can look up this screen name I also have skype, and we have realitives we have cam meetings too its nice to see my bro or cousin or his triplets its kind of cool, it did take twink and I a few weeks to figure out how to add a friend lol but it is neat

skype
 

might have a .dll file that is duplicated in your DSL file.

This happened to us, when we got DSL. Luckily we got a
error message that we looked up on the net and then found out how to fix it. You rename the old file so the computer does not crash. The DSL .dll was duplicating our Windows registry.

Also our DSL loaded a program into the bottom tray, that is always active. There might be a conflict with that. (I disabled it since it is only used for troubleshooting, when we had our
problems with the net last Dec. That problem turned out to be a faulty router by NetGear which we replaced.). The DSL program allows for them to watch you...remotely.

There are just so many things that can go wrong.
I'd type into Google... Skype troubleshooting, or Skype conflicts etc and see what others are talking about.

I set it up once but never did use it, then removed it, so I'm not much help on this one.

We have Skype on our computer so that I can talk to my grandad who lives abroad and we never had that problem when downloading it. We just downloaded it and then we were able to speak to whoever we wanted, as long as they were a contact and had Skype themselves! We can also use the iternet whilst talking to people which is really good, it takes a little bit longer but it works well most of the time!

Have you taken a look at the Skype 'Help' website? My mums used that before and she says you can just type in a question that you need help with and it should hopefully give you an answer and tell you what to do.

The link is: http://www.skype.com/help/guides/

I hope you get it sorted soon, it sounds really frustrating!!:hug:

Thank you everyone.

Ali, they say great minds think alike, and I was just looking at that same page that you gave me the link to. :D

I haven't found an answer yet, but there was a similar question where some-one's computer froze each time he accessed Skype. His problem was due to an Internet Security issue.

Frank, you mentioned that the firewall might be blocking Skype and I may need to add it to the exceptions list. Would that be a Windows firewall thing, or to do with my McAfee virus scanner. And....how do I do that please?

The Q's & A's also mentioned that CPU usage could be a problem. I checked all my non system CPU's and there didn't seem to be anything untoward there. :confused:

Anne, do you use Zone Alarm?

If you use IE, you can add to the list of safe sites. That might help too.

Thank you Curious, but no, I don't use Zone Alarm.....and I use Firefox instead of IE.

'Tis so very frustrating!:confused:

BUT........ I just finished downloading it to my laptop (I did desktop yesterday) and the same thing happened. The only thing "extra" I think I have in common with the two computers is both are running McAfee virus scanner. Does that help solve anything?

Koala, I can't help really as I don't have Skype, but I would try searching in
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/

It's an Aussie site.

e.g. I did a search for Internet loses connection

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum...fm/836281.html

EDITED TO ADD: Scrap all that. I ran some searches. There's one question in there similar to yours but it's never been answered.

Have you contacted your ISP Help desk?

http://www.skype.com/help/guides/firewalls/mcafee.html
SKYPE and Firewalls.

1. Launch McAfee Security Center (Start > All Programs > McAfee > McAfee Security Center).

2. Select “Personal firewall plus” tab from the left hand menu.

3. Click on “View the Internet Applications List”.

4. Find and select Skype in the list of Internet Applications.

5. Right click on the Permissions column.

6. Select “Allow Full Access” from the drop-down menu.

Congratulations, you have successfully updated your McAfee firewall.

Restart Skype, it will automatically reconnect (this can take up to two minutes).

If Skype cannot still connect, try restarting your computer or contact your system administrator or ISP for further assistance.

No not yet Lara, and I tried the permissions thing with McAfee (thank you again Lara), but I'm still no further advanced!

I guess we just ruled out McAfee though, so it sounds like the help desk must be next.

It's just not going to happen for me is it? :confused:

Murphy's Law says things are never so bad that they can't get worse.....:(

Darn. I was so hoping that would work for you.
I'm sorry everything's happening at once for you right now, Koala. Honestly and truly though it could be something your ISP could sort out for you really fast. (although they're not usually very FAST at all are they? lol)

You obviously aren't with Bigpond then! :D

I know. I'm using a wireless broadband connection as I don't want to have to put in a landline. Thing is that to get my pre-paid account activated I had to spend 25 minutes on my mobile phone and I don't think I was taking to anyone in Australia, I actually think I was talking to Mumbai. I've not found out whether it was a free call or not. I guess it was. We'll see. The freecall number they'd given me for activation didn't work from a mobile phone, it only worked from a landline, so I had to use a totally different help desk phone number.

Hey Anne~ I downloaded Skype and can hear the other person talking, the phone rings online etc, but the caller can't hear me. I can't find the microphone on my laptop. Anyone know anything about Dell Inspiron laptop microphones???

I'm about to take the Skype back off my pc, as it keeps giving me alarms.

ARGGGGGGGGHHHHHH! Good luck Anne!

I've got the Dell Inspiron laptop as well DM, and the booklet tells me the mike is on each side of the webcam (see 1 and 4 in the picture, unless I'm dumb!)!

Don't ask me how to work it 'cos I haven't workd that out yet, but there's a built in mike on my desktop as well.

Here you are DM. I copied the page from my Dell Inspiron instruction book.


Also....to stop Skype alarming. Make sure you have it set to "Offline".

maybe this will help??

http://support.dell.com/support/topi...E&doclang=en#2

I think if you go into your computers control panel and look under the sounds and audio = with the video, audio settings you should see voice or recording??

What is the number of your dell ?

I don't know about you DM, but my Dell laptop is a 1525.....but......all this Skype stuff has me pulling out my hair in frustration right now! http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u...ated/gnome.gif

I've decided to put it the "too hard basket" for now.... but I'll probably have another try when I have less things on my mind.

Thank you everyone for trying to help.

I was thinking that might be a good idea for now too, but didn't want to say it until you did. :o Different people seem to have different limits, but frankly I (personally) would be feeling totally overwhelmed with it all by now.

:hug:

Jo~ My Dell is an Inspiron 6000. I don't have the mike or camera indicators that show on Anne's pic in her post. My DS ordered my laptop for me a few yrs ago and I don't think I have a built in mike where indicated.

I'm w/you Anne~ I'm giving up on it for now. There isn't any frustration left in me to fight w/my pc right now. This is a great forum though, and I need to visit it more, if not just to read. I'm such a pc illiterate.

Thanks all~~~~~

Mic /sound -
I'm not completely sure but a headphone set with a mic might have a better sound quality than the built in mic for using skype or other phone type programs.
might be easier to set up too.


That doesn't help Anne with her loosing connection problems.:(
skype uses the internet as the "phone line" so something has to be conflicting in the set up or the firewall settings.
when you are ready to try again let us know..

The only other thing I can think of is to totally remove the whole program, and use a reg cleaner to get any traces of it out of your registry, restart computer and then try a fresh skype install and go from there...
skype connection info-
http://support.skype.com/en_US/categ...NECTION_ISSUES


There are a few other similar programs that might work..

here's one than uses no downloads just make the call trhu the website page - there are some free{limited} and a rates /pricing page for calls but I don't know how the rates compare with your regular phone rates.{long distance etc}
http://evaphone.com/services

misc - other info & sites -
http://www.voipnow.org/2007/04/want_free_voip_.html
http://www.nimbuzz.com/en/desktop/
http://www.snapfiles.com/Freeware/comm/fwvoice.html
http://www.tuitalk.com/free-phone-ca...al-calls.zhtml
http://www.cnet.com/topic-software/p...l?tag=lia;lcol

probably info overload - I know my eyes are crossed now LOL

One of the lists had the Google talk }so I'll install it and see how it looks when i have time.

Thanks Jo, and thank you Lara as well.

I will take a break for now, but it's good to now these suggestions are here for me to log back into when I'm ready to try again.

There's just too much going through my head for now.......:eek: