A couple of annoying Windows 7 bugs

[flt]

Hi,

I have 2 annoying bugs with my new Win7 Ultimate install. All latest drivers, patches, updates etc have been applied.
This is a semi-old ASUS A8JP laptop with the following specs
1.86Ghz Core2Duo
2 GB RAM
Intel 3945ABG WiFi (powersaving disabled)
Realtek PCIe GB LAN (powersaving disabled)

One problem is that Windows Defender takes a long time to start and it always shows the main Windows Defender screen on boot when I arrive at the desktop. But it says Windows Defender is not started. It takes maybe 2 minutes before it reports it has started.
How can I at least remove the main window to show upon boot? I do not want to remove Win Defender entirerly just yet, unless there are better non-intrusive alternatives.

The second problem is a bigger problem.
The Internet connection (using WiFi and/or cable LAN) partially stops working after a random amount of time. Disconnecting the AP (or changing AP's) and reconnecting does not work. Signal strength is good as the AP is less than 3 meters away. It is not a channel conflict as there is only 2 more AP's within range and all 3 uses different channels (1, 6 and 11). Besides, this behavor is not seen on my other 2 WiFi connected computers running WinXP.
Changing WiFi routers does not help this problem (Primary is Linksys WRT54GL, secondary is a Zyxel some or other). Connecting using a LAN cable does not solve the problem. I'm guessing at this point it might be some DNS resolving issue, but I am not sure.

What happens is that I can't open up any webpages nor local addresses in any browser any longer. This applies to all browsers (IE8, FF3.55, Safari4, Chrome4).
The browsers simply displays nothing or gives simple error messages to the tune of "The website is not available".
Instant messaging programs already started works fine (eg. Skype, google talk, msn messenger), but after closing or disconnecting it will not reconnect. Only skype works flawlessly at any time.
Ping and tracert works fine.
Is there a fix for this odd behavior?

[iMav]

Why not try using OpenDNS and see if that solves issue #2. Am not really sure why #1 is happening. Do you have any other AV installed as well?

[estra]

Originally Posted by flt

All latest drivers, patches, updates etc have been applied.

By that, do you mean that you have all the latest drivers as provided on ASUS support page, or from component manufacturer? Often, and especially for a non-recent model, a vendor would not provide all latest updates.

Did you get WiFi drivers directly from Intel? If not, - take a look here.

Also, do you use WRT54GL with default firmware provided by Linksys? In my experience, the default firmware is no good at all, I had constant problems with it. Only when I switched to Tomato firmware, the router started to work as it should have been in the first place.

[r.k]

for 1st problem:
Run Registry Editor and navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Run

Check Windows Defender value in Right pane.
It must be "C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MSASCui.exe" -hide
or
"%ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\MSASCui.exe" -hide

Run Services.msc and look for Windows Defender service. D'click to open Properties dialog. Now check the startup type... Change it to Start and also click on Strat button, if it is available.

For reset of problem. Set the IP of your Router manually. or Use Network Troubleshooters to get rid of such internet and network programs.
Action Center >> Troubleshooting

[flt]

1. The registry setting is already set as Ramesh Kumar suggests.
The string looks as %ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\MSASCui.exe -hide
The problem was that in the services settings it was on Automatic (Delayed Start). I remedied that. Thank you.

2. I have the latest drivers as provided by the equipment manufacturer. eg. for the Intel WiFi I have the latest Intel provided drivers.
For my router I have the latest stable Tomato release, and it is running like a champ with my other computers. When the Win7 system stops being able to access the Internet, the other systems still have full access and run as well as at anytime.
Changing to OpenDNS or any other public DNS (eg. Level3) doesn't help. If it was a DNS issue my other computers would stop having Internet access as well as I am using the same DNS for all. I have no Antivirus program running. I have Spybot resident, Spywareblaster and Malwarebytes Anti Malware (I have tried disabling those but it makes no difference).
The IP's are all manually set for all devices, no conflicts. I did try the Network trouble shooter but it only reported it was unable to access the online resource (or something like that), no other help was available. Counter intuitive. Shouldn't the online trouble support be local helpfiles...? The nature of the problem is preventing access to the internet, how can it be diagnosed online?

I appreciate the time you have taken replying. Sorry, none of it helped.

[seti]

Have you done a disk check? Simple thing to miss doing, but try it

[flt]

Originally Posted by seti

Have you done a disk check? Simple thing to miss doing, but try it

Thanks, but no disk errors and defrag reports 0% fragmentation.


Oh and also, even though I have the Win Defender set to -hide in the registry the main windows still pops up on boot. Defender starts instantly now (Thanks to Ramesh Kumar), but still not running as per -hide settings.