computer disconnecting internet for others

[amnesiac]

Hi, I have an issue that I'm trying to figure out, and was just curious if any of you might have an idea what is going on.

One of my roommate's has a pretty old computer (I think the processor is a P2 or P3) and is running on Windows XP. The problem here is, everytime he seems to go online (I'm not sure if its a specific program), his internet connection is fine, but then he disconnects everybody else in the apartment. We're using cable, running on a netgear wireless router (but he's connected through an ethernet cable). We know its his computer because there's been like 4 computers on in this apartment, and everybody's online and nobody's disconnected until he goes online. I asked him if he has a virus/ad-ware scanner and he said yes, he has norton and Ad-aware. I can't really figure out what the problem is and it is very frustrating because he'll disconnect me, then i'll reset the router to get it working again, and then he'll go online again (i notice he's always trying to run msn messenger and aol instant messenger), and i'm disconnected again,....and back and forth. Sometimes he'll disconnect us like 10 times in about 15 minutes, before I get extremely upset and give up. I've been trying to tell him to try to figure out the problem (as I do not want to invade his privacy and go on his computer and mess around with it), but it's become so bad that I've come to try to figure it out myself. Please inform me of any suggestions you may have for me!

[JamesT]

Sounds like a virus. Tell him to update his virus definitions and scan for viruses. Im no expert i remeber something like this happening to me. I got a virus from mIRC and couldnt connect to the network and i disconnected everyone on it like you.