Attn: Elmo

[Stamp]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.games.zone (More info?)

Hi there... you seem to be the resident Zone guru here.

I've gone thorugh the articles in this group to see if I can find a
similar situation but cannot. So here goes.

When I am online if I send a message I got promptly get logged off ZM.
But if someone sends me a ZM first I can reply back and forth without
a problem. Sometimes it goes off on its own as well.

I have uninstalled Zone gaming and reinstalled but all that seems to
do is make it work for a short while and then the same situation
occurs again. I have no installed the SP2 patch so it isn't that and
in the past year or so it has worked fine.

For what it is worth I noticed that this problems seemed to occur last
time that the system 'installed' new files. I still see that screen
almost every time I log on where it says, "installing new files'.


Any thoughts on this one?

Thanks,

S.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.games.zone (More info?)

Stamp@here.com wrote:
>
> Hi there... you seem to be the resident Zone guru here.
>
> I've gone thorugh the articles in this group to see if I can find a
> similar situation but cannot. So here goes.
>
> When I am online if I send a message I got promptly get logged off ZM.
> But if someone sends me a ZM first I can reply back and forth without
> a problem. Sometimes it goes off on its own as well.
>
> I have uninstalled Zone gaming and reinstalled but all that seems to
> do is make it work for a short while and then the same situation
> occurs again. I have no installed the SP2 patch so it isn't that and
> in the past year or so it has worked fine.
>
> For what it is worth I noticed that this problems seemed to occur last
> time that the system 'installed' new files. I still see that screen
> almost every time I log on where it says, "installing new files'.
>
> Any thoughts on this one?
>
> Thanks,

I would suspect a firewall, virus, spyware or a problem with the Zone
Friends secure server.

Not that the Zone software can't have bugs, but this has only been
mentioned maybe once or twice before in NG's where I've seen them.
Because of that, it's easier to suspect a security setting in the
browser, or one of the other things I mentioned earlier. Here's what I
would try:

- Virus or Spyware. Either of these could cause a timeout that
disconnects you from the ZoneFriends server. Make sure your virus
definitions are up-to-date and run SpyBot or Adaware to remove such
malware. The latest version of Spybot has a new feature that alerts you
to changes in the registry. Unless you just added software, or made a
change that would affect the registry, you block the change.

- Zone Server or connectivity to it. Not much you can do other than
hope any damaged server between you and the secure servers is repaired
soon. If it's the secure server, many are being affected by the
disconnect and I'm sure it's being worked on.

- Browser settings.
http://www3.sympatico.ca/nibblesnbits/EnterRooms.html#IE

- Firewall. This happens when you send a message. That suggests that a
port needed is blocked by your firewall or router.
http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits/MultiPlayer.html#fwall
http://www3.sympatico.ca/nibblesnbits/PortRoute.html

Hoping something here helps,

--

+Elmo_Tech
MSN® Gaming Zone™ - Technical Support

 

[Stamp]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.games.zone (More info?)

On Tue, 19 Oct 2004 22:48:02 -0400, +Elmo_Tech
<elmogeek@iglou.invalid> wrote:

Still no joy.

You had suggested in earlier posts that a person delete various files
from MSN Gaming but I find that the directory (programfiles\...\msn
gaming\windows immediately recovers any deleted file.

Most annoying in that the ZM still dies.


Stamp


>Stamp@here.com wrote:
>>
>> Hi there... you seem to be the resident Zone guru here.
>>
>> I've gone thorugh the articles in this group to see if I can find a
>> similar situation but cannot. So here goes.
>>
>> When I am online if I send a message I got promptly get logged off ZM.
>> But if someone sends me a ZM first I can reply back and forth without
>> a problem. Sometimes it goes off on its own as well.
>>
>> I have uninstalled Zone gaming and reinstalled but all that seems to
>> do is make it work for a short while and then the same situation
>> occurs again. I have no installed the SP2 patch so it isn't that and
>> in the past year or so it has worked fine.
>>
>> For what it is worth I noticed that this problems seemed to occur last
>> time that the system 'installed' new files. I still see that screen
>> almost every time I log on where it says, "installing new files'.
>>
>> Any thoughts on this one?
>>
>> Thanks,
>
>I would suspect a firewall, virus, spyware or a problem with the Zone
>Friends secure server.
>
>Not that the Zone software can't have bugs, but this has only been
>mentioned maybe once or twice before in NG's where I've seen them.
>Because of that, it's easier to suspect a security setting in the
>browser, or one of the other things I mentioned earlier. Here's what I
>would try:
>
>- Virus or Spyware. Either of these could cause a timeout that
>disconnects you from the ZoneFriends server. Make sure your virus
>definitions are up-to-date and run SpyBot or Adaware to remove such
>malware. The latest version of Spybot has a new feature that alerts you
>to changes in the registry. Unless you just added software, or made a
>change that would affect the registry, you block the change.
>
>- Zone Server or connectivity to it. Not much you can do other than
>hope any damaged server between you and the secure servers is repaired
>soon. If it's the secure server, many are being affected by the
>disconnect and I'm sure it's being worked on.
>
>- Browser settings.
>http://www3.sympatico.ca/nibblesnbits/EnterRooms.html#IE
>
>- Firewall. This happens when you send a message. That suggests that a
>port needed is blocked by your firewall or router.
>http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits/MultiPlayer.html#fwall
>http://www3.sympatico.ca/nibblesnbits/PortRoute.html
>
>Hoping something here helps,

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.games.zone (More info?)

Stamp@here.ca wrote:
>
> On Tue, 19 Oct 2004 22:48:02 -0400, +Elmo_Tech
> <elmogeek@iglou.invalid> wrote:
>
> Still no joy.
>
> You had suggested in earlier posts that a person delete various files
> from MSN Gaming but I find that the directory (programfiles\...\msn
> gaming\windows immediately recovers any deleted file.
>
> Most annoying in that the ZM still dies.
>
> Stamp
>
> >Stamp@here.com wrote:
> >>
> >> Hi there... you seem to be the resident Zone guru here.
> >>
> >> I've gone thorugh the articles in this group to see if I can find a
> >> similar situation but cannot. So here goes.
> >>
> >> When I am online if I send a message I got promptly get logged off ZM.
> >> But if someone sends me a ZM first I can reply back and forth without
> >> a problem. Sometimes it goes off on its own as well.
> >>
> >> I have uninstalled Zone gaming and reinstalled but all that seems to
> >> do is make it work for a short while and then the same situation
> >> occurs again. I have no installed the SP2 patch so it isn't that and
> >> in the past year or so it has worked fine.
> >>
> >> For what it is worth I noticed that this problems seemed to occur last
> >> time that the system 'installed' new files. I still see that screen
> >> almost every time I log on where it says, "installing new files'.
> >>
> >> Any thoughts on this one?
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >
> >I would suspect a firewall, virus, spyware or a problem with the Zone
> >Friends secure server.
> >
> >Not that the Zone software can't have bugs, but this has only been
> >mentioned maybe once or twice before in NG's where I've seen them.
> >Because of that, it's easier to suspect a security setting in the
> >browser, or one of the other things I mentioned earlier. Here's what I
> >would try:
> >
> >- Virus or Spyware. Either of these could cause a timeout that
> >disconnects you from the ZoneFriends server. Make sure your virus
> >definitions are up-to-date and run SpyBot or Adaware to remove such
> >malware. The latest version of Spybot has a new feature that alerts you
> >to changes in the registry. Unless you just added software, or made a
> >change that would affect the registry, you block the change.
> >
> >- Zone Server or connectivity to it. Not much you can do other than
> >hope any damaged server between you and the secure servers is repaired
> >soon. If it's the secure server, many are being affected by the
> >disconnect and I'm sure it's being worked on.
> >
> >- Browser settings.
> >http://www3.sympatico.ca/nibblesnbits/EnterRooms.html#IE
> >
> >- Firewall. This happens when you send a message. That suggests that a
> >port needed is blocked by your firewall or router.
> >http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits/MultiPlayer.html#fwall
> >http://www3.sympatico.ca/nibblesnbits/PortRoute.html
> >
> >Hoping something here helps,

To remove the Zone files with Windows XP, you have to open Control
Panel, Add/Remove Programs, in the left column click Windows Components,
find the MSN Gaming Zone, and deselect. Close the Control Panel, then
reenter, add the Zone back in. That will remove many of the files.

--

+Elmo_Tech
MSN® Gaming Zone™ - Technical Support