This is the short version of my problem...
When I am wired to a network, my connection will peridiocially die and then with a wiggle of the cable it comes back. Wireless and modem use work flawlessly. IT IS NOT THE CABLES, AND IT IS NOT THE NETWORK AND IT IS NOT THE SPECIFIC NETWORK PORT. I've tried different cables, that work with other computers. and NO other computer on this or any of 3 networks i connect to has ever had a problem on any and all ports or cables except for mine.
Any wiggle of the cable and connection drops, another little wiggle and connection comes back. Tech support is telling me to try all sorts of invasive and rediculous measures to try to correct the problem, while no doubt causeing more problems. (The last solution would have me completely wipe out my hard drive and re-install everything) This is the equivalent of having an LCD cracked in half and them telling me to re-install windows.

Is it possible that some software error can cause me to lose network connectivity due to a physical movement of the network cable??
I am pretty technically inclined and I beleive this to be impossible but I need to have really knowledgeable people give me some feedback before I go through with this seemingly insane attempt at fixing the problem


The long version is best told by my emails to and from tech support..

MY email to them about the problem
Problem: Network Adapter
Operating System: Windows XP
Problem Description:



My computer is having problems with the ethernet port. The connection is
dropping (message reads "A network cable is unplugged") and then coming
back moments later. The network and all other computers on the network are
working problem free so it is my computer. I beleive it is a hardware
problem because all other devices (wireless, telephone modem) connect fine
and without interuption. How would I go about havign the problem fixed?
Thanks


I have checked to make sure that there is no problem with the network, and
that no other computers are having the same difficulty. Whenever I get
disconnected, I move the network cable plugged into the computer a little
and the connection comes back. There are also no problems with any of the
cables because I have taken cables used on other computers that are working
fine, and this has happened in many different places on different wired
networks where the only problem is my computer's connection.
***********************************************

a second response to an email asking me about the problem

> Moving the cable around does indeed cause a drop in network connectivity.
> Although it usually drops without any movement, moving it does bring itback.
> Moving the cable though DOES cause the connection to drop.


Thier last response...


Dear Ronny,

Thanks again for contacting Dell Technical Support.

We understand about the issue that you are still having as of
now.

I. Remove Network Adapters and Other Devices in safe mode. (Windows
2000/XP)

BOOT THE COMPUTER INTO SAFE MODE -
* Restart the computer. At the blue Dell screen, rapidly tap
the F8 key (do not hold it down)
* At some point, the Advanced Options menu will appear
* Scroll to and select Safe Mode [press Enter]
* Windows will start in Safe Mode. Close any boxes that may open,
just get to the desktop

and

Click the Start, click Settings, click Control Panel.
The Control Panel window appears.
Double-click the System icon.
Click the Hardware tab.
Click Device Manager.The Device Manager window appears.

Click the plus (+) sign to the left of Other Devices , then right-
click each item and click Uninstall.
Click the plus (+) sign to the left of Network adapters, right-
click each item and click Uninstall.
Close the Device Manager.
Restart the system.
If the Add New Hardware Wizard automatically runs, click Cancel.

II. Reinstall NIC driver and protocol - 2000/XP

Boot to safe mode

* Restart the computer. At the blue Dell screen, rapidly tap
the F8 key (do not hold it down)
* At some point, the Advanced Options menu will appear
* Scroll to and select Safe Mode [press Enter]
* Windows will start in Safe Mode. Close any boxes that may open,
just get to the desktop

Right click My computer
Click Manage
Choose Device Manager from the list to the left.
Remove all items under Network Adapters and Other devices.

Restart the system.

III. Clear out the startup enviornment. - XP

*To clear out the startup environment in Windows® XP, perform
the following steps:

Click the Start button, and click Run.
The Run window appears.
Type msconfig in the Open: field and click the OK button.
The System Configuration Utility window appears.
Click the radio button for Selective Startup.
Click to uncheck the Process SYSTEM.INI File checkbox.
Click to uncheck the Process WIN.INI File checkbox.
Click to uncheck the Load Startup Items checkbox.
Click the Services tab.
The Services pane appears.
Click to check the Hide All Microsoft Services checkbox.
Click the Disable All button.
Click the OK button.
A restart request window appears.
Click the Yes button to restart.

IV. Pull the PCI bus from Safe Mode. 2000/XP

*To pull the PCI bus from Safe Mode, perform the following steps:

Remove the system from the docking station, if applicable.
Remove all USB devices, external peripherals, and PC cards from
the system.
Boot to Safe Mode.

* Restart the computer. At the blue Dell screen, rapidly tap
the F8 key (do not hold it down)
* At some point, the Advanced Options menu will appear
* Scroll to and select Safe Mode [press Enter]
* Windows will start in Safe Mode. Close any boxes that may open,
just get to the desktop

V. Run System Restore

* Click Start- (All) Programs- Accessories- System Tools- System
Restore
* Click "Restore my computer to an earlier time"
* Click Next, a calendar with a list of restore points will appear
* Click a day of the calendar preceding your problems, and then
select the appropriate restore point in the list of restore points
for that day
* Click Next
* Verify the information, and then click Next
* Once rebooted, verify that restoring the system has fixed your
problem. If it has not, you may need to restore to an earlier
restore point

VI. If your operating system has not been reinstalled previously,
there are 4 ways to correct the issues. Each one is more intrusive
then the other, so be sure to try them in order:
1) System File Checker - restores critical operating system files
from the Windows XP CD
2) System Restore - restores the operating system to a previous
date
3) Repair reinstallation - restores all of the operating system
files from the Windows CD
4) Clean installation - erases/formats the entire hard disk drive
and installs the operating system

(1ST OPTION, replaces all Windows system files)
System File Checker -
* Insert the black Operating System Reinstallation CD into the
top CD\DVD\CD-R -RW\DVD+R +RW drive. Close any boxes that may
open
* Click Start- Run
* Type sfc /scannow [press Enter]
* Follow any prompts. When finished, remove the CD
* Click Start- Shutdown- Restart- OK or Click Start- Turn Off
Computer- Restart

(2ND OPTION, restores the computer to an earlier date)
System Restore -
* Click Start- (All) Programs- Accessories- System Tools- System
Restore
* Click "Restore my computer to an earlier time"
* Click Next, a calendar with a list of restore points will appear
* Click a day of the calendar preceding your problems, and then
select the appropriate restore point in the list of restore points
for that day
* Click Next
* Verify the information, and then click Next
* Once rebooted, verify that restoring the system has fixed your
problem. If it has not, you may need to restore to an earlier
restore point

(3RD OPTION, overwrites the current operating system with a clean
operating system)
Repair installation -
* Insert the black Operating System Reinstallation CD into the
top CD\DVD\CD-R -RW\DVD+R +RW drive
* Remove any external devices from the computer: (except the
mouse & keyboard) printer, scanner, camera, joystick
* Configure your computer to boot to the top CD\DVD\CD-R -RW\DVD+R
+RW drive
- Restart the system
- When the Dell logo screen appears, press the [F2] key to enter
the System Setup program
- Press the [Down Arrow] key on your keyboard to highlight Boot
Sequence
- [press Enter] to display the available boot devices
- Press the [Up Arrow] key or the [Down Arrow] key to highlight
IDE CD-ROM Device
- Press the [plus +] key or the [minus -] key on the keyboard
to move IDE CD-ROM Device to the TOP of the list
- Press the [ESC] key
- Press the [ESC] key to Save Changes and Exit
- When you are prompted to Save changes and exit now, [press
Enter]
* Your system will now boot to the Windows XP CD that you had
inserted into the CD\DVD\CD-R -RW\DVD+R +RW drive
* The following message appears: Press any key to boot from the
CD
* Press the Spacebar to boot to the Windows XP CD
* After several moments of initializing some modules, the Windows
XP Setup screen will appear
NOTE: The second option reads R=Repair, Do NOT Press the R Key
at this time. This option is for the Recovery Console. There
will be another repair option available in this process
* [press Enter] the Windows XP Licensing Agreement appears
* Read the license agreement
* Press the key to agree
* Setup will search for previous versions of Windows
* Press the R key to repair
NOTE: Setup will examine your computer and copy files to the
Windows installation folders. This process will take some time.
Once it has completed, setup will initialize and then restart
the computer
* Do not press any keys when the message Press any key to boot
from the CD appears. Let Windows boot normally.
The amount of time it takes to complete the above process will
vary depending upon the size of the hard drive and the speed
of your system. You can step away from the computer at this time.
* Setup will pause at the Regional and Language Options window
* Click the Next button
* Setup will continue to install files
* After several minutes the Welcome to Microsoft Windows window
appears
* Click the Next button
* The Thank You! window appears
* Click the Next button, follow the end directions

(4TH OPTION, loses all data on hard disk drive)
Clean installation -
* Insert the black Operating System Reinstallation CD into the
top CD\DVD\CD-R -RW\DVD+R +RW drive
* Remove any external devices from the computer: (except the
mouse & keyboard) printer, scanner, camera, joystick
* Configure your computer to boot to the top CD\DVD\CD-R -RW\DVD+R
+RW drive
- Restart the system
- When the Dell logo screen appears, press the [F2] key to enter
the System Setup program
- Press the [Down Arrow] key on your keyboard to highlight Boot
Sequence
- [press Enter] to display the available boot devices
- Press the [Up Arrow] key or the [Down Arrow] key to highlight
IDE CD-ROM Device
- Press the [plus +] key or the [minus -] key on the keyboard
to move IDE CD-ROM Device to the TOP of the list
- Press the [ESC] key
- Press the [ESC] key to Save Changes and Exit
- When you are prompted to Save changes and exit now, [press
Enter]
* Your system will now boot to the Windows XP CD that you had
inserted into the CD\DVD\CD-R -RW\DVD+R +RW drive

* The following message appears: Press any key to boot from the
CD
* Press the [Spacebar] to boot to the Windows XP CD. The Windows
XP Setup screen appears
* [press Enter]to setup Windows. The Windows XP Licensing Agreement
screen appears
* Press the [F8] key to accept the license agreement. The partitioning
screen appears
* If the hard drive is already partitioned (this is most common),
[press Enter]to continue.
* If the hard drive partitions are not listed or detected, you
will need to create a partition on the hard drive. Press the
key and then follow the on-screen prompts to create a partition.
If you are unsure which settings to select, you may want to use
the default selections that are displayed

* If your hard drive already contains a copy of a Windows operating
system, a Caution screen appears. Press the key to continue.
The format options screen appears:
- Format the partition using the NTFS file system (Quick)
- Format the partition using the FAT file system (Quick)
- Format the partition using the NTFS file system
- Format the partition using the FAT file system
- Leave the current file system in place (no changes)
* Dell recommends that you select the first option since that
is how we shipped it from the factory
* Choose "Format the partition using the NTFS file system (Quick)",
then [press Enter]. The Caution screen appears if you select
to format the hard drive
* Press the key to format the hard drive. The setup program
will now copy files to your system. This will take several minutes,
please wait. After the files have been copied, a message appears
and notifies you that the computer will be restarted
* Press the [Enter] key to restart the computer or a timer will
count down and restart the computer automatically
* When the computer restarts, the following message appears:
Press any key to boot from the CD. Do NOT press any keys!!!

* The Windows XP Setup window appears. Many devices will be detected
during this process. This will take several minutes, please wait
* Once this process is completed, the Regional and Language Options
window appears
* Click Next
* The Personalize Your Software window appears.
* In the Name: field, type your name. Optionally, you may type
your organization's name into the Organization: field
* Click Next
* If you are installing Windows XP Home Edition, the "What's
your computer's name" window appears
* Click Next to accept the default selections
* If you are installing Windows XP Professional: The Computer
Name and Administrator Password window appears
* Type a name for this computer in the Computer Name: field (or
you may accept the default). Type a password in the Administrator
Password: field and then type the same password in the Confirm
Password: field. Click Next to continue.
NOTE: If you have a modem installed in your computer, you may
be prompted to type the area code for your location.
* The Date and Time Settings window appears. Click to select
the appropriate time zone for your location from the Time Zone
field
* Click Next
* Depending upon your network configuration, you may be prompted
for additional information regarding your network card (such
as the domain name and workgroup name). If you are unsure of
these settings, contact your Network Administrator or accept
the default selections. After all hardware has been detected
and the files have been copied to the hard drive, the system
will restart. When the computer restarts, the following message
appears: Press any key to boot from the CD. Do NOT press any
keys!!!
* Once the Desktop appears, eject/remove the black Operating
System Reinstallation CD from the top CD\DVD\CD-R -RW\DVD+R +RW
drive
* You may be prompted for user information. Type the name of
any additional users that will be using the computer
* Click Next to continue

After installing the operating system, you need to install the
drivers and software for the system. Dell provided you with many
software CDs, insert them one at a time and follow the prompts
that appear. Windows XP provides native driver support for many
hardware devices that may be installed on your computer. These
devices may not require updates or driver installations; however,
for optimal performance Dell recommends you install the most
current drivers available for your system. To help you install
your drivers and related software for your Dell computer, view
or print step-by-step instructions from the Dell Software Reinstall
Guide at:
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/org

VII. If reinstalling the operating system does not fix the issue,
the network jack needs to be replaced.
VIII. Please provide verification of the following information
in case the network jack needs to be replaced: