i just got a laptop from someone for free
and i cant figure out how to set up internet on it
whenever i try to connect it tries to use dial up but i just have normal cox cable internet
if anyone can guide me through the steps i would be eternally gratefulCall ISP.The Cox cable connects to a modem. Will the modem be directly wired to the laptop? Or will the modem be connected to a wired (or wireless) router/switch box?

Are you trying to establish a wired or wireless connection from the laptop to the internet?
I'm not sure what you have installed on the laptop, but I assume since you are using a cable modem then you do have a NIC installed. And since every time you try and connect to the internet it tries to dial out, it could be a couple of things. You may still have the modem installed on the system. You could try uninstalling it from device manager, by looking for anything that SAYS something like fax modem, or 56K, ETC. If you don't know how to get to device manager here are some ways:

To access the device manager, follow these steps (Win 98):

1. From the START menu, select Settings, and then CONTROL Panel.

2. Double-click the System icon, and then click the Device Manager tab.

Alternatively, you can do the following:

1. On the desktop, right-click the My Computer icon, and select Properties.

2. Click the Device Manager tab.


Also, I don't know what browser you are using either. I will assume that you are using IE. If this is the case sometimes, the browser could still be recognizing the dialup modem. What you need to do is go into Tools, Internet Options, then CONNECTIONS tab. From there you should see Dialup and VPN settings. Not sure how it is on older versions, but that is how it is on IE 7. Anyway, just remove any conflicting items in the window and that should hopefully clear up the problem.