Random Modem Death on dv7

(( I hope this was the right place to post this. I apologize if it isn't. ))


The only connection I have access to anymore is dialup, so this is a rather important issue to me. It makes and breaks whether I can even connect on my computer. Anyway...

I was connected to dialup, and in the middle of chatting on AIM and loading a page, it disconnected. I figured it was just the phoneline being moody, thought nothing of it, and let it go into the reconnect stage. Except... it got no dial tone and made a strange, dull, roaring noise. It said there was no dial tone, and the diagnose function said to plug in a cable. But there was a phone line in it.

I have since spent countless hours on the phone with HP tech support, to no avail. And the ISP isn't at fault, either. The same ISP and connection works fine on any other computer I try, with the same phone line. The telephone gets dial tone, as well. I have done a system restore. Didn't work. I have tried connecting from that fancy default admin account (so I don't know tech jargon...), and that didn't work either. I have tried restarting, shutting down and rebooting, running on battery only, and everything else that I and tech support could come up with. Including uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers. Nothing works.

The computer itself is telling me that the modem is working properly. But the modem is lying about having no dial tone. The closest to my issue I could find elsewhere through google was unsolved and happened after Vista updated itself. I have my Vista set to not get updates, so that shouldn't be an issue. Plus it wasn't running slowly at the time, so it couldn't have been splitting the connection between the browser and an update.

An electrical storm had come up outside, but I really don't think it's to blame. I was in the process of looking some stuff up before I got offline, and the phone line runs through a surge protector. Not to mention: the line itself works fine still and the computer is recognizing the modem/claiming it's working right, too. So this really doesn't make any sense. And of course, there was no sparking, popping, etc. to be heard of. So again with the doubting it has anything to do with lightning. (Wouldn't that outright destroy the modem and other components as well? I mean, the input is right at the dvd drive, power input, and speakers... but none of that seems to have been harmed.)

Also potentially worth noting: what I was looking up was how to fix the issue where .mp3 file type associations with that little musical note image was broken. It showed up as a blank page icon. I fixed this by telling the computer to use Windows Media Player as the default player. And about half a minute later, the modem did it's whole... death act. Maybe related? But at the same time, system restore undid the change, but did not make the modem work.

My modem is an Agere Systems ADS* modem.
* ADS is off the top of my head, and may be incorrect. I do not have access to check right now, but I am positive that it's an Agere Systems modem, at any rate.

My system is, as stated in my signature:
HP dv7z
AMD Turion X2 (ZM-82) @ 2.2Ghz
3GB DDR2 RAM
ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics
17" WSXGA BrightView
Vista Home Premium SP1 (32-bit)


Can somebody please help me figure out what's wrong? Any ideas etc.?