The laptop computer does not thus far believe in the existence of its modem. It is also inclined to crash. I have blamed this on AIM and uninstalled it, which may have solved the crashing problem but I am stumped on the modem problem.A computer without an internet connnection is like a dog with no nose.
It's enough to make one buy an Apple Mac.
Or possibly would be if one had any money, which one doesn't, so one won't.