About to give up and cry (Vista thinks I'm NOT connected to net...)

J

jyi786

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Jun 13, 2002
Messages
5,758
Ok, title is a bit exaggerated, but still.

For some reason, all of a sudden, Vista x64 Ultimate seems to think that I am NOT connected to the internet, when I actually am. The network tray icon does NOT display the little globe that indicates that it detects the internet. Contrary to this, I am connected to the internet 100%, and my internal network (regular workgroup) is fully functional; all other computers are recognizable and file transfers work perfectly. My connection is Verizon FIOS, and my router is a D-Link DGL-4500.

I tried EVERYTHING I could think of, which includes, but is not limited to:

1. Reset the router.
2. Try all different types of DNS on the router and on the computer,
3. Release and renew ALL IPs (this fixes it until the next reboot)
4. Clearing and reregistering the DNS cache
5. Revoking and assigning new internal IPs to the computer
6. Deleting and reinstalling the network card via Device Manager
7. Rebuilding the Winsock 2 and TCP/IP Stack
8. System Restore to a KNOWN WORKING time

If I do get the little globe to be displayed on the network, it's only momentarily (a few minutes), before it disappears.

The ONLY way that I can get it "fixed" for sure, is to release and renew the IP address, and this only works until the next reboot, when it goes right back to the same behavior.

One thing I should mention is that before all this, I was experimenting both on the router level as well as through Vista itself, with OpenDNS. I admit that I did change the DNS to OpenDNS's servers, but that was only temporarily. But even with or without OpenDNS, it still does the same thing, even when I revert back to defaults.

What could be the problem? I would appreciate any suggestions and help.

Thank you.
 
You know I've had this problem before too, and I simply just tried everything you did until it worked, nothing in particular made it work, but after a while it just did. One thing is to make sure that your internet connection in Vista is still set to private, sometimes it sets it back to public on me and then I only get a local connection.

Other than that I really can't help you. I love Vista, but I do have to say that the network and sharing center is fubared. I really don't like it and its tough to get used to and troubleshoot IMO. Hope you get it figured out soon.
 
vage said:
You know I've had this problem before too, and I simply just tried everything you did until it worked, nothing in particular made it work, but after a while it just did. One thing is to make sure that your internet connection in Vista is still set to private, sometimes it sets it back to public on me and then I only get a local connection.

Other than that I really can't help you. I love Vista, but I do have to say that the network and sharing center is fubared. I really don't like it and its tough to get used to and troubleshoot IMO. Hope you get it figured out soon.
Click to expand...

:(

I'm trying to figure out if I should take comfort in knowing someone shares this problem with me or if I should freak out and reinstall Vista from scratch, which I do NOT want to do at this moment in time.
 
So you're really connected to the net and have full network functionality, but you're upset because windoze is buggy and you don't have a little icon in your system tray telling you you're connected to the net and that you have full network functionality? :confused:

Sorry, I don't use vista, but it sounds kind of like a non-problem to me. I guess if you're busy looking at your icons all day it would be annoying. Doesn't microsoft have support for its bugs, or are users just pretty much on their own?

The network tray icon does NOT display the little globe that indicates that it detects the internet. Contrary to this, I am connected to the internet 100%, and my internal network (regular workgroup) is fully functional; all other computers are recognizable and file transfers work perfectly.
Click to expand...
 
synaptical said:
So you're really connected to the net and have full network functionality, but you're upset because windoze is buggy and you don't have a little icon in your system tray telling you you're connected to the net and that you have full network functionality? :confused:

Sorry, I don't use vista, but it sounds kind of like a non-problem to me. I guess if you're busy looking at your icons all day it would be annoying. Doesn't microsoft have support for its bugs, or are users just pretty much on their own?
Click to expand...

Came in here to threadcrap much? :rolleyes:

No, I'm not worried about the ICON as much as I am worried about Vista telling me that I am not connected to the INTERNET. It tells me that I have LOCAL ACCESS ONLY.

This is particularly worrisome to me when it has been working fine, then just decided to take a dump on me. I'm willing to bet you'd be just as worried if it happened to you.
 
ajm786 said:
Came in here to threadcrap much? :rolleyes:

No, I'm not worried about the ICON as much as I am worried about Vista telling me that I am not connected to the INTERNET. It tells me that I have LOCAL ACCESS ONLY.

This is particularly worrisome to me when it has been working fine, then just decided to take a dump on me. I'm willing to bet you'd be just as worried if it happened to you.
Click to expand...

like I said, I don't use vista. ;) I use linux, and the community usually has answers and fixes for bugs. it just seems strange to me that you wouldn't ask microsoft. you paid them enough of your hard earned money for it, you'd think they would offer support for their own product. or maybe you have to pay for that, too. :-o
 
synaptical said:
like I said, I don't use vista. ;) I use linux, and the community usually has answers and fixes for bugs. it just seems strange to me that you wouldn't ask microsoft. you paid them enough of your hard earned money for it, you'd think they would offer support for their own product. or maybe you have to pay for that, too. :-o
Click to expand...

I guess you can say that. It's just that in order to get fixes from Microshaft, I have to jump through hoops in order to get it; it's just not worth my time. It's easier to post on a forum and try to get support from my peers.
 
ajm786 said:
I guess you can say that. It's just that in order to get fixes from Microshaft, I have to jump through hoops in order to get it; it's just not worth my time. It's easier to post on a forum and try to get support from my peers.
Click to expand...

I wish I could help you, it sounds very annoying. At least you actually are connected. It seems extreme, but maybe you'd have to resort to a reformat to fix something like that.

Did you search their "knowledge base?" maybe there's something there about it:

http://search.microsoft.com/results...0=Search&FORM=QBME1&l=1&mkt=en-us&PageType=99
 
I'm beginning to think it really is just a crappy Vista problem that is intermittent. On a few other forums, I've been getting responses that are similar to vage's. He said that he had the issue and that it "resolved itself" after some time.

I guess I'll just have to wait to see how it fixes itself. I've already done everything possible that I know how to do.
 
Wanna know hwo I fixed it? Dumped Vista Home Prem x64 for Windows XP Pro SP3 :D
 
iGamer said:
Wanna know hwo I fixed it? Dumped Vista Home Prem x64 for Windows XP Pro SP3 :D
Click to expand...

Running away from the problem does not fix the problem.

We run hundreds of vista boxes and none of these problems, I am going to take a dive and say it's a PICNIC error, not a bug. Since you changed many settings, I am going to guess something got screwed in the process.

If I were you I would reformat and see if that solves the problem. If you really are not fond of reformatting, do you have a spare drives that you can install a fresh copy on? That should eliminate a lot of possibilities.

Also, what was changed after your system wouldn't connect to the network? Did another computer get added to the network? etc.
 
Ockie said:
Running away from the problem does not fix the problem.

We run hundreds of vista boxes and none of these problems, I am going to take a dive and say it's a PICNIC error, not a bug. Since you changed many settings, I am going to guess something got screwed in the process.

If I were you I would reformat and see if that solves the problem. If you really are not fond of reformatting, do you have a spare drives that you can install a fresh copy on? That should eliminate a lot of possibilities.

Also, what was changed after your system wouldn't connect to the network? Did another computer get added to the network? etc.
Click to expand...

1. Exactly right. Running away does not fix it.
2. I just did a clean install here today at work, but we're on a domain, so I don't know exactly how different it would behave than my connection at home.
3. Nothing was changed. It would still CONNECT to the network; in other words, I would actually be connected. It's just that the network tray icon as well as Vista's Network and Sharing Center keeps saying I'm not connected to the INTERNET, while I fully am.

Ockie said:
Run this:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/using/tools/igd/default.mspx

Are you running any AV?
Do you get an IP from the router?
Can you connect to other peers?
Do you have the proper network card drivers?
Are you using the guest account?
Click to expand...

I ran that, and it only "failed" one test, which is the UPNP test.

1. Yes, I am running AV. AVG Antivirus.
2. Yes, I get an IP from the router.
3. Yes, I can connect to other peers.
4. Yes, I have the latest drivers for my network card; been using it since it came out (May). Tried downgrading drivers to no avail.
5. I am NOT using a guest account. I also tried making another account and using it, and have the same issue.
 
I am seeing the unusual behavior as well -- just started recently. Thought it may be due to AV software but not sure now after reading reports of it happening to various other users in different situations.
 
proboscis said:
I don't know if this will help, I saw this on the net:

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30336/229/

"However, SPI has its drawbacks. Depending on the version, a major one would be its distaste for Microsoft Vista, which uses TCP-Window Scaling for all connections except HTTP."

There is a wiki link in the article which may have a fix
Click to expand...

I tried that already. Yes, my router DOES have SPI. I disabled it, and it made no difference at all.

Once again, the problem came back with a vengeance last night, so I set about trying to deal with it again. I went through the usual battery of testing IP addresses, DNS addresses, etc. etc. Just FYI, I have another Vista computer on the network, and it's suffering from the exact same behavior. So the issue is now either going to be my router, or the firewall I have installed (Comodo firewall).

I read here that if you have a hardware firewall, Vista's built in is good enough, so I went ahead and uninstalled Comodo. I'm going to see how it goes tonight, and then report back.
 
Some questions....


First, I hate to ask a stupid question, but I've read the thread twice and I'm still not exactly what you're saying. Is the icon displaying wrong, or are you actually limited to local connctions only?

Next, was this a full vista install or was it modified or tweaked by removing services ? Is the Network Location Awareness service running?

What other software is running besides Comodo?

When this happens, try this:

1. Open Task Manager. To do this, press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC.
2. Click the Processes tab.
3. In the list of processes, click explorer.exe, and then click End Process.
4. When you are prompted to confirm that you want to continue, click End process.
5. On the File menu, click New Task (Run...).
6. In the Create New Task dialog box, type %systemroot%\explorer.exe in the Open box, and then click OK.

Does that restore the icon?

Also, try turning off IPv6 on the network adapter.
 
The problem here is what exactly... i'm pretty sure you can turn off the stupid network monitor crap. If your internet is working, who the hell cares what vista says...

It will be ok man, even if vista does disable your interwebs, LOTR forums will still be around tomorrow, the apocalypse isn't here yet. It will be ok. Watch some television, or read a book, or socialize with somebody face to face.. you'll survive, i have faith in you.
 
pigster said:
Some questions....


First, I hate to ask a stupid question, but I've read the thread twice and I'm still not exactly what you're saying. Is the icon displaying wrong, or are you actually limited to local connctions only?
Click to expand...

My first post states that Vista THINKS I do not have internet while I actually do. So yes, I DO have internet, but Vista says that I ONLY have local connection. It's annoying, because it'll make me think I have a problem when there is not, therefore, wasted time and productivity.

pigster said:
Next, was this a full vista install or was it modified or tweaked by removing services ? Is the Network Location Awareness service running?
Click to expand...

This was a FULL Vista install, untweaked, unscrewed. :p NLA service is fully functional and running.

pigster said:
What other software is running besides Comodo?
Click to expand...

The same software I've been running since the beginning of the install, which is about 2 months old: too many to count. The issue is that this problem NEVER happened before. It just started happening recently.

pigster said:
When this happens, try this:

1. Open Task Manager. To do this, press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC.
2. Click the Processes tab.
3. In the list of processes, click explorer.exe, and then click End Process.
4. When you are prompted to confirm that you want to continue, click End process.
5. On the File menu, click New Task (Run...).
6. In the Create New Task dialog box, type %systemroot%\explorer.exe in the Open box, and then click OK.

Does that restore the icon?
Click to expand...

That was one of the things I tried already, and it does not help. The only way to get Vista to recognize that I actually have internet again is to release the IP, and renew it.


pigster said:
Also, try turning off IPv6 on the network adapter.
Click to expand...

This is new. I'll give this a shot when I get home, although it's a long shot. I'm not having this problem with the computer at work, though, and it's a vanilla install; however, the fact that it's connected to a domain may make things a bit different.

Verge said:
The problem here is what exactly... i'm pretty sure you can turn off the stupid network monitor crap. If your internet is working, who the hell cares what vista says...

It will be ok man, even if vista does disable your interwebs, LOTR forums will still be around tomorrow, the apocalypse isn't here yet. It will be ok. Watch some television, or read a book, or socialize with somebody face to face.. you'll survive, i have faith in you.
Click to expand...

lol

Stepping away from the computer is not possible until I beat it into submission. ;)
 
This happened to my roommate shortly after I installed my Untangle box. Im just glad other ppl are having the same problem without untangle so he can stop whining about it.
 
brokenarrow03 said:
This happened to my roommate shortly after I installed my Untangle box. Im just glad other ppl are having the same problem without untangle so he can stop whining about it.
Click to expand...

Really? I was actually planning to implement Untangle in the near future.:(
 
He is running Vista. The only thing is that it happened to you while you were using you DGL-4500 router. I have a DGL-4300 that I switched from and my roommate had no issues until the second day after my untangle box was installed. I just think there a too many differences in the situations to point to the untangle box.
 
brokenarrow03 said:
He is running Vista. The only thing is that it happened to you while you were using you DGL-4500 router. I have a DGL-4300 that I switched from and my roommate had no issues until the second day after my untangle box was installed. I just think there a too many differences in the situations to point to the untangle box.
Click to expand...

No, no, I'm not pointing to the Untangle box. It's just that I was thinking that maybe it was my router and that replacing it with an Untangle box would solve the issue. So now I'm more lost than ever. :(
 
ajm786 said:
I guess you can say that. It's just that in order to get fixes from Microshaft, I have to jump through hoops in order to get it; it's just not worth my time. It's easier to post on a forum and try to get support from my peers.
Click to expand...

Their tech support is pretty decent, just need to have your software box or whatever handy. I was impressed at their support system.

They didn't fix my problem and I had to reinstall, but I had exhausted my resources trying to fix it and didn't have any expectations. They did all that they could.
 
I thought I had this issue licked (or that it fixed itself), but it came back with a real vengeance last night. I tried everything possible known to man. No dice. :( Even disabling IPV6 had no effect.

I then turned my attention to it possibly being Comodo firewall, as I mentioned earlier. After a VERY painful uninstall (I found out just how crappy Comodo is), still no dice.

Nothing I can do seems to remedy the issue. The problem is that I'm seeing this on my other Vista Ultimate rig that is on the same network.

So I'm going to now try a clean install, and then if that doesn't help, I'm going to have to blame my router (longshot).

Edit: I think I found something related to it, about halfway there. This does seem to be a Microsoft problem, according to this Microsoft KB article.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947041
 
The Microsoft managed newsgroups have quite a few posts from other people seeing the same thing, so it's probably not your router
 
pigster said:
The Microsoft managed newsgroups have quite a few posts from other people seeing the same thing, so it's probably not your router
Click to expand...

O
M
G.

I finally found the right keywords to search for on Google.

vista, "local only" internet

That's a massive explosion of people having the same issue, so I guess those are the right words to describe my problem.

Now I'm armed with a bunch of things that I'm going to try, and some things that I didn't do properly (didn't disable IPV6 totally). This is going to be an interesting night. For sure I do not want to do reinstall Vista, so I'll try to work my way around this one.
 
Updates, updates, updates.

So I'm getting closer to a solution, at least I think. I was farthest away from one last night. Disabling IPV6 had no effect, so I was back at square one, and the problem is getting even worse.

I found out about something called Microsoft NCIS, and I think it may be the root of the problem, though I can't be sure. I posted over at the Microsoft TechNet forums, and I'm trying to get some information on three registry keys that I'd like to try and modify.

Here's the post with someone having the exact same problem.
http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=3754799&SiteID=17

Here is a blog post I found in which I'm going to try to remedy the issue.
http://securology.blogspot.com/2008/01/windows-vista-phones-home.html

Does anyone know what those 3 registry keys I posted on the Microsoft Technet forums control and how I can modify them?
 
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