Windows Vista Browser stops working after a while

I'm sure someone said they had problems with 'Spybot' which went away after they stopped using it.
 
I have exactly this problem too!

Some facts about this problem:
- IE and other browsers stop working for no obvious reason
- Not even local web servers can be reached (like 192.168.0.1)
- This can happen at any time, not correlated to any special program being used
- *Sometimes* (very seldom) it starts working again, after 5-30 minutes
- Microsoft Mail stops working at the same time.
- Windows Update stops working (it still finds new updates and say \"There are new updates\" and so on, but when trying to install then it bombs out with a 8-digit hexadecimal error code).
- The help text for the error code is wrong. It is not a dns problem or a connection problem.
- MSN/Windows Live Messenger stops working *sometimes* but not always
- I can still ping hosts on the internet, and DNS works just fine
- This happens on Vista (I have Vista Business)

What i have tried:
- Logging out and logging in again: does not solve the problem
- Disconnecting and reconnecting network: does not solve the problem
- Restarting router etc: does not solve the problem
- Disabling the windows firewall: does not solve the problem
- Disabling and enabling network interface: does not solve the problem
- Suspend/sleep mode and wake up again: does not solve the problem
- Stopping and restarting all \"network\"-ish services: does not solve the problem

What works?
- Reboot. Nothing else.

What this is NOT:
- This is not a router problem/external network problem
- This is not a DNS problem (not external, not internal)
- This is not a network adapter driver problem
- This is not a hardware problem
- This is not a bug in IE
- This is not a bug in the DNS cache service

So, what is this?
- This is a bug in Vista. A very annoying one!

If someone at M$ reads this, then PLEASE do something about this.
I am thinking about deleting Vista and installing XP or something. This is just to sucky.


I am suffering also.

I have the same symptoms, Randomly i will be surfing the internet, and i will get Disconnected. All P2P programs, MSN, Download managers, even Ping and TRACERT still work.. EVEN Microsoft Remote terminal servicees and World of Warcraft!!
Ocasionally after SEVERAL hours while playing World of Warcraft, and not wanting to restart/reboot. I will continue to play, and magically my internet browsers start working again.

It is NOT a bug in the DNS cache. I have cleared mine,
It is NOT the router or the cable modem, because it only affects one machine. The other computer in the house can still surf the internet. Also my Xbox 360 still connects.

It is not Comcast, It is not my network card... I have tried connecting multiple nick's including a USB wireless, and an onboard wireless, including my sweet motherboard has 2 gig ethernet ports.

I can still browse files on my home network in other rooms.

Not only that my IIS still responds to outgoing / incoming requests. So people surfing the internet webpages on my computer still have access.

But if i surf webpages on http://localhost/index.asp IT DOES NOT WORK!!!!
Nor does http://192.168.0.1/ <-- router

I have tried Mozilla, and IE.... both quit at exactly the same time.


What i have tried is
ipconfig /renew
ipconfig /renew all
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /release followed by ipconfig /renew

Logging off the user and then logging back in.
Unplugging the cable modem, and back in
Unplugging the router and then back in
unplugging the network card, and into another network card, or even enabling my wireless or using any other nic available.

I ran something i saw on another page where it had me type this in a Dos command
netsh int ip reset c:\tcpiprebuild.log
This did not work etither.

Putting my computer in Suspend
Putting my computer in Sleep
Disabling my fire wall,
Disabling Net Limiter
UnInstalling Net Limiter


My system is a 5200+ Dual core AMD
Motherboard M2N32-SLI Delux Wireless
Memory is 4Gigs
Video card: Nvidia 8800 GT, Nvidia 7800 XFX (not in SLI mode)
OS: Vista Ultimate Retail 64 bit
DVDRW x 1 DVDRW + Blu-Ray / HDDVD drive x 1
Hard drive space 5.4 Terabytes (yes im a hard drive space nut... but i got an awesome deal on 1 TByte drives so i bought 4 of them and raided em.)


The only thing i HAVENT tried is the stuff i read about "MAX Concurrent TCP Connection Attempt Limit for Windows" which i have found on other pages. Since microsoft included this "feature" ... and the ONLY fix is to download some 3rd party "hacked" tcpip driver.... i havent wanted to do this because it sounds like it could be a dangerous way to get your computer hacked with malicious trojans or spyware.

***********************
THE ONLY SURE-FIRE WAY to instantly start surfing the internet, is a REBOOT or wait 20-30 minutes. (or even longer).. thats the ONLY WAY to get the web-browsers working again.

***********************

Also this started happening within the last 4 months, but for 1 year running vista it was fine with all the daily updates.

So i am wondering if it was one of the helpful "updates" from microsoft.



Is there some other way? This is getting really annoying restarting my computer over and over again, just to browse the internet.

Oh and magmatrix.... dont install XP to fix this... because if you are getting this on your vista machine, you will most likely get this on your xp machine too... because the same "concurrent TCP Connection Attempt limit" is also on XP.... and my XP machine suffered with this problem also. (that is if its the max concurent tcp connection limit that is the problem) infact.... on XP its even smaller than its on Vista.


The only other thing i havent tried..... Re-Installing my OS *(what a pain that will be)

Hopefully someone sees this and comes to our aid, and we figure this out without having to re-install an OS. Or install some hacked version of the tcpip dll

Even if i had to use a binary editor and hack my own TCPIP.dll driver i would do it. (within reason)

I would do practically ANYTHING so that i don't have to re-install my OS

(oh and i dont have any spybots or virus's or trojans or spyware installed ... ive ran checks with norton and other spyware removers, and un-installed them after the scan)
 
Excellent post.. More inormation we don't need! The only thing that stood out was that you said you 'once' got rid of all your spyware ect... I'm sure your aware that the user needs to run such scans frequently to ensure your free of bugs. Also I'll repeat what I wrote above that I'm sure this is a 'software' conflict. Perhaps I and others like me, who don't suffer from this problem, are running slightly different software...? I mentioned 'Spybot' only as an example of some software that users have claimed problems with.
 
What kind of information would be helpful to post here?


From a clean reboot i can "kill" my internet in under 30 minutes

Processes running
net limiter (uninstalled recently)
Skype. (only new program ive installed recently....)
utorrent, (i thought it might have been Vuze so i uninstalled it and installed utorrent, not always on when it happens)
emule, (same copy installed for 1 entire year, no change, not always enabled)
getright, (unchanged 1 year)
msn messenger (unchanged 1 year)
snagit pro (unchanged 1 year)
logitech mouse drivers, (updated recently)
daemon tools (unchanged recently)
Power Mixer (installed 7 months ago)
Sidebar
Gadgets: (all installed 1 year ago)
Full Moon (default ms)
Calendar (default ms)
Weather (default ms)
currnecy (default ms)
Clock (default ms)
Full Sun SoHo sun observatory
MultiMeter from Hobby Lounge

Installed recently:
On about 30% of the time when it happens
Ventrilio
World of Warcraft
WoW Ace Updater


Do you think i should try un-installing Skype?
It is the only program i leave on 24/7, and installed about the time it happend.
It aslo has browser plugin's where it adds a quick click dial to webpages
 
Once again thankyou for the information, it really does make a difference when the person who's asking for help gives as much info as possible. Anyway.. Nothing shouts out particularly apart from you seem to be running a lot of processes.. Stuff like sidebar, messenger, skype and others all take resources why not cut down on a few and see if the problem clears up?
 
First Post! I'm having same problem with both IE and Firebox. My machine:

Toshiba Satellite A100
Vista SP1
Avast
Adware

This problem didn't exist prior to SP1 upgrade. Any ideas?
 
I too have been having the same problem. It only takes an hour or two before my internet stops working despite a connected status. At the risk of being berated for not providing helpful information (I'm far from being a computer expert), I thought I would pass along a website that I discovered. I signed up for this hotfix and was told I should expect to receive it in 8 hours. I hope it works because rebooting every hour or two is just not a satisfactory solution.
After you configure Internet Connection Sharing in Windows Vista, the network connection stops working after one-to-two hours
 
Fantastic find! Great post... This will hopefully help a lot of people..
 
Whoops! Sorry, this fix wouldn't work for me. I check my ICS properties indicate:
Startup type: Disabled
Service Status: Stopped

Any other suggestions?
 
According to Microsoft Customer Service:

"Hotfix described in KB article 937168 is included in Service Pack 1.

As you already have Service Pack 1, I recommend contacting Microsoft Support Professional at (800) 936-5700 for further assistance. The working hours are Monday - Friday 5:00 A.M. - 9:00 P.M. Pacific Time, Saturday - Sunday 6:00 A.M. - 3:00 P.M. Pacific Time. I hope the issue is resolved soon and appreciate your patience in this regard."

It's now Sunday for me. I'm curious to know if anyone has already contacted them about this problem?



 
I have the same problem. I leave my Sony Viao (I know... I found out how horrible it was after I bought it...) running 24/7. The only time I turn it "off" is when I go to reboot it to fix this problem.


Only question I have:
Is the problem only in laptops? or does it also occur in desktops?
 
I'm sure the problem lies in anti virus program Avast (4.8.1169) with Vista Home Premium in my case. Whenever browsers freeze, I terminate Web Shield only and restart browsers for them to work properly again. It sure beats having to reboot computer each time.
 
Very similar problems here. My husband and I have matching laptops, Dell Inspiron E1705. The only the we have upgraded has been the ram, they came with Vista installed, we've had them for about 14 months now. We both get the updates as they come out. About 3 weeks ago I started having this problem. My first thought was the net was down, but the phone still worked (cable internet and phone). We have 2 wireless routers in the house, switched to a different router, it still blocked my internet (but I could still ping). I reset the routers, I reset the cable modem, I connected to an unrelated unsecured network. In the image it showed me as having internet connection. Yet IE, google notifier, and any software updates could not connect, but I could ping. I turned off as much as I could without killing the system. Still nothing. Then it just came back on, on it's own.
It happens 2-3 times a day, for around 20 minutes at a time (last night it was 27 minutes). During this same time my pda also wouldn't connect, ever. We bought a new router, set it up. Still having the same problem with my laptop (though now the pda connects fine). My husbands matching laptop has no problems.
My computer is mainly used for the internet. I have McAfee and Spybot, neither of them have found anything. The only other online services I run are gmail notifier, google chat, and wootalyzer. Then of course some software has it's online updates. None of these work when I have this problem
I have done the windows thing of having it look for a problem. It tells me it can't fix it, or it finds no problems. I have disabled and reenabled the wireless network. I have disabled the firewall in McAfee (windows firewall is already disabled because of McAfee).
The Win XP desktop that is also wireless has no problems, neither does my husbands personal laptop (Vista) nor his company laptop(I think it runs xp) .
The ONLY change that has been made (now that I think about it) is that I Synced the PDA to the laptop. Setting up the Sync software for the first time. I let windows find it and install it, didn't use a disk or download anything seperately. But the PDA is never plugged in to the laptop, and even shutting the Sync off it still happens. It only Syncs via usb, not bluetooth or anything else). And the PDA connects straight to the router, not through the laptop.
It always just fixes itself. Putting it into hibernation and even a restart has not helped me to restore the connections so I can be online. But when it's ready it works again.
I have
Vista Home Premium 32-bit
Dell Inspiron E1705 laptop
linksys router (WEP secured)
McAfee
Spybot
IE7
wootalyzer
gmail notifier
google chat
windows mail
(these are the only programs that go online and are generally on. Though turning them off doesn't stop the problem from happening). I have turned off ICS as a suggested attempt to stop this problem. It hasn't done it yet, but it's only been an hour.
 
I honestly don't think that is the problem, as I've ran spybot for 14 months, and the problem started 3 weeks ago.

But since I turned off the ICS yesterday it hasn't happened since. So it's been almost 24 hours. When before it was doing it 2-3 times a day. Maybe that is all it was. If it happens again I'll come back here. I'm hoping it's 'fixed' though.
 
if i use the internet off my cell phone i dont have this problem... only when im connected through wireless.... (i havent tried directly connecting it to the router though)


what is that ICS or whatever thing u are talking about that u did?
 
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