I use Windows XP SP1, and my system runs into problems when I am disconnected from the net. The connection tray freezes every single time, and the tray icon of the two computer screens which flash blue when transferring data doesn't disappear as they usually would when a system disconnects, and only one computer screen is blue, and remains blue. I know I'm disconnected though, because I can't browse the net etc. Right-clicking on the little icon doesn't do anything, and if I navigate to my network settings via the control panel, right-clicking on my connection gives me the option of disconnecting, oddly enough. When I click that, nothing happens. After trying that, I can't right-click on my connection in the network settings again, because it too has frozen. It's a strange problem.

Any time this happens, I have to reboot the system to gain control over the connections tray again. But, as I'm rebooting, the "End Task" prompt appears and says that the connections tray isn't responding, so I can either end the task or wait for Windows to do it itself. It makes no difference, because the result is always the same: as Windows is closing down, it gets to the "Saving your settings..." bit, and then freezes, and the system must be shut down via the power button. This only happens when the connections tray has to be killed. I can reboot normally any other time.

I use home networking (and share the internet connection), and I don't recall this problem happening before I began using a network. I'm thinking that this might be a factor in the problem. I also use Norton Internet Security 2005 (with anti-virus included), and perhaps this is the cause. I've tried tweaking little settings here and there to fix the problem, like configuring my connection so that it doesn't attempt to reconnect when disconnected. It doesn't help. It's damn annoying, because I have to do a "dirty" shutdown every time my connection decides to drop.

I've read up on the "Saving your settings..." issue, but none of the main reasons offered by websites seem to cover this particular problem.

Any ideas? hehehe

Thanks for your time