Member Avatar for airbourne

Forgive me if this is answered somewhere else, but I have tried searching on the problem and am not coming up with any relevant results (anywhere on the web).

I have Vista 32 Ultimate installed on a P4 Quad Core with 2GB of ram and an onboard NIC (10/100). The HDD is 250 GB total split into 32 GB for C and ~220 on D. Neither drive C or D are over 50% full.

I don't download any music or movies, nor have I ever installed any download agents, software, or toolbars (such as BitTorrent, Gnutella, iTunes, Google, etc.). I only state that because I know some of those can be "running in the background" and cause network bandwidth to be used up.

The problem is that when I attempt to download files (using IE or Firefox) from seemingly any website, the download may randomly halt. The progress indicator bar just stops moving. The file copy / download animation is still running, but there is almost zero network or CPU activity reported in Task Manager. Also the percent of the file that is downloaded will also be random. (23%, 51%, 13%, etc). If I cancel and restart the download, sometimes it will go a bit further, sometimes it will actually download less before hanging. Sometimes if I cancel it and restart it enough times, the file download will complete (maybe).

The file sizes range anywhere from 1-3 MB (patches, drivers, etc.) all the way up to 2+ GB (downloadable game clients).

What I have done to attempt to track down the problem:

Disconnected my laptop and my wife's computer from the network, so that it is just my computer. (same problem)
When the file download "halts" I have opened IE or Firefox and am able to browse the web. I can even open WinAMP and listen to streaming media or play an online game.

I don't seem to have the problem if I download files using CoreFTP. I admit I don't use FTP that much, so that's a small test at best. I can download the same exact file from the same exact website at the same exact time using my laptop (Windows XP) and the laptop downloads the file just fine.

I have tried 3 different Anti-virus software and even uninstalled all anti-virus software. I have even re-installed windows clean (once) and I still seem to have the problem.

It does seem to be isolated to my computer so I suspect there is a windows process that is trying to "protect" me by scanning files that I download. But I don't know what that could be. Anyone have any suggestions for me to try that I haven't already thought of? This thing is really frustrating me.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by UrbanKhoja

Dani AI

Generated

A short, practical overlay: the symptom described here — HTTP/HTTPS downloads that stop at random percentages while normal browsing and streaming continue — usually points away from the browser and toward TCP/IP path problems, middlebox inspection, or NIC/driver offloads rather than a corrupt OS install. The follow-ups from , and correctly push troubleshooting toward network devices and the TCP stack instead of repeated reinstalls. (learn.microsoft.com)

Quick, repeatable checks to isolate the cause (run as Administrator on the Vista PC):

netsh interface tcp show global
netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=restricted
ping -f -l 1472 8.8.8.8

If restricted helps, try disabled only as a last resort. Use ping -f -l to find MTU black holes (reduce payload until replies succeed). (learn.microsoft.com)

Capture a failing download with a packet trace (Wireshark) and look for telltales: many retransmits, repeated “TCP Window Full / Zero Window”, or a long gap after the handshake. Any of those point to receiver-side flow control, blocked ICMP/PMTU problems, or a middlebox breaking large or long HTTP sessions. To confirm a middlebox, temporarily bypass it (direct modem/hotspot) and compare results; check the appliance CPU, IDS/HTTP‑inspection and firmware. (wireshark.org)

If the NIC or driver is suspected, disable offloads and RSS, update/roll back drivers, and verify speed/duplex. On Vista you can disable task offloading via the registry or NIC advanced properties (or use vendor tools) and then retest. If bypassing the network device fixes the issue, firmware/inspection features on that appliance are the likely culprit — check vendor notes and updates. (learn.microsoft.com)

Summary checklist: (1) run the netsh autotuning test; (2) do an MTU ping; (3) capture with Wireshark and watch for zero-window/retransmits; (4) disable NIC offloads; (5) bypass the suspected firewall/router and check its logs/firmware. This avoids unnecessary OS reinstalls and narrows the fault to host, path, or middlebox.

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Member Avatar for jbennet

i had this same problem in xp. only a reinstall could fix it

Member Avatar for UrbanKhoja

Are you using a third party firewall? If so - is Window$ Defender turned off? If you try a download client such as 'download accelerator' does it work or freeze up still?

Dazza :cool:

Member Avatar for airbourne

Just wanted to update everyone on this problem. I was living with the problem as I was too lazy to reinstall (again). Well, last week I decided to hit this again and not stop until it was fixed. I basically tore apart my network (literally). x_x

4 PCs, 2 routers, 1 firewall, many cables, and several hours later...

...it looks I am the idiot. I was too hyper-focused on the problem originally thinking it was Vista. The problem happened the same week I installed Vista for the first time so my thinking was Vista. It was intermittant so my XP machine "appeared" fine.


Anyway, it turns out that my Netscreen Firewall appliance was the problem.

Not sure what is wrong with it, but after removing it from the equation, all PCs are happy as clams downloading stuff from the internet again.

Ah, there's nothing quite like several hours of ground zero troubleshooting on an entire basement full of computing equipment with an unhappy wife due to the internet being down. :)

Member Avatar for UrbanKhoja

Sounds like you've had some fun! Glad it's all sorted.

Regards,

Dazza :cool:

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