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I'm running Vista Home Edition on my HP laptop and over the past couple months whenever I update a program or install a new one I can no longer connect to the internet with it. I run an old version of firefox and if I update it then my internet stops working. IE doesn't work at all and I can run AIM fine, but Yahoo messenger can't detect an internet because I just downloaded it. I am connected wirelessly at home and connected through a cable at work and the symptoms are exactly the same. The new patch for Warcraft 3 just came out and now Warcraft can't detect the internet anymore. If I download the new version of aim, that can't find the internet either. So I started running a virtual machine on my laptop with XP as the OS and I can connect to IE explorer and all internet functions fine on it. I still having trouble running a couple programs in the virtual machine like Warcraft 3 won't work in it but i think that has to do with the virtual machine itself. I have tried a bunch of stuff. I don't have any firewalls running on my computer and no norton antivirus stuff. I even typed in services in the search bar and disabled the windows firewall. Turning on and off the UAC does nothing. Any help would be great.

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Dani AI

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Because the VM (XP) can reach the Internet while the Vista host’s newly installed/updated apps cannot, and the firewall/network-location checks from were already done (per ), this strongly points to a corrupted Winsock/LSP chain or a per-user proxy/WinHTTP issue rather than a physical adapter or router problem. Many Windows programs use the OS networking APIs (WinINet/WinHTTP); when those are broken, freshly installed programs that rely on them fail to connect while others using their own network stacks may continue to work.

A concise, safe first-repair sequence (run an elevated Command Prompt — right-click cmd.exe, Run as administrator):

netsh winsock reset
netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt
netsh winhttp reset proxy
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew

Reboot after the winsock/tcpip reset. After reboot, run sfc /scannow from an elevated prompt to check system file integrity.

If the problem remains, check these targeted things next:

  • Inspect Internet Options -> Connections -> LAN settings for a proxy (also check HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings for ProxyEnable/ProxyServer keys).
  • Create a new local administrator account and test the same programs there — a working new profile means the issue is per-user.
  • Use netsh winsock show catalog to list LSP entries; third-party entries often name the vendor (antivirus, VPN, cleanup tools). Leftover drivers from removed security suites commonly cause this — vendor removal tools or clean uninstall may be required.
  • Reinstall the network adapter driver (Device Manager -> uninstall -> scan for hardware changes), and try Safe Mode with Networking to see if a startup item/service is interfering.

Create a system restore point before registry or driver edits. If these steps still fail, a Windows repair/repair-install may be the next reliable option.

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Member Avatar for Laser

Go to Control Panel, Network and Sharing Center. Make sure your Network is set to Private. If it's Public click on Customize and switch it to Private.

Member Avatar for mskwarcan

It's set to private already.

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