Member Avatar for joninrockies

This is a crazy problem that probably has a simple solution. Any help I can get will be appreciated. I connect to the internet via w-fi. I just acquired a used computer (vista, athlon 64). The previous user used firefox. Firefox and AVG update connect to the internet perfectly. IE7, windows update and yahoo im don't see the internet connection at all, and vista diagnostics says nothing is wrong with the connection. What's going on?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by dfwood90

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The pattern described — Firefox and AVG updating fine while Internet Explorer 7, Windows Update and Yahoo Messenger cannot — usually means the interactive browser and system services are using different network settings. resolved the immediate problem by copying the IE "Advanced" settings from a working machine, and was correct that Vista SP1 includes networking fixes. The root class of problems to check next is proxy/configuration differences between IE (WinINet) and system services (WinHTTP), plus firewall/AV interference.

Windows services (including Windows Update and many background clients) use the WinHTTP stack, which can have a separate proxy configuration from IE. Confirm and, if needed, import the IE settings into WinHTTP from an elevated command prompt:

netsh winhttp show proxy
netsh winhttp import proxy source=ie

The first command shows the WinHTTP proxy; the second copies the current IE proxy settings into WinHTTP so services use the same path to the internet. See Microsoft documentation for WinHTTP and the netsh winhttp commands for details: WinHTTP overview and netsh winhttp.

Quick checklist if problems persist:

  • Compare Internet Options -> Connections -> LAN Settings on both machines (auto-detect, proxy server, and exceptions).
  • Reset IE (Internet Options -> Advanced -> Reset) or start with extensions disabled (iexplore -extoff) to rule out add-ons.
  • Temporarily disable third-party firewall/AV to test for blocking of iexplore.exe or system services.
  • Ensure BITS and Windows Update services are running.
  • If low-level socket issues appear, consider netsh winsock reset and reboot.

Run the netsh commands from an elevated prompt and reboot after changes. Applying Vista SP1 is a sensible follow-up if the OS lacks it.

Member Avatar for dfwood90

As a thought, does the computer have Vista SP1 installed? I know SP1 is supposed to have some network fixes in it. You should be able to download SP1 from microsoft.com through firefox.

Member Avatar for joninrockies

Thanks for the advice. I'll try the service pack. I solved the problem using brute force. I have another computer also running ie7 with vista. I copied all the "advanced" ie7 settings from the working setup to the one not working and lo ie7 connected to the network! Even more striking - yahoo messenger also connected. I don't know what made the difference, but I'm happy.

Member Avatar for dfwood90

Well, it might have just been the settings corrupted or something like that. Either way SP1 for Vista has some helpful fixes and (according to Microsoft) now installs properly.

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