Member Avatar for audioedge

When using ICS I cannot access hotmail.com or run MSN Messenger on computers connecting via the ICS. The one hosting the ICS can run these sites and services fine

When I install a 3rd party proxy (CCProxy) then all machines can access hotmail and messenger.....

Any ideas?

Seems like there could be a simple fix here, but I have racked my brains..

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by sennetor

Dani AI

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Short expert add-on: because ’s host can reach Hotmail and Messenger but the clients cannot — and CCProxy (an explicit proxy) fixes the problem — the fault is almost certainly on the XP gateway machine: DNS/proxy forwarding, NAT translation, or a corrupted Winsock/LSP on the ICS host. ’s hint about setup/config is on the right track; the checklist below isolates the fault and offers safe recovery steps.

Quick diagnostic steps (run these from a client, then on the XP host)

On a client:

ipconfig /all
nslookup hotmail.com
telnet hotmail.com 80
  • ipconfig: confirm the client’s Default Gateway is the host’s ICS IP and that the client has a valid IP.
  • nslookup: verifies name resolution. If DNS fails, try a public DNS temporarily to see if that fixes web access.
  • telnet (or a browser to http://hotmail.com): if DNS works but telnet to port 80 fails, packets are not being forwarded by the gateway.

On the XP gateway:

sc query SharedAccess
netstat -an
netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt
netsh winsock reset
  • Ensure the “Internet Connection Sharing” service is running (sc query SharedAccess).
  • netstat will show whether outbound connections from the host exist when a client tries to connect.
  • Reset TCP/IP/Winsock (last two commands) as a repair step — note Winsock reset requires the appropriate XP updates; reboot after running them.

Other likely culprits and fixes

  • Third‑party LSPs/proxies or filtering (antivirus, P2P, or old proxy hooks) on the host can break transparent NAT; remove/disable them while testing.
  • ICS sometimes binds the wrong adapter or drops some UDP traffic (Messenger file/P2P). If the diagnostics point to broken NAT and you can’t fix the host, a small hardware NAT router is a simple, reliable long‑term solution.

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Member Avatar for sennetor

what operating system is running on the main machine & does it have a firewall? Have you tried disabling the firewall?

Member Avatar for audioedge

win xp home on host machine

no firewall

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