Thursday, August 02, 2007

Tech: Windows - Reset Corrupt Winsock

I often run into some customers that have suddenly lost the ability to surf the internet. Usually the problem is either their DSL / Cable connection has gone down, or some basic wiring or settings were changed on their PCs. However, there are cases where everything seems to be in order, but there is still no Internet Browsing. The typical symptoms are:

Ethernet connection active

Valid IP and DNS entries from DHCP server.
c:>ipconfig /all

Can resolve domain names.
c:>nslookup google.com

Can ping the internet.
c:>ping google.com

Server not found when using any browser

If this is happening on your computer, it is likely Winsock is corrupt. Winsock is in charge of TCP/IP communication in Windows, and when it's corrupted you start getting very illogical networking behavior.

In Windows XP there are two main ways to reset Winsock:

If you do NOT have Windows XP Service Pack 2 follow these steps from Microsoft Knowledgebase 811259:

We are basically deleting Winsock REgistry entries, and then reinstalling TCP/IP Networking Protocol.

Windows XP without Service Pack 2 instructions
To repair Winsock if you do not have Windows XP SP2 installed, delete the corrupted registry keys, and then reinstall the TCP/IP protocol.
Step 1: Delete the corrupted registry keys
Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

For more information about how to back up the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
322756 How to back up, edit, and restore the registry in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003
1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. In Registry Editor, locate the following keys, right-click each key, and then click Delete:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock2

4. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
Note Restart the computer after you delete the Winsock keys. Doing so causes the Windows XP operating system to create new shell entries for those two keys. If you do not restart the computer after you delete the Winsock keys, the next step does not work correctly.
Step 2: Install TCP/IP
1. Right-click the network connection, and then click Properties.
2. Click Install.
3. Click Protocol, and then click Add.
4. Click Have Disk.
5. Type C:\Windows\inf, and then click OK.
6. On the list of available protocols, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click OK.

If Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) does not appear, follow these steps:

a. Click Start, and then click Search.
b. In the Search Companion pane, click More advanced options.
c. Click to select the following three check boxes:
Search system folders

Search hidden files and folders

Search subfolders

d. In the All or part of the file name box, type nettcpip.inf, and then click Search.
e. In the results pane, right-click Nettcpip.inf, and then click Install.
7. Restart the computer.

If you have Windows XP Service Pack 2:

Open the command prompt Start > Run > command
Enter the following command: netsh winsock reset
Restart your computer.

You should be able to start surfing normally again after Winsock is reset. However, more importantly you should try to find out what caused Winsock to get corrupted. Consider when you were last able to surf the internet, and what you did around that time. Did you download a new internet game, click on a link a stranger sent you, etc.?

References:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811259
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/299357
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/winsock.htm
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=what+is+winsock&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Labels: Can not Browse, Can Ping but Can't Borwse, No Surf, Reset winsock, Windows XP, Winsock