Browsing stops working-ping/tracert works (XP+SP2)

[theUnattender]

setup:

P4 3,2 - 1GB Ram

unattended XP+SP2

NIS 2005

ok since WinXP + SP2 i have this issue.

after 30 - 45 minutes of browsing, doing stuff on the web, emailing, ...

all of a sudden i have no connection on the higher levels to the web.

meaning i can't:

1) browse to a website on any browser (IE, maxthon, FireFox, ..)

2) send/receive emails

3) use built in updates of any application

4) use ftp ...

... etc.

however

i can:

ping/tracert in the dos console

annoying solutions:

after 10-15 minutes and retrying/reloading browsing/web pages it works again.

after a reboot it works again, until 30 - 45 then the game starts from the beginning

i thought of the connections limit of XP

so i replaced the old tcpip.sys with another with unlimited connections -> this didn't help in any way

and no after the problem arises deactivating NIS 2005 doesn't make any difference

did about 10 reinstalls so far (NIS + WinXP)

*argh*

it is really annoying!

what can i do ? what can i check ? any tool i can monitor with to get to know what is wrong ?

any help/idea is much appreciated

thx

[One-Post Wonder]

I'd been having a similar problem...the web browser would stop working after 15-20 minutes of internet activity. It took me about 2 minutes to fix following a fairly simple procedure.

The problem for me was that the DNS cache overflowed after a little while, so I simply added registry keys to prevent caching. This can be done as follows:

1. First thing you need to do is clear your current cache. At the command prompt (Run -> command) type in ipconfig /flushdns If everything went well ipconfig should spit out a line about successfully flushing the cache.

2. Now get into the registry editor (Run -> regedit). Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters

3. Right click in the space to the right and select New -> DWORD Value. Name the DWORD MaxCacheTtl and make sure its value is 0. Values can be changed simply by double-clicking on the DWORD.

4. Create another new DWORD. Name this one MaxNegativeCacheTtl and again make sure its value is 0.

5.Close regedit and restart.

This solved all the problems for me. Hope it works as well for you.

[theUnattender]

***EDIT***

actually this didn't help solve my problem

it just happened again

and ping from the console works with DNS

with e.g. ping www.google.com - i get normal response times although browsing doesn't work

i think the problem lies somewhere else ..

because the browser says: website found, waiting for response

***EDIT***

I'd been having a similar problem...the web browser would stop working after 15-20 minutes of internet activity. It took me about 2 minutes to fix following a fairly simple procedure.

The problem for me was that the DNS cache overflowed after a little while, so I simply added registry keys to prevent caching. This can be done as follows:

1. First thing you need to do is clear your current cache. At the command prompt (Run -> command)  type in ipconfig /flushdns  If everything went well ipconfig should spit out a line about successfully flushing the cache.

2. Now get into the registry editor (Run -> regedit).  Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters

3. Right click in the space to the right and select New -> DWORD Value. Name the DWORD MaxCacheTtl and make sure its value is 0. Values can be changed simply by double-clicking on the DWORD.

4. Create another new DWORD. Name this one MaxNegativeCacheTtl and again make sure its value is 0.

5.Close regedit and restart.

This solved all the problems for me. Hope it works as well for you.

wow B)

this looks like a reasonable thing to me !!

i will check it out

thx

[One-Post Wonder]

You have NIS and SP2? Is Windows Firewall off? It causes conflicts with every software firewall ever, pretty much. (Control Panel -> Security Center -> Windows Firewall)

I did a bit of research. Apparently, SP2 is notorious for causing networking problems. Here are a couple useful articles with fixes you might want to try.

Windows XP SP2 Networking Problems Help

How to Troubleshoot and Fix Windows XP SP2

If you're positive this problem is new since SP2, try the registry fix and Microsoft patch. If those don't help, your best bet might be to roll back to the pre-SP2 state.

How're you connected? Is this a one-computer deal, office network, or what?

[mendipjohn]

I found SP2 has many improved networking features, especially for wireless networks and it isnt really recommended to remove it

I use Windows Firewall and NIS simultaneosly, which sounds stupid I know but there are times when I have to simply disable NIS altogether.

It is terrible for interupting network traffic, and you end up spending ages opening up all your ports again as NIS blocks something new each time!

This is probably not relavant to this topic, but it is handy advice anyway when using NIS on a network :-

An easier way to ensure that it isnt NIS causing problems on a fixed IP network, is to use the Personal Firewall > Configure > Networking > Trusted/Restricted Zone.

As long as your network is safe and secure, you can feel confident adding specific IP addresses, which gives them full access through your firewall.

I would suggest that you dont remove SP2 though.

Often when I log on, my PC has no internet activity through the LAN, so I have to disable and re-enable the LAN connection. It works again after that

[theUnattender]

@One-Post Wonder

i tried your reg tweak and DNS flushing

but it didn't resolve my problem

i also read the mentioned urls, but didn't find something which could identify my problem

[One-Post Wonder]

Did you try the fixes on the web pages? Go back to here and scroll down to the "Windows XP SP2 Networking Bug Fix - Download" section and try both fixes there.

If that doesn't work, next time the internet freezes try going into the MS-DOS prompt and typing

ipconfig /release

and then

ipconfig /renew

If that last thing works, I'll be amused.

[Miura]

I seem to be having the same or a very similar problem as theUnattender. Essentially everything works fine for awhile (time seems to vary) then all of a sudden BAM web browsing just stops. Like he said though can still browse my local network and I can ping www.google.com etc. I've seen a few other posts on various forums with similar sounding problems but haven't really come across a solution yet. Only thing that seems to be a guaranteed "fix" is to reboot the computer. Anyone have any ideas. This all started after installing SP2, from a clean install and all that good stuff. The computer has been kept quite "clean" as a whole since the new hard drive/install a few weeks ago. I didn't seem to have this problem at first so it certainly could be a program I installed in the interim, unfortunately I can't pin down when exactly this started happening.

here's windows information: Build 2600.xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158: service pack2

Hardware is an AMD based laptop with a mobile athlon XP 2500+

via KT266a based motherboard with the VT 8367 southbridge It has the built in VIA VT6102 Rhine II Fast Ethernet adapter for NIC.

Anyone have any ideas? I'd really love some feedback if anyone has some to give. Thank you.

[Guest huya]

I have the same problem too. The same weird weird problem.

Now, what makes it weirder is the following:

• Web browsing just stops working 5-10 minutes or so, after I turn on the computer. Ping and other stuff keep working fine. The modem lights work fine. The problem does not appear on Linux or BSD, so it is not an ISP/modem/cabling issue. It must be XP related. Sometimes, if I wait, web browsing comes back after a while.
  
• Unlike you all, I am using Windows XP "vanilla". In other words, I don't have SP1 or SP2 installed (and won't install it).
  
• The problem just started about 1-2 weeks ago.
  
• I have not made any software changes at all. Everything that is there has been there for at least 6 months, and everything has worked fine all this time. The only recent thing I have done is repairing an MS Office 2000 installation (by clicking on Repair on its setup). About 3 days ago. That's it.
  
• Again, PING works fine. I start every session with a "ping blabla.com -t" and it chugs on without any interruptions for hours. Unlike the web browser (s).
  
• I try with at least 5 different browsers. Internet Explorer 6, Netscape 7.2, Firefox, Opera 8, OffbyOne, Internet Explorer 1.5, Dillo for Windows
  
• It seems they are able to resolve the IP out of the DNS, but they never get to load the page.
  
• I try local pages (like the ISP), fast pages (Google), and other pages, and in *some* cases, the local pages will load. I SAID *SOME* TIMES!
  
• Sometimes, if I just leave it be for a while, browsing just returns back.
  
• I have tried loading ZoneAlarm.
  
• I have tried without ZoneAlarm loaded. Note: a similar problem here was fixed by removing ZoneAlarm. experts-exchange.com
  
• The problem is not my ISP, because when I reboot and use Linux or BSD, I can browse for hours and hours, just like normal.
  
• I have tried with the Windows Firewall turned on and also with it turned off. I have tried every combination with ZoneAlarm and without it.
  
• I don't have P2P software on when this happens.
  
• I have tried ipconfig /release, ipconfig /renew and also flushing DNS cache with ipconfig /flushdns
  
• Sometimes I share the internet connection with a laptop that I bring, just like I have for years. When the "web stops working", it stops working in both computers. Yeah, I know it sounds obvious, but the thing is, folder sharing will still work fine. They can both share files swell, while the web is down.
  
• I have scanned with AVG Antivirus with the latest definitions.
  
• I have scanned for spyware with S&D and ewido.
  
• Ping keeps chugging along!
  
• When I test with having ZoneAlarm on, I check the log files, and no rogue thing seems to be going on. The only thing that is logged in there is ZA itself and stuff from two days ago and so on.
  
• I'm thinking that the fix could be a registry setting, hopefully someone can suggest something.
  
• I repeat, everything that is here has been like this for 6+ months and has worked fine until about 1 week ago or so.
  

Thanks

Edited March 14, 2006 by huya