How To: Quick fix internet connection problems – XP and Vista.

Sudden loss of internet connectivity causes quite a few headaches and can, in some cases, prove difficult to overcome. There are many times however when one of the quick fixes mentioned hereunder can get you back on the net again in no time. Assuming you have already checked with your Internet Service Provider and verified there are no problems their end.

First of all, a few very quick and easy checks:

1) Shut the computer down and *power cycle any external networking devices; e.g modems, routers, etc. Then reboot the computer. *Power cycling simply means; turn the device off for 3 or 4 minutes and then turn it back on again.

2) Look in Device Manager under Network Adapters and make sure there are no associated issues; e.g. that everything is enabled/working OK and drivers are properly installed. (Any issues will generally be signified by the appearance of a little yellow icon, in the shape of an exclamation mark).

3) If you have a 3rd party firewall installed; temporarily disable the firewall completely and try again. If you regain internet connectivity after doing that, you should consider uninstalling that firewall and re-enabling the Windows Firewall.

Now, if none of those options do the trick we move on to slightly more complicated procedures. These commands will reset TCP/IP, Windows Socket, and Windows Firewall:

In XP:

1) Open a command prompt by clicking on Start/ Programs/Accessories/Command Prompt

2) Type in the following commands one at a time, pressing ?Enter? after each command:

netsh int ip reset reset.txt

netsh winsock reset

netsh firewall reset

3. Restart the computer

In Vista:

1) Open a command prompt as Administrator by clicking on Start/All Programs/Accessories - right-click on Command Prompt and choose "Run as administrator"

2) Type in the following commands one at a time, pressing ?Enter? after each command:

netsh int ip reset reset.txt

netsh winsock reset

netsh firewall reset

3) Restart the computer.

If these commands are typed in correctly and errors occur, it?s likely that Windows networking is heavily damaged. Furthermore, if the commands do not return errors, yet still do not fix the internet connection after the computer has been restarted, you are obviously going to need further, more detailed troubleshooting assistance.