Freeze-Up Dial-Up Networking Problem

In Windows XP, when connecting to the Internet

I live in a small town (Hardisty, Alberta, Canada), and we have only two choices to connect to the Internet.  The first is through dial-up with our telephone company, and the second is high-speed wireless, which costs a lot more.

Most of my clients still use dial-up because either they live out of range of the high-speed, or they don't want to pay the high price for high-speed.

Problem:

The freeze-up can last from 3 to 10 minutes.  During the freeze-up, no programs/processes will start, but programs that are already running will work.  You can access the Start Menu, get right-click pop-up menus, and many other things, but if you try to start a new process or program, nothing will happen.  Eventually, the freeze-up will resolve itself, and all the processes/programs you tried to start during the freeze-up, will suddenly all start at once.  At that point, you can use the Internet without any problems.

During the freeze-up, you can disconnect from the dial-up to free up the phone line, but the computer still shows the connection icon in the Taskbar, and the freeze-up continues..

Even telling the computer to restart or shut down will not accomplish anything until the freeze-up has resolved.  Then the computer will restart or shutdown.

This problem is independent of which version of Windows XP is running.  I've seen it on both Home Edition and Professional Edition.

I first saw this problem in November 2005 when I started this type of work for pay, and the problem had continued to plague me without a solution.

If you are interested in the steps I used to solve this problem, then read on.  Even if you don't have this exact problem, the steps I took may help you.  If you want, you can just skip down to the solution.

What I finally narrowed down the problem to:

In each case I've seen this problem, the computer in question had run the Windows XP "Network Setup Wizard".  I spent a lot of time figuring out that this is what caused the problem.  You can see in the next section below everything I've done to try to narrow down the problem and solve it.

I will admit, that I am the one who ran the "Network Setup Wizard" on each of these computers, which caused the problem.  Thus, unknowingly, I caused the problem on each of these computers.  You may be able to imagine the feelings this has evoked in me.  I've already got problems with depression, anxiety, stress, and low self-esteem.  This problem just makes things worse.

In all cases but one, the reason why I ran the "Network Setup Wizard", was so then I could temporarily attach the client's computer to my home network.  This was so I can transfer large files back and forth quickly, and so then the client's computer could use my high-speed Internet connection.  The one case where I didn't run the "Network Setup Wizard" for my own purposes, was when the client wanted me to network their two computers together.

What I've done to track down the problem and solve it:

• Tested the modem(s) in other computers: OK
• Moved the modem(s) to other PCI slots.  No effect.
• Tried other modems in the problem computer, even brand new ones.  No effect.
• Tried various different drivers for the modem(s).  No effect.
• Cleared the BIOS by discharging it (removing the battery), then reconfiguring the BIOS.  No effect.
• In one client's computer, I removed the video adapter and put in a different one, in case there was a conflict there.  No effect.
• Confirmed that there were no hardware conflicts anywhere in the affected computers.
• Uninstalled all security software.  No effect.
• Disabled the Windows firewall.  No effect.
• Uninstalled all non-Microsoft software that had anything to do with the modem (modem helpers, fax programs, etc.)  No effect.
• Uninstalled all non-Microsoft software.  No effect.

Reinstalling Windows XP:

Finally, I reformatted the hard drive, and reinstalled Windows XP.  Then before installing any software, or updating Windows, I set up the DUN (Dial-Up Networking), for the Internet.  Lo and behold, it worked fine, with no freeze-up.

Then I ran the Windows XP "Network Setup Wizard".  I tested the dial-up connection, and it froze-up.  #$%@&^$ !!!!

Once I narrowed down the problem to specifically the "Network Setup Wizard", here's what I tried:

• Re-running the "Network Setup Wizard".  Logically, for the clients with no home network, the obvious choice in the Wizard is, "This computer connects directly to the Internet. I do not have a network yet."  Once the Wizard was done, and I rebooted the computer, the freeze-up problem remained.
• Re-running the "Network Setup Wizard", testing all the other settings in the Wizard.  The wizard would gave an error, or succeed, but either way, it had no effect on the problem.
• Unplugging or plugging in my network.  No effect.
• Enabling or disabling the network adapter.  No effect.
• Deleting the dial-up connection, and creating it new again.  No effect.
• Add/Remove Windows components: Adding all the Network Services available.  No effect.
• Add/Remove Windows components: Removing all the Network Services.  No effect.
• Add/Remove Windows components: Enabled just Internet Gateway Device Discovery and Control Client.  No effect.
• Internet Properties: Connections: LAN Settings: Automatically detect settings - Changing this to be on or off.  No effect.
• Internet Properties: Connections: Dial-up Settings: Automatically detect settings - Changing this to be on or off.  No effect.
• Internet Properties: Connections Tab - "Always dial my default connection", or "Dial whenever a network connection is not present", or "Never dial a connection".  No effect.
• Properties for the dial-up connection: Networking: Internet Protocol (TCP/IP): Properties: Advanced: General Tab: "Use default gateway on remote network".  Turning this off caused the freeze-up problem to disappear, but also no connection to the Internet.
• Properties for the dial-up connection: Networking: Internet Protocol (TCP/IP): Properties: Advanced: General Tab: "Use IP header compression" - Changing this to be on or off.  No effect.
• Properties for the dial-up connection: Networking: Internet Protocol (TCP/IP): Properties: Advanced: WINS Tab: Enable or disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP - Changing this to be on or off.  No effect.

There may be a few other things that I've tried, but don't recall now.  They didn't work anyway.

Microsoft Support:

I finally contacted Microsoft Support and paid them $45 Canadian (CORRECTION: They actually charged me $45 USD), to try to solve the problem.  Dealing with them has been a trial in of itself, which you can see on my webpage: My experience with Microsoft Support.  Suffice it to say, asking Microsoft for help should be the last resort of a desperate person, and you have to have a lot of patience.

The first thing they suggested that I had not already tried, was to remove some keys in the Windows Registry:

HKey_Local_Machine: System: CurrentControlSet: Services: RasMan: PPP: EAP
There were 4 folders under this key with the names: 13, 25, 26 and 4.
This Microsoft Tech Support guy had me delete keys 25 & 26, and all their sub-keys.  Then reboot the computer.

This did not solve the problem.

More information about these Windows Registry Keys:

On my own computer, both keys have 12-13 subkeys.  For identifying information:

• A subkey called, "FriendlyName" with the value of "Protected EAP (PEAP)", and
• a subkey called, "IdentityPath" with the value of "%SystemRoot%\System32\rastls.dll"

• A subkey called, "FriendlyName" with the value of "Secured password (EAP-MSCHAP v2)", and
• a subkey called, "IdentityPath" with the value of "%SystemRoot%\System32\raschap.dll"

Next

Microsoft Support had me change a setting:

Folder Options: View: Advanced Settings: File and Folders: Automatically search for network folders and printers - Turned it off.

Right after changing this option, I tested the dial-up, and it did not freeze-up.  Unfortunately, testing it again, the freeze-up reoccurred.  After a reboot, the freeze-up still happened.

He had me run "Microsoft Platform Support Reporting Tool v5.2.2004.1 - Setup/Perf Specialty", and e-mail the resulting CAB back to him.

Next

The Microsoft Support Research Team member "Brian", asked me to run "Microsoft Platform Support Reporting Tool v5.2.2004.1 - Setup/Perf Specialty" on the other computer that I have on hand that also has this problem, and e-mail him the results.  He also asked me what networking protocols are installed on both computers, both for the dial-up, and the Local Area Connection.

Problem Solved!

"Brian" told me it was the network protocol "Microsoft TCP/IP version 6", that was causing the problem, which was installed for the Local Area Connection.

I uninstalled the "Microsoft TCP/IP version 6" from the Local Area Connection, and it solved the problem.

"TCP/IP version 6.  The next-generation version of the internet protocol that provides communication across diverse interconnected networks."

You'd think that since this protocol was installed only for the LAN, and not the DUN, that it should not affect the DUN, but of course, that would be logical.  We all know that logic doesn't play much of a part with Windows.

I don't know how it got installed in the first place.  "Brian" said that it was not installed in Windows XP in the first place.  I'm guessing that it was installed by either the "Network Setup Wizard", or through Microsoft Updates.

2008-Apr-23 Update
I just found out that Microsoft has been "pushing" an update to install this faulty protocol to Windows XP users.  I don't know if it is a "high priority" update or not.  If you use dial-up for your Internet, you definitely will need to uninstall this protocol, and make sure that Windows Update or Microsoft Update does not install it again!

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