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Welcome!
to the Modems section|
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This part is purely for users of Windows 95/98 - I don't know enough about other operating systems to be able to assist. It assumes that:
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Troubleshooting - Step 4: Windows Connection Services |
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This leaves the Windows connection facilities as the problem on the machine, rather than the modem. The one caveat to this statement must be for owners of V.90 modems, which will sometimes connect in section 3 & then immediately drop the line. If there is any suspicion that this is the case, then use the table here to prevent the modem from making a V.90 connection, and try with Windows again. Immediately below are the known problems with Windows Connections. Next is a short piece on each of the Windows connection components:
If you want to get straight onto fixing the Windows Connection facilities, go here. |
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| These are the ones I know of (do send me more): | Known Problems with Windows Dial-in Connections |
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More information is available in Q174579 on the Microsoft knowledge base. One sequence of events that can cause this is removing the Compuserve software provided with Windows 95. It is due to either a wrong or corrupted file handling the Session Management Module aspects of DUN. Compuserve enters the picture because its WOW! service [software supplied with Windows 95, but the service discontinued January 1998] used one of its own files rather than a Windows file. Unfortunately, reinstalling DUN does not fix the problem, & we will need to go hacking into the Registry: |
Error 745 - An essential file is missing | ||||
open System open CurrentControlSet open Services open RemoteAccess open Authentication open SMM_Files click on PPP in the left-hand pane
smmscrpt.dll - which means that Dial-Up Scripting is installed
go Edit then Modify change the value to "rasapi32.dll" [no quotes] press the OK button as long as rasapi32.dll is on disc that will have fixed the problem - close down the Registry Editor. If the value is correct, then the file on disc is either missing or corrupted, & will need replacing from the Windows' Cabinet files:
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Replacing missing/corrupted files: use Windows Find (see box at right) to find the file & make a note of the location of the file if it exists. The files should be in:
Win98: the Windows\System folder
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| Rename any existing files to have an ".old" filetype & extract new files from the Windows cabinet files. |
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| Winsock.dll [or Wsock32.dll to name it's newer brother] is a Windows' Sockets file which is intimately involved in all Network & DUN connections. Turnpike comes into the picture because early versions used a non-Microsoft WinSock which is incompatible with Windows DUN, leaving standard Windows connections high-and-dry if Turnpike is then uninstalled while this WinSock is active. I understand Turnpike to be much used by Demon users (see right). | Turnpike & WinSock | ||
Copies of winsock.dll, Wsock32.dll & wsock.vxd will need
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Typically, DUN dials out with long, long periods of hand-shaking but no connection with an eventual time-out resulting in the whole process being repeated over again, perhaps many times, until connection is eventually made [or not]. This is usually because of wrong settings within the DUN connectoid, & specifically a tick in the "Log on to network" box. A possible explanation is that the Dial-Up Adapter in Network is missing or corrupt, in which case it will need to be reinstalled, but the usual explanation is that the connectoid has been manually created, as this is the default setting. The fix & a screen shot are here. |
DUN takes a long time to connect |
The latest release of Windows98 has versions of DUN & winSock which are both newer and more reliable than poor old Windows95. To be specific, these are
winSock v2.2 [964 KB] |
DUN & WinSock upgrades |
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This applies to Windows 98 Second Edition (Win98 SE), with the Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) utility installed, & America Online (AOL) as your Internet Service Provider (ISP), only. If you have this error message with another version of Windows, or ICS is not installed, or your ISP is not AOL, go here. To quickly display your Windows version, see right. Microsoft has provided support articles Q241344 & Q238550 concerning this problem. The problem occurs if ICS is installed when both AOL & Dial-Up Networking are installed, as TCP/IP (shared) will bind by default to the Dial-Up Adapter rather than to the AOL Adapter. This means that you either abandon any other ISP's that you may be using, or abandon AOL, or abandon ICS. One or the other. The fix is to uninstall ICS, remove the Dial-up Adapter, then reinstall ICS & ensure that TCP/IP (Shared) is now bound to the AOL Adapter. It is not possible to reinstall the Dial-Up Adapter. In the support articles (above) that I've read Microsoft says to do this from Network Neighbourhood. However, I'm sure that this is a mistake, & that it should read Network. |
Page cannot be displayed after installing ICS with AOL as the ISP
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Windows Connection Components |
| My first introduction to Microsoft's very wonderful Internet Explorer came when I signed up with the ISP called Freeserve. | Internet Explorer | ||
Freeserve has - like many thousands of other ISP's - used the Internet Explorer Administration Kit [IEAK] to produce it's install program. You can see this for yourself by examining various of the installation files, or the Registry following installation - try, as an example, opening C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\Signup\install.ins & searching for "ieak". This means that:
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| DUN is at the heart of all Windows 95/98 connection services. I'm biased, but it is possibly the most flaky piece of Windows software in existence. A corrupt DUN on my own Windows95 system cost me about 4 continuous hours of frustration before discovery. The typical sign of corruption in DUN is mysteriously-disappearing entries, or 'phantom' entries (connectoids not showing in DUN yet being accessed by other communications software). | Dial-Up Networking [DUN] | ||
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Once an Internet account has been established with an ISP & a connectoid exists in DUN, then strictly Internet Explorer is not needed. The DUN connectoid can be used on it's own to connect, then any Browser can be used to browse the web, any Mail Client used to send/receive e-mail, any FTP Client used to transmit/receive files, and so on. It seems pretty clear that early versions of the Windows connection facilities left much to be desired, and Microsoft has had to work hard to produce stable & reliable remote access facilities:
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It may be a surprise for some people with stand-alone computers that they have Networking on the machine. The thinking is that of Inter-net, or Inter-networks [a network of networks]. It may only be one computer, but when you surf the net then, as far as your ISP's computer is concerned, it's connecting one network to another network, & this is why you get an entire IP address allocated all to yourself. The fact that when you disconnect it's taken back & allocated to someone else is by-the-by. The prime instruction with the Network components is - in most cases - DON'T TOUCH! Property values here will over-ride DUN values, & any one value changed can prevent connection. There are 3 network components required for IEAK-installed ISP's such as Freeserve (see right); these all work fine with the default values they are given when first installed |
Network Components
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This is actually quite easy with IEAK-installed ISP's such as Freeserve. What follows may require the Windows CD & about 20 minutes. Some computer suppliers put the Windows cabinet files on the hard disc, in which case the Windows CD will not be needed. The principle of what follows is to strip DUN and Networking facilities out of the computer, then re-install. I am not going to consider fixing any problems with Internet Explorer [IE] here (though see below), because:
2 The "Recovery" procedure at the end will reset IE4/5 back into a workable situation with the ISP Certain groups of people need to give a bit of pre-thought to the situation on their machine [you are about to strip all Networking & Dial-Up Networking facilities out of your machine, then re-install them]. If your computer
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Fixing the Problem
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If your OS is Win95 & either DUN or WinSock has been upgraded, it will first be necessary to uninstall the upgrade. The program used to remove/reinstall the Windows connection facilities is Add/Remove Programs, either directly from the Windows CD or in Control Panel: |
Removing DUN & Network |
open Control Panel open Add/Remove Programs click on the Windows Setup page Take the tick out of Communications & press 'OK' - they're gone. This will remove DUN and, because Dial-Up Networking is no longer in the system, it will also remove all or some of the Networking components. Depending on your version of Windows you will either: |
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Network is also found in Control Panel:
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Checking Network Components | ||||||||
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An owner of a "simple" non-networked computer will find the window as right to be empty, in which case you can click 'Cancel' & continue here.
The entries as right are the minimum needed for a stand-alone computer to connect to the net (before DUN was removed, that is). In fact, if yours is a stand-alone computer and your ISP is not AOL, these are also the maximum entries that are needed. Remember, our purpose here is to remove software corruption on the system by removing all Windows connection facilities & then reinstalling them. This means that we want to ensure that the 3 components at right are now gone from the system, but it is not always possible. This part of Windows used to be a very quiet bywater in the Home Computer district but, with the rise of the Internet, Home Networking & other developments, is becoming quite over-populated. Thus, many people will find that there are still entries in the window. Some of these it is important to get rid of, others you must not touch, and others it doesn't matter one way or the other - unless you are tidy-minded like me! Removing DUN always removes the Dial-Up Adapter, and also removes the other two Network components that DUN needs to connect, unless Windows thinks that your computer will still need them. It's not possible to anticipate every item that may be here, so cannot advise on every situation, but here are the main ones: |
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If no changes have been made to Network press 'Cancel', else press 'OK'. The computer will now need to be shutdown-restarted, & the place to go once Windows has re-appeared is, once again, Add/Remove Programs on the Windows Setup page.
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Reinstalling DUN & Network | ||||||
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Just as removing Dial-Up Networking removed Network components associated with it, so reinstalling DUN will reinstall the necessary components. Usually. Windows makes the best job of this that it can, but doesn't always get it right (see right), so we will check them out. Confirm that the tick-box next to Communications is empty - if not, either you made a mistake & will need to start again here, or your Windows system is seriously compromised & will need to be reinstalled completely. Otherwise...
press Details... put a tick in Dial-Up Networking (& perhaps also HyperTerminal) Press OK Press OK
Don't restart the computer yet! We now need to return to Network. All necessary components should have been installed, but if not, see right for how to manually add them. If changes have been made press 'OK' else press 'Cancel' then shutdown-restart the computer. This is the stage at which, if yours is Win95 & either DUN or WinSock have been upgraded, the upgrade can be re-applied. Now go to Dial-Up Networking (via 'My Computer' is the quickest way) & check that the DUN connectoids have been re-established. If not, then they will need to be recreated. This is easy if your's is an IEAK-installed ISP like Freeserve, but wearisome if not. |
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It is possible that you may have successfully worked through all 3 pages of this trouble-shooter, & are now receiving one of the messages as at right. My commiserations, but do not give up hope yet - help is still at hand. If you have Windows 98 Second Edition (Win98 SE), & are receiving this message after installing the Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) utility, & America Online (AOL) is your Internet Service Provider (ISP), go here. If you want to hear the sound of a stomach dropping towards the floor, phone up your nearest ISP support technician & tell them that you are receiving this message when you attempt to connect to any web page. The reason for the sinking feeling in our support technician is the sheer range of reasons that can cause this message. We, however, are in a much better situation to fix the problem as long as the following is true:
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The Page Cannot Be Displayed[ISP connection but no web pages]
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The first issue is to make sure that Internet Explorer's connection properties are correct for your ISP. This is one area that has changed a great deal between ie4 & ie5, particularly regarding the Proxy Server settings (see right). Retrieving a Freeserve account as detailed above will automatically reset Internet Explorer's connection properties to the correct values. If your ISP does not have a similar procedure you will need to contact them to verify what the correct values are. Go to the Connection page of Internet Options (see right). |
Internet Explorer Connection Properties
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At right is a screen shot of the Connections page of ie5.
Highlight the connection in the Dial-Up Settings box that you wish to investigate & click on the Settings... button alongside: |
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At right is a screen shot of the settings for a specific connection in ie5.
Click on the Advanced... button alongside the Proxy server section: |
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At right is a screen shot of the Proxy server settings for a specific Freeserve connection in ie5, & for all connections in ie4 preset by Freeserve.
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| Having checked that Internet Explorer's connection properties are OK, and that the Proxy Server settings in particular are correct, we now need to check for possible corruption in the files governing the TCP/IP protocol. This is done by 'pinging' the local host (your machine). | Checking for TCP/IP File Corruption
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First, open an MS-DOS prompt:
choose Programs choose MS-DOS Prompt
and press the <Enter> key |
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Replacing bad files is easy if yours is an IEAK-installed ISP like Freeserve, but could be damn tedious if not. The first step is to go to Network. If there is only one copy of TCP/IP here - breathe a sigh of relief. If there are many copies - ah well. The idea is to delete all copies of TCP/IP (press "OK" & restart the computer after file copying), then reinstall (see Manual Network Reinstallation) (with a slight difference from normal practice - see right). Now, Freeserve works fine with the default values that the TCP/IP protocol has when first installed - hopefully your ISP will be the same, but ask if unsure. The problem comes if you have other adapters within Network... the only way to be sure is to write down all the properties under the TCP/IP bound to the adapter before removing (at least 10, maybe more), then re-configure after reinstalling. Perhaps you should have a word with the Network Administrator? You are the Network Administrator? Ah dear. |
Replacing Corrupted TCP/IP Files
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If you have worked through everything written above, & have reached this point and still cannot get any pages to show in Internet Explorer I would think that you are beginning to be a touch tetchy! Well, welcome to the wonderful world of Windows. In this short section we shall find whether it is actually your ISP's fault/problem with their DNS (Domain Name Service) Server (see right). In order to check for this it will be necessary for those using a Proxy Server to either disable the proxy, or to substitute the FQDN proxy name with it's IP address. Connect to your ISP & start Internet Explorer. Now try to connect to a site by using:
First, the Fully Qualified Domain Name [FQDN] Two examples to try (Freeserve & Microsoft - don't try the proxy server or pop server) are given near the bottom of the box at right. If Internet Explorer will connect using the IP address, but not using the FQDN, this suggests a possible ISP DNS Server problem. A double-check is to use Windows Find to search for a file called Hosts on the drive containing the Windows system files. If this only contains an entry for the local host (e.g. "127.0.0.1 Localhost") then contact your ISP. Hosts file: please note that, AFAIK, this file is only used in circumstances where Internet Explorer is set to "Never Dial a Connection". |
DNS Server Problems
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| This is the one that fixed it for Wayne Kading | Missing/Multiple/Corrupted WinSock Files
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To review the situation now, in the midst of this marathon, review the box at right: Now, whilst still connected, ping both a FQDN & IP address (see bottom of box at right above). If the IP address gives a positive result then go here as this result suggests a corrupted WinSock2 registry key, else negative results suggest a problem with the winSock files on the hard disc. |
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Search within My Computer using Windows Find for the files as at right. What is particularly being looked for is:
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The simplest way is to rename all existing files (see right) then extract new files into the correct folders from the Windows Cabinet files. A listing of file sizes, dates, cab file locations & the relevant Microsoft support site article listing disk file contents follows below. Windows 95 The sheer variety of file sizes in the listing below will indicate the efforts that Microsoft has made to improve communications in Windows95. This is complicated by two sets of upgrades - DUN 1.3 & WinSock 2.2 - the second of which (maybe both) backs up the previous winSock files. Wayne Kading fixed his problem by reinstalling WinSock 2.2, but cautious individuals & support professionals (like me!) will need to go here and restore the previous file from the backup, then reinstall. |
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At this final stage, all the steps in the previous section have been carried out & it has been discovered that an IP address can be successfully pinged whereas Internet Explorer still stubbornly refuses to show a page. Now, as long as there is not some extremely-esoteric error with your ISP, this means that the Winsock2 key within the Registry is corrupted (rather than corrupted WinSock files on disc as with an unsuccessful ping result). Disconnect from your ISP & close down all open programs. Windows 98 users can go right ahead here, but Windows 95 users may have a further hurdle to jump. |
Corrupted WinSock2 Registry Key | ||||
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If you have upgraded DUN or WinSock (see right) you may need to run a batch file from DOS... Search within My Computer using Windows Find for ws2bakup.bat . If not found, skip over the next bit, otherwise:
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The fix for this is to:
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