Question

Cannot make an HTTP connection

Asked by: TheSOSman

HTTP: Error 12031 connecting to www.microsoft.com.  The conneciton to the server was reset.

The problem system is a Win XP2 Pro SP2 connected wirelessly to network router.  All other systems connected wirelessly to this router are working correctly.  The

problem system was apparently doing its overnight AVG update which did not complete.  When I first saw the system, the next day, the user complained she could not get

on the internet (IE7), nor could she read E-mail (OE) nor could she get the AVG to complete the update.

From the IE7 "Unable to display this page" screen she ran the network diagnostics wizard and got the following results: HTTP: Error 12031 connecting to

www.microsoft.com: The connection with the server was reset.  Error could not make an HTTP connection.  
Got Same message for HTTPS and FTP.  
Suspecting a firewall port problem I ran a SET PORTOPENING PORT = 80 MODE = ENABLE SCOPE = ALL PROTOCOL = ALL  and the same thing for Port 443 (HTTPS)

and Port 21 (FTP).  Then relaunched  IE7 and got the same result only for HTTP. HTTPS and FTP tested OK, so down to a problem only with HTTP.  Then I ran

FIREWALL.CPL/ADVANCED/RESTORE DEFAULTS/YES and NETSH FIREWALL RESET.  Still getting same results for HTTP.

Suspecting possible a Registry problem, I did a SYSREM RESTORE for the system back to the day before the problem occured when  everything was working fine. I also

removed  AVG from Start List and rebooted.  Still get the same results out of IE7 and OE.  I ran IPCONFIG and everything looked fine. I Pinged the DNS servers and that

went fine.
Now this is interesting:  If I start IE7 and try to go to HTTP://www.microsoft.com  I get the now normal results of not working.  If I change the URL to

HTTPS://www.microsoft.com it starts a session and will stay and run normally on that site.  So the secure site seems to work.
 
I then installed Firefox 3.0.3 and fired it up.  Immediately got a "Page Load Error - Connection Interrupted.  The connection to the server was reset while the page was

loading.  The Network link was interrupted while negotiating a connection."  Retrying gives the same results.
 
I have found several Registry Cleaners advertise to fix this problem (HTTP:12031)   but since I system restored to a day prior to the problem and am running with that version

of the registry I suspect that might not fix the problem.  I rebooted the router anyway but did not expect any change and got none.  I can run in a IE7 in a stable manor for

long periods of time when connecting to a HTTPS site. (This seems to tell me my wireless hardware and connection is good, as it always has been.)  

Attached is the result of the Network Diagnostics for Windows XP

There probably is some additional clues in the attached  Diagnostics but I am not sure how to interpret it.

I realize this is a long explanation of the problem but all these different things don't add up to me.  
I am not sure what to try next.

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Answers

 

by: tenaj-207Posted on 2008-10-25 at 15:11:34ID: 22805261

Let's try two different things. 1. Reinstall the Network Card (NIC), 2. Determine if this is a windows software issue or a third party software issue.

First reinstall your NIC.  To do this right click on my computer and choose properties, then go to the Hardware tab and click on the Device Manager button.  Expand your Network adapters, and right click on your NIC and choose uninstall.  Then reboot and re test IE.  If that doesn't work then use msconfig to see if we can narrow down the problem.

Open up msconfig (click on start then run and type in msconfig in the text box) go to the startup tab and uncheck everything (there's a disable all button to make this easy).  Then go the the services tab and uncheck the  "show Microsoft services" box to hide all of the MS services and uncheck the rest of the services.

This allows you to determine if the problem is 3rd party software based or a corrupt windows issue.  If after unchecking everything and rebooting, test the connection again.

Another way to test this is to boot into safe mode with Networking and test IE in safe made to see if it works there.

 

by: QuoriPosted on 2008-10-26 at 00:30:50ID: 22806421

I am suspecting a nasty little virus got in past AVG and the update was going to detect it causing a proactive cessation of network activity by the little bugger.

If you have an SoE, I'd suggest a reimage.

 

by: tenaj-207Posted on 2008-10-26 at 08:23:29ID: 22807493

If it's a corrupted file, as Quori suggest, then put your XP CD in the CD drive and then click start > run, and in the command prompt type in sfc /scannow.  This scans for any corrupted system files.

 

by: jezhuntPosted on 2008-10-27 at 01:54:14ID: 22810769

I had exactly the same issues with my SBS network which started on Thursday 10/23/2008. Tried all you did but nothing worked until I uninstalled AVG Internet Security for SBS from the affected clients.

I had noticed in the AVG admin console on the server that the affected clients had all failed a recent AVG update and, now that they could not connect via HTTP were never going to get it. the version they all had was 8.0.191 Therefore I unistalled AVG from each client and reinstalled remotely from the server with latest version 8.0.196 downloaded from www.avg.com and this immediately solved the issue.

I have already advised another EE user of my solution & it worked for them http://www.experts-exchange.com/OS/Microsoft_Operating_Systems/Windows/XP/Q_23846732.html?cid=236#a22807099

 

by: TheSOSmanPosted on 2008-10-27 at 14:07:06ID: 22816897

Here is the solution.  I rebooted the system in "Safe Mode with Networking.  Both IE7 and Firefox worked OK.  Then after rebooting, ran MSCONFIG and Disable All in the Startup Tab and Disable All in the Services Tab.  From there is was process of elimination in both the Startup Tab and the Services Tab.. Long story Short:  There wore two AVG8 entries in the Services Tab (AVG8 E-mail Scanner and AVG8 Watchdog) that were the culprits.  With them enabled IE7 and Firefox won't work.  With them disabled everything works.  The next step of course was to uninstall AVG 8.0.191.     Thanx to all.   Every bit of input was helpful.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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