Winxp Tips And Tricks, Winsock 2 repair

Repairing Damaged Winsock2

The symptoms when Winsock2 is damaged show when you try to release and renew the IP address using IPCONFIG...

And you get the following error message:

An error occurred while renewing interface 'Internet': An operation was attempted on something that is not a socket.

Also Internet Explorer may give the following error message:

The page cannot be displayed Additionally, you may have no IP address or no Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address, and you may be receiving IP packets but not sending them.

There are two easy ways to determine if Winsock2 is damaged:

From the XP source files, go to the Support / Tools directory

Winsock Test Method 1

Run netdiag /test:winsock

The end should say Winsock test ..... passed

Winsock Test Method 2

• Run Msinfo32
• Click on the + by Components
• Click on the by Network
• Click on Protocol
• There should be 10 sections if the Winsock2 key is ok
• MSAFD Tcpip [TCP/IP]
• MSAFD Tcpip [UDP/IP]
• RSVP UDP Service Provider
• RSVP TCP Service Provider
• MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
• MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
• MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
• MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
• MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
• MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...

If the names are anything different from those in this list, then likely Winsock2 is corrupted and needs to be repaired.

Winsock2 is corrupted and needs to be repaired.

If you have any 3rd party software installed, the name MSAFD may be changed.

There should be no fewer than 10 sections.

To repair Winsock2

• Run Regedit
• Delete the following two registry keys:
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock2

Restart the computer

Go to Network Connections

Right click and select Properties

Click on the Install button

Select Protocol

Click on the Add button

Click on the Have Disk button

Browse to the \Windows\inf directory

Click on the Open button

Click on the OK button

Highlight Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)

Click on the OK button

Reboot

Key Board Shortcuts

• Windows+M Minimize all open windows
• Shift+Windows+M Undo minimize all open windows
• Windows+F1 Open Windows Help
• Windows+Tab Cycle through the Taskbar buttons
• Windows+Break Open the System Properties dialog box

Accessibility shortcuts

• Right SHIFT for eight seconds........ Switch FilterKeys on and off.
• Left ALT +left SHIFT +PRINT SCREEN....... Switch High Contrast on and off.
• Left ALT +left SHIFT +NUM LOCK....... Switch MouseKeys on and off.
• SHIFT....... five times Switch StickyKeys on and off.
• NUM LOCK...... for five seconds Switch ToggleKeys on and off.

Explorer shortcuts

• END....... Display the bottom of the active window.
• HOME....... Display the top of the active window.
• NUM LOCK+ASTERISK....... on numeric keypad (*) Display all subfolders under the selected folder.
• NUM LOCK+PLUS SIGN....... on numeric keypad (+) Display the contents of the selected folder.
• NUM LOCK+MINUS SIGN....... on numeric keypad (-) Collapse the selected folder.
• LEFT ARROW...... Collapse current selection if it's expanded, or select parent folder.
• RIGHT ARROW....... Display current selection if it's collapsed, or select first subfolder.

Type the following commands in your Run Box (Windows Key + R) or Start Run

• devmgmt.msc = Device Manager
• msinfo32 = System Information
• cleanmgr = Disk Cleanup
• ntbackup = Backup or Restore Wizard (Windows Backup Utility)
• mmc = Microsoft Management Console
• excel = Microsoft Excel (If Installed)
• msaccess = Microsoft Access (If Installed)
• powerpnt = Microsoft PowerPoint (If Installed)
• winword = Microsoft Word (If Installed)
• frontpg = Microsoft FrontPage (If Installed)
• notepad = Notepad
• wordpad = WordPad
• calc = Calculator

WINDOWS XP HIDDEN APPS:

• Character Map = charmap.exe (very useful for finding unusual characters)
• Disk Cleanup = cleanmgr.exe
• Clipboard Viewer = clipbrd.exe (views contents of Windows clipboard)
• Dr Watson = drwtsn32.exe (Troubleshooting tool)
• DirectX diagnosis = dxdiag.exe (Diagnose & test DirectX, video & sound cards)
• Private character editor = eudcedit.exe (allows creation or modification of characters)
• IExpress Wizard = iexpress.exe (Create self-extracting / self-installing package)
• Microsoft Synchronization Manager = mobsync.exe (appears to allow synchronization of files on the network for when working offline. Apparently undocumented).
• Windows Media Player 5.1 = mplay32.exe (Retro version of Media Player, very basic).
• ODBC Data Source Administrator = odbcad32.exe (something to do with databases)
• Object Packager = packager.exe (to do with packaging objects for insertion in files, appears to have comprehensive help files).
• System Monitor = perfmon.exe (very useful, highly configurable tool, tells you everything you ever wanted to know about any aspect of PC performance, for uber-geeks only )
• Program Manager = progman.exe (Legacy Windows 3.x desktop shell).
• Remote Access phone book = rasphone.exe (documentation is virtually non-existant).
• Registry Editor = regedt32.exe [also regedit.exe] (for hacking the Windows Registry).
• Network shared folder wizard = shrpubw.exe (creates shared folders on network).
• File siganture verification tool = sigverif.exe
• Volume Contro = sndvol32.exe (I've included this for those people that lose it from the System Notification area).
• System Configuration Editor = sysedit.exe (modify System.ini & Win.ini just like in Win98! ).
• Syskey = syskey.exe (Secures XP Account database - use with care, it's virtually undocumented but it appears to encrypt all passwords, I'm not sure of the full implications).
• Microsoft Telnet Client = telnet.exe
• Driver Verifier Manager = verifier.exe (seems to be a utility for monitoring the actions of drivers, might be useful for people having driver problems. Undocumented).
• Windows for Workgroups Chat = winchat.exe (appears to be an old NT utility to allow chat sessions over a LAN, help files available).
• System configuration = msconfig.exe (can use to control starup programs)
• gpedit.msc used to manage group policies, and permissions