How to Fix Very Corrupted winsock and winsock 2 issues in Vista?

adlep

Diamond Member
Mar 25, 2001
5,287
6
81
Vista's program manager should be fired...

:(

Trying to fix the winsock corruption in Vista Home Premium and nothing works...
netsh winsock reset returns an error, and the system restore does not work...

:(

With XP there was at least a manual way of resetting the winsock by removing the winsock and winsock2 registry entries from HKLM hive and reinstalling the TCP/IP from the windows/inf catalog...

That is NOT the case in Vista....

Pondering my next step. I do not want to just reinstall because that is an easy way out...



Then, there is this Vista VPN support gem too:

MS KB Article

Translation: If you use VPN dialer on your Vista based PC and you are behind a router, most likely you will have a lot of problems with the connection so prepare for a lot of computer troubleshooting - even though your XP based PC is working fine wit a VPN dialer...

:(

I am loosing money on clients that are using Vista based PC all the time...
Grrrr

Edit: Solution:

In case anyone whats to know, here is what I did to fix the problem:

I have determined that the winsock and winsock2 registry keys that are located in the HKLM/System/CurrentControlSet/Services are corrupted.

The system restore service also got corrupted (the system restore service was not even listed in the list of Windows Services (?)).

The command that is listed in MS KB that "should" reinstall the corrupted winsock keys
netsh winsock reset
would return an error
Initialization Function InitHelperDll in NSHHTTP.DLL failed to start with error code 11003

Of course, the netsh winsock reset command was run from a command prompt with an elevation (run as administrator).


What to do?

In Windows XP there is an option of removing the corrupted winsock and winsock2 registry keys from the HKLM registry hive and reinstalling the TCP/IP protocol from the Windows/inf folder. That is not the case in Windows Vista, because some Microsoft jenious decided to mess with this function.

But, what worked for me is this:
I have logged on to other, healthier PC that runs the same version of Windows Vista Home Premium.
I have exported the winsock and winsock2 registry keys only from HKLM/System/CurrentControlSet/Services to a flash drive.

I have connected the flash drive to the corrupted Windows Vista and merged the exported winsock and winsock2 registry keys with the original and broken versions.

Finally I have rebooted the computer.
Upon reboot the corruption was gone.
Finally the missing system restore service was fixed as well by running the sfc /scannow command (elevation required).

Cliffs:

Winsock keys and TCP/IP stack in general seem to be an integral part of many critical system services in Windows Vista. When these will go corrupted, Vista will have problems functioning properly.

When everything fails, export the winsock and winsock2 registry keys from other computer that runs the same version of Windows Vista and merge them into the corrupted keys on the broken Windows Vista OS...
 

Crusty

Lifer
Sep 30, 2001
12,684
2
81
If something is returning an error it's obviously not working as it's intended, that in no way signifies that Vista stinks. Maybe if you had exhausted all support options(including calling MS) and you still have problems you could begin to blame Vista.
 

adlep

Diamond Member
Mar 25, 2001
5,287
6
81
Originally posted by: Crusty
If something is returning an error it's obviously not working as it's intended, that in no way signifies that Vista stinks. Maybe if you had exhausted all support options(including calling MS) and you still have problems you could begin to blame Vista.

I get your point, but it does not apply to this specific case. The netsh winsock reset command is available in XP as well as in Vista, but Vista does not include the option of a manual reinstall of the TCP/IP stack - the way XP does.

Also, is there any way to "browse" through Vista's restore points in the system volume folder, the same way it is possible to do in XP?
I am looking for an alternate copy of a healthy registry hive that is obviously backed up in the system volume folder - but it seems that the "restore points" are encrypted...

Also, I did call with "Sam" at Microsoft about my 2nd rant. We had a nice conversation and he did everything he could to help, at the end of the day I had to give up on Vista and just install a site-to-site VPN connection (hardware solution) vs. using a software dialer (in Vista).

 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
30,699
1
0
netsh winsock reset works fine here. If you weren't already doing so, first elevate a command prompt by right-clicking it and choosing Run As Administrator, then run the command.
 

soonerproud

Golden Member
Jun 30, 2007
1,874
0
0
Originally posted by: adlep
If something is returning an error it's obviously not working as it's intended, that in no way Also, is there any way to "browse" through Vista's restore points in the system volume folder, the same way it is possible to do in XP?

You could use a program like Shadow Explorer to look at the system restore points in Vista. ( Ultimate and Business have this functionality built in already) Vista uses Volume Shadow Copies for restore points, unlike XP.
 

adlep

Diamond Member
Mar 25, 2001
5,287
6
81
Originally posted by: mechBgon
netsh winsock reset works fine here. If you weren't already doing so, first elevate a command prompt by right-clicking it and choosing Run As Administrator, then run the command.

Done it.
The netsh winsock reset comand still fails with an error message:

Initialization Function InitHelperDll in NSHHTTP.DLL failed to start with error code 11003

Google fails to find usable clues.

In XP, At least there is one more "way" you can try...Not so much in Vista..
Hence XP > Vista from the Service standpoint.
 

adlep

Diamond Member
Mar 25, 2001
5,287
6
81
Originally posted by: soonerproud
Originally posted by: adlep
If something is returning an error it's obviously not working as it's intended, that in no way Also, is there any way to "browse" through Vista's restore points in the system volume folder, the same way it is possible to do in XP?

You could use a program like Shadow Explorer to look at the system restore points in Vista. ( Ultimate and Business have this functionality built in already) Vista uses Volume Shadow Copies for restore points, unlike XP.

Thanks...
Googling now...
 

Nothinman

Elite Member
Sep 14, 2001
30,672
0
0
Initialization Function InitHelperDll in NSHHTTP.DLL failed to start with error code 11003

Sounds like you broke more than just your TCP/IP stack, I can't believe any of this is Vista's fault.
 

Cogman

Lifer
Sep 19, 2000
10,277
125
106
So, a specific part of vista is different from the way XP works, therefore the entire thing is a HUGE step back and shouldn't be touched by humans.... Yeah.

For me, I'm loving vista, it isn't a huge step forward, but it is a step forward. I haven't had a single problem with it from day one. (unless you count overclocking instability, but that really isn't vistas fault now is it.)
 

MadRat

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
11,908
228
106
Knock out system restore before you run it. Make sure you elevate your credentials when you run it. You cannot touch that part of the registry as a general account.
 

adlep

Diamond Member
Mar 25, 2001
5,287
6
81
Originally posted by: Nothinman
Initialization Function InitHelperDll in NSHHTTP.DLL failed to start with error code 11003

Sounds like you broke more than just your TCP/IP stack, I can't believe any of this is Vista's fault.

In case anyone whats to know, here is what I did to fix the problem:

I have determined that the winsock and winsock2 registry keys that are located in the HKLM/System/CurrentControlSet/Services are corrupted.

The system restore service also got corrupted (the system restore service was not even listed in the list of Windows Services (?)).

The command that is listed in MS KB that "should" reinstall the corrupted winsock keys
netsh winsock reset
would return an error
Initialization Function InitHelperDll in NSHHTTP.DLL failed to start with error code 11003

Of course, the netsh winsock reset command was run from a command prompt with an elevation (run as administrator).


What to do?

In Windows XP there is an option of removing the corrupted winsock and winsock2 registry keys from the HKLM registry hive and reinstalling the TCP/IP protocol from the Windows/inf folder. That is not the case in Windows Vista, because some Microsoft jenious decided to mess with this function.

But, what worked for me is this:
I have logged on to other, healthier PC that runs the same version of Windows Vista Home Premium.
I have exported the winsock and winsock2 registry keys only from HKLM/System/CurrentControlSet/Services to a flash drive.

I have connected the flash drive to the corrupted Windows Vista and merged the exported winsock and winsock2 registry keys with the original and broken versions.

Finally I have rebooted the computer.
Upon reboot the corruption was gone.
Finally the missing system restore service was fixed as well by running the sfc /scannow command (elevation required).

Cliffs:
Winsock keys and TCP/IP stack in general seem to be an integral part of many critical system services in Windows Vista. When these will go corrupted, Vista will have problems functioning properly.

When everything fails, export the winsock and winsock2 registry keys from other computer that runs the same version of Windows Vista and merge them into the corrupted keys on the broken Windows Vista OS...

 

MadRat

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
11,908
228
106
You should have been able to manually edit those keys. You have to run the regedt32 program with elevated rights to make simple changes sometimes. I was able to edit the security from a non-elevated regedt32 session after re-taking ownership. Sometimes you have to apply a new ownership to get it to fix the ownership problems on keys/subkeys.
 

smithsonga

Junior Member
Mar 19, 2009
1
0
0
I have the exact same issue...where netsh winsock reset doesnt work...same error.

I do not have another vista computer (both other computers use XP).

I am close to buying and installing XP Pro on the Vista machine.

So, given I dont have another Vista computer to copy the registry sections, how can I edit them manually? I know HOW to edit them, but not how to know which are wrong or what to change them to.

Help? Ideas?

thx
 

Chiefcrowe

Diamond Member
Sep 15, 2008
5,043
174
116
so how do you think this happened in the first place? sounds like a beast of a problem which i've never seen before!!
 

FrankPaolino

Junior Member
May 6, 2012
1
0
0
I have been wrestling with this for 3 hours. I tried netsh winsock reset .... 5-6 times with no luck (on Windows 7 machine).

Finally, I got a "good copy" of winsock and winsock2 from an older boot partition of the same computer, deleted the winsock and winsock2 Reg entries in Safe Mode, double clicked on my Winsock.reg and winsock2.reg files, rebooted, and presto! I can now access the internet.

Wow! I really though I had to do the "reinstall" option, which would be a big time waste.

Thanks so much for bothering to post this.;)

Frank Paolino

No links to personal sites, please
-ViRGE
 
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