Please HELP! `CONNECTION FAILED!` error

Hi,

Can you please help me with this. First I should let you know that I am clean of malware( http://forums.maddoktor2.com/index.php?sho…pid=106416& ).

Her is my problem. When I disable my network connection and try to enable it after, I get an error message ``CONNECTION FAILED!``. The only way to get my network connection back is to shut down my computer. Even to shut down my computer i get problems, it doesn`t want to shut down when I click start/Turn Off Computer/Shut Down, I have to press the on/off button. And sometimes when I try to shut down with the command, I get an ``End Program - MCI command handling window``. Please help!

Nick.

We could use some more information from you. How are you connecting to the network? Wired, wireless? Are you talking about connecting to a network to access the internet, for instance using a wireless modem, or to another computer? Also what do you mean by "it doesn't want to shut down". Do you get an error message? Does the box at least come up with the shut down, stand by, restart options? Does it just do nothing when you select one?

Hi Vectris, I am connected to through `cable`. And when I say "it doesn't want to shut down", I mean yes the box with the shut down, stand by, restart options comes up but it just do nothing when I select one. Nick

Hi Nick. While waiting for Vectris, try going to Device Manager, expanding Network Connections then right click on your network card and uninstall it. Shutdown if you can, if not make sure there is no hard drive activity then power off. Power on and XP will re-detect the network card and reload it's drivers. See if that helps. If not, open Network Connections, right click on Local Area Connection and select Repair, see if that helps.

About the Shut Down Problem:
If you don't disable your network connection, are you able to turn it off normally? I actually believe that they are unrelated.

The MCI error is being caused by a piece of a program that was not closed when the program was or is still processing information. This error may also be whats causing a normal shutdown to not work. What happens is that the normal shutdown can't override the MCI process to shut down the computer so it ends up giving up. Usually you would get an End Program error with a timer that will automatically end it. But certain programs can't be ended automatically so if it was one of those it's possible it could stop a normal shutdown.

You can try finding the MCI process, ending it, and then using a normal shutdown to see if that is whats causing all the shut down problems. To end it, press Ctrl + Alt + Del and go to the processes tabs. Click sort by User so that all the processes under your username are at the top. See if you have any processes with MCI in them, select it, and then press end process. DO NOT end any processes under SYSTEM LOCAL SERVICE or anything else except your User Name, also DO NOT end the explorer.exe process.

If you want to look for other solutions yourself there is plenty of information on it in google.
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=MCI+com…;fp=g9QnLpbgWtc

I did some looking myself but the information I found included no solutions.

As for your Network connection:
Are you using the Network Connections window to disable/enabled it, or a different method?
What is your purpose in disabling it and then re-enabling? (there may be a different way to do it)

Have you tried using a different cable? If not then see if you can find another cable to test it with.

Also are you connecting to a network to use the internet or to communicate with other computers on your network, or a different reason?

A bit more on MCI that I found: http://forums.speedguide.net/showthread.php?t=167397

MCI
The Media Control Interface (MCI) provides standard commands for playing multimedia devices and recording multimedia resource files. These commands are a generic interface to nearly every kind of multimedia device.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en…asp?frame=true
If have a cd in drive, remove it before shutting down.
Possibly you have a multimedia application running, example: winamp does not unload even after closing the winamp pgm itself.

You could also try installing the MS User Profile Hive Cleanup utility. It's good at resolving a lot of shutdown hangs.

Hi, Sorry for the delay, I was out of town. I tried all suggestions you guys made, nothing works. It does not let me uninstall my network card, when I tried, it just hang`s there. I also tried the Local Area Connection/Repair. I have no process with MCI in them. I installed the MS User Profile Hive Cleanup, a black screen appears when I click the .exe file but nothing happened. Thanks for you support! Nick

Nick, try booting to Safe Mode with Networking. Once booted, try a shutdown, see if it works. If better, try the following:

Use msconfig to determine what is causing the problem. Before you do any of the following, record what is currently being started on the Startup and Services tabs so you can put things back when done.

These are good tutorials on using msconfig in XP or Vista:
How to use msconfig in Windows XP
How to use msconfig in Windows Vista

First, open Control Panel and click on Windows Firewall. If it's Off, turn it on because you will be disabling any other Firewall and Anti-virus in the following steps.

Click on Start then Run, type msconfig and press Enter.
Click on the Startup tab then the Disable All button.
Reboot and see how your browser works now.
If okay then use msconfig to enable several items at a time till you find the culprit.

If no, enable the Startup items you disabled, then click on the Services tab.
Check the Hide All Microsoft Services box then click the Disable All button.
Reboot and see how your browser works now.
If yes then use msconfig to enable services till you find the culprit.

Once you've found the culprit, uninstall it or find out how to eliminate it from your system. Simply disabling it in msconfig is a temporary fix at best. Enable everything else you disabled.

Disable Windows Firewall if you enabled it at the start of this process.

Hi Ztruker, I tried all your suggestions, nothing changed. I might consider to re-image my computer, the only problem is that I never did that myself and don`t really know how. Nick.

Hi Nick. Do you have your data backed up? If you are considering reinstalling XP then you should backup your data first.

Install and run Process Explorer. It will show you a list of your running processes with more detail then Task Manager does. Click on File and Save as. It will create a Procexp.txt file. Open it with Notepad, copy and paste the results here please.

I have a similar problem. I have 2 desktops running WinXPPro-Sp3. Both behave the same. One is an Intel MB, one is a Gigabyte MB. They are connected to the Internet through a D-Link switch, through a D-Link router, and onto a Motorola Canopy Radio to a central provider. Both computers are configured and loaded very similarly. Problem: This happens when I use IE7, IE8 or Firefox, but not when I use Chrome. If I use the links that the search engine provides (the problem doesn't occur if I go directly to suspicious URLs), sometimes I get to a point where the following condition occurs. 1-When I try to disable the LAN connection (via taskbar icons) the icon does not disappear unless I swipe the cursor over the icon. 2-When I try to re-enable the LAN connection I get "connection failed". 3-When I try to shutdown or restart the system hangs forever at "Shutting Down…". Only fix is to manually reset or power cycling. I've tried numerous things, nothing helps. I wish I could see, via a log, the point upon which it is hanging, but I don't know how to do this. And why ??? should Chrome behave well given the same sequence that provokes the problem in the other browsers?

Hey guys, I just started having this problem, also saw another forum about this and will be asking that if you still require help on this/still have this problem or even have a solution, Edit to remove link. LDT

Hi ComputerGuy55, WhatTheTech Forums is happy to be a good neighbor in the community of online help sites. We recognize that there are excellent techs offering excellent solutions at many sites. Please note that the original Topic of this Thread "includes" the type of problem that you post, and that "additional" problems existed on the same machine. While it is good study to learn by reading problem-solving and solutions developed from various sites, the individual must be careful about applying solutions that may have been designed for a specific problem on a specific machine. We are glad that you are pleased with help you may be receiving at another site, but we do not support blankly re-directing our readers and members to other sites without sufficient reason. Please don't misunderstand. I read other sites and benefit from work done at various locations on the net. Most Techs do. Actually, many of us work at several sites and collaborate happily between sites. However, we rarely support links to consolidate a particular problem or solution, unless resources are simply not available elsewhere. Best Regards

I completely understand and forgot about that rule, I usually refer to that for virus's as it isn't good to take action from one site and follow another. I mostly meant to try and put a connection for finding the solution to the problem faster, sorry for that. I do understand it can sometimes cause more damage trying to fix a problem when you don't know if you are both having the exact same one. From the way he explained it, it was the same, freezing on uninstalling drivers, stalling on shutdown, could not get anything to work. I will remove my above post, as I have decided to reload windows on it anyways. If the problem persists or I find the CAUSE of this problem, I will be sure to post my reply.

No need to make additional changes. And yes, please feel free to visit and participate here at WTT. There's so much to learn that we can't each know it all. I'm grateful to have so many talented members and techs around the various Forums with whom to consult. Best Regards