Network Connections Dialog Pops Up While Surfing 2

[ajharn]

Hi all.

Just recently, probably correlating to the time I installed SP2, the Network Connections Dialog box has been popping up when I click a link on a web page, asking me which connection I want to use to connect. The available choices being AOL or a VPN connection I use for work.
My actual connection is Cable Modem (through Linksys Firewall Router & Switch BEFSX41) -- stable connection in use for many months. When the dialog pops up, I simply hit cancel and the connection is then made normally.

This only happens when loading web pages. It does not happen every time, but quite often. This does not happen with any other application that accesses the net.

Browser is IEXPLORE 6.0.2900.2180 SP2. AOL is version 8 and is used purely for e-mail.

Any and all advice appreciated.

Thanks,
AJ

 

[mattjurado]

Open IE. Tools>Options>Connections tab, set to never dial a connection. If that doesn't do it, run through the internet connection wizard.

Matt J.

Please always take the time to backup any and all data before performing any actions suggested for ANY problem, regardless of how minor a change it might seem. Also test the backup to make sure it is intact.

 

[ajharn]

Thanks for the reply, Matt.

I should have mentioned that I've already checked the connections settings and that they are indeed set to "Never Dial a Connection". After I back up my settings, I'll run through the net wizard, just for the heck of it.

For further reference, I also ran across a Microsoft KB article that notes to check the Autoconnect registry setting for each of your connections at
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\RemoteAcess\Profile\... These should be set to 0 if you do not want any of your apps to auto dial. All of mine were, in fact, set to zero.

However in that area of the registry I did find under ...\Profile\My ISP\ a setting called DisconnectIdleTime. Anyone know it? It was set to 20 seconds (14 Hex). Since this problem behaves like a time-out and/or disconnect has occured, I decided to bump it down to 0 and watch for behavior changes. Will let you know if I discern anything from it.

Any further ideas appreciated.

Thanks,
AJ

 

[linney]

DisconnectIdleTime is a value in minutes before you are disconnected from your ISP after a certain amount of idle time, in your case almost at once if you set it to zero.

Modem Automatically Attempts to Establish a Dial-Up Connection When You Start Your Computer or Start a Program(Q316530).

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q316/5/30.asp

How to set a default internet connection
thread779-837288

Resetting your Winsock settings may help as a last resort.

XP SP2 has its own Winsock fixer built in:

netsh winsock reset

from a command prompt.

 

[ajharn]

Thanks for the input, linney.

I looked up disconnectidletime as well and agree that it is unrelated. Though, I assume that setting it to Zero, as in so many programs makes it infinite, rather than immediate.

In any case, the problem seems to have resolved. Since it's unlikely that the idle time was the problem (the function that uses the idle time setting was not enabled)my only thought is that when I went it to Internet Properties to make sure Never Dial a Connection was set that it was rewritten to the registry when I hit OK and corrected a errant registry entry. Those are the only things I did before the problem resolved.

I'll report back for reference if it comes back or I discern anything else.

Thanks all.