T3KN33K
11-18-07, 06:13 PM
So for the past 2 days, I've been experiencing some really strange connectivity issues. My torrents wouldn't connect to any peers, and my browser (same in both Firefox and IE) was doing some really strange things: every time I would attempt to load a page (either by typing in the address bar, clicking a link, etc), it would instantly stop trying to connect... as in, I click a link or press enter in the address bar, and just as soon as it starts looking up the address, it stops, almost instantaneously. I could, however, finally bring up any page (most of the time just text, no images) by pressing enter (or re-clicking in the case of following a link) repeatedly until the connection would "catch" and actually connect to the site.
Other symptoms existed with pretty well all online applications I used; MSN Messenger would often return messages back to me as undeliverable, P2P apps would not download... etc.
Needless to say, this was incredibly irritating. Luckily, about 20minutes ago, I became aware of what was causing the problem, and managed to successfully rectify it. That said, I am posting this now so that should anyone every have a similar problem (as obscure as it turned out to be) might be able to find some direction from my experience.
What Was Causing The Problem:
Recently, I was attempting to resolve an issue with my video card driver, and, using my Windows XP disc, I repaired my Windows installation, preserving my files and programs, but resetting all system files and registry values.
Quite a while ago, (following a guide on this forum, I think ;) ) I made changes to my tcpip.sys file to increase the number of half-open connection attempts allowed, using LvlLord's TCP/IP patch. At the same time, I increased the value for number of connection attempts in my Utorrent settings, to take advantage of the extra room afforded by the newly changed .sys file.
When I repaired my Windows installation, the tcpip.sys file was re-written back to default, and inevitably, I forgot about ever making the change in the first place. Since my bit torrent client was still making several connection attempts (several more than now allowed by Windows), it was causing the pre-stated connectivity problems (the exact technicalities of how this was happening, I'm not even going attempt to fully understand).
The Solution:
Pretty straight forward and obvious solution. I could have either lowerd my Utorrent settings back to default, or, (...the route I chose) repatch the tcpip.sys file, and go on about your day, feeling wonderful for having successfully troubleshooted!
Other symptoms existed with pretty well all online applications I used; MSN Messenger would often return messages back to me as undeliverable, P2P apps would not download... etc.
Needless to say, this was incredibly irritating. Luckily, about 20minutes ago, I became aware of what was causing the problem, and managed to successfully rectify it. That said, I am posting this now so that should anyone every have a similar problem (as obscure as it turned out to be) might be able to find some direction from my experience.
What Was Causing The Problem:
Recently, I was attempting to resolve an issue with my video card driver, and, using my Windows XP disc, I repaired my Windows installation, preserving my files and programs, but resetting all system files and registry values.
Quite a while ago, (following a guide on this forum, I think ;) ) I made changes to my tcpip.sys file to increase the number of half-open connection attempts allowed, using LvlLord's TCP/IP patch. At the same time, I increased the value for number of connection attempts in my Utorrent settings, to take advantage of the extra room afforded by the newly changed .sys file.
When I repaired my Windows installation, the tcpip.sys file was re-written back to default, and inevitably, I forgot about ever making the change in the first place. Since my bit torrent client was still making several connection attempts (several more than now allowed by Windows), it was causing the pre-stated connectivity problems (the exact technicalities of how this was happening, I'm not even going attempt to fully understand).
The Solution:
Pretty straight forward and obvious solution. I could have either lowerd my Utorrent settings back to default, or, (...the route I chose) repatch the tcpip.sys file, and go on about your day, feeling wonderful for having successfully troubleshooted!