Repair TCP/IP Stack in Windows Vista

You had a virus, drive corruption, or some other OS altering situation.  But, being the hero you are, you resolved it and your PC is up and running again.  That is, until you try to access the internet or some other network resource.  The computer sits there trying to access that web page but nothing is happening… (Much like a MAC and its “spinning wheel of death“).  First you check your network connection… Then check to see if you have obtained an IP address and other credentials.  All good.  What gives?

One possibility is that you have a corrupt TCP/IP stack.  What is the TCP/IP stack?  First, TCP/IP  is an important part of the operating system that allows it to communicate across a network.  (Transmission Control Protocol /Internet Protocol)  Network architectures are designed in layers, such as TCP/IP, OSI and SNA, and are called “stacks.” (See TCP/IP, OSI model and protocol stack)

What can causes a corrupt TCP/IP stack?  Drive corruption can cause this, or sometimes a virus can re-write your TCP/IP stack to suit it’s purposes – Bend it to it’s will, so to speak.  So when you remove said virus your TCP/IP layer is rendered unusable to the operating system (corrupted).

To fix this issue we use the NetShell utility.  The NetShell utility (netsh) is a command-line scripting interface for the configuring and monitoring of Windows XP, Server 2003 and Windows Vista networking services.  This will reinstall and reset the TCP/IP stack (Internet Protocol) to its original state.  To do this in Windows XP or Server 2003 we used the following command:

netsh int ip reset [ log_file_name ]

Example:
netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt

The above command will reset the TCP/IP stack and write a log file called resetlog.txt, recording it’s actions.

Windows Vista, adds a little hitch to the process because of the UAC (User Access Control).

To reset the Stack in Windows Vista there are a few more steps:

1. Click the Start Pearl.
2. Type Cmd in the  Search box.
3. Press the Ctrl-Shift-Enter (this is a shortcut that will run the Command Prompt as Administrator. )
4. Type netsh int ip reset at the Command Prompt then press the Enter key.
5. You will then have to restart the computer to complete the reset.

The command will remove all user configured settings on TCP/IP stack and return it to original default state.  After the reboot completes, your network and internet browsing and use should return.

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Speed up File Copy in Vista

I've been using Vista Ultimate as my primary OS now for nearly a year and, I have to say I'm having VERY FEW problems. Certainly not the horror stories you read all over the web and, really no more than I had with Windows XP Pro. It may have something to do with the machine I built to run Vista. (It gets a 5.4 on the Windows Experience Index)

I get no system freezes, no “blue screens“, I've not had to reinstall the OS to make it work again, I can still remote into the systems I manage… Really it's been very reliable. In fact my only REAL Problem is the lack of a driver for my HP Color Laserjet 1500L.. But that too had a work around.

The only things that really bothered me were: Copying files from disk to disk and extracting zip files.

Extracting zips… Extracting Zipfiles using the built in Zip utility was, to say the least, painful. A file that would take a few seconds in XP takes MINUTES in Vista. I couldn't find a solution to fix this in Windows so, I downloaded and installed 7-Zip. That eased all zip Problems. I highly recommend it!

Slow file copying… Well, I've done some digging and found that, for large files, the problem is caused by a new feature called Auto Tuning which is by default enabled in Microsoft Windows Vista.

What Auto Tuning does is that it reacts on changes in the network by tuning the receive windows size. The solution would be of course to disable Auto Tuning in Vista.

To disable Auto Tuning and speed up the copy process and avoid timeouts and disconnects do the following:

Open a command prompt (as Administrator) and type the following:
netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled

To turn it on again:
netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal

For small files.. Files with sizes 1-2KB try:

Go to the Control Panel
Open Programs and Features
Click on " Turn windows features on or off" on the left side of the panel
Uncheck "Remote Differential Compression"

I'm currently testing both changes and so far have seen VERY Good results.. File copying speeds have increased dramatically and there have been no unforeseen side-effects. (yet) I'll keep you posted.

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