[vpn-help] Cannot Re-install VPN Client

[Rodney Barnett]

Yea I just called them strange problems because they were sporadic and
inconsistent and I could've rambled on for several paragraphs trying to
describe them.

I had already tried both the ip and winsock netsh reset commands as well as
uninstalling the network adapters.  At one point, I had a Shrew Soft
Miniport Filter entry in the Device Manager that I couldn't get rid of
though there was no vfilter.sys file on the system.

I think the problem was related to the Cisco VPN client being installed on
the system at the same time though the Shrew Soft VPN client was working
fine in this configuration for a few months.  I removed the Cisco client
fairly early in the troubleshooting process, but it didn't solve the
problem.

If I'd sooner clued into the likelihood that the Cisco client didn't
uninstall completely, I would've tried to find and remove its remnants, but
I'd already started restoring XP to a previous checkpoint.  After that
completed I immediately uninstalled the Cisco client and re-installed the
Shrew Soft client.  Things seem to be working better so far, but time will
tell.

Thanks for the responses.

Rodney

-----Original Message-----
From: gerd.roethig at gmail.com [mailto:gerd.roethig at gmail.com] On Behalf Of
Gerd Röthig
Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2013 3:19 PM
To: Rodney Barnett
Cc: vpn-help at lists.shrew.net
Subject: Re: [vpn-help] Cannot Re-install VPN Client

To get more light on this issue, perhaps some more information about the
"strange problems" which occurred beforehand would be helpful.

As it seems that the networking subsystem in general got corrupted somehow,
I would suggest uninstalling ALL network drivers (ethernet and WLAN).
Preferrably, this is done in Safe Mode (hit F8 before Windows start screen
appears when booting).

You will have to enable "show hidden devices" in Device Manager to see all
devices installed.

It could also not hurt to search for a BIOS update using another working
computer and install it on your laptop (if available). After that, I'd
suggest updating the chipset drivers. If there is no update, just re-install
them using Device Manager or the included Setup program from the driver
package.
After that, reboot the laptop.

The drivers for ethernet and WLAN should be found automatically. If not, now
is a good time to search for updated version of those drivers and install
them.
After finishing the driver installation, verify that the networking
subsystem is functional again (are you able to access the Internet?)

Perhaps re-setting the Winsock catalog to its defaults can help then.
Run the command

netsh winsock reset catalog

in a CMD window as an administrator. Reboot the computer afterwards.
If you are still not able to access the Internet, things are getting more
difficult. You could then try uninstalling and re-installing the TCP/IP
protocol.

If everything, however, went fine, and you could access the Internet from
that laptop:

Now you should be ready for installing Shrew Soft VPN Client.

Good luck!

Gerd

2013/3/21 Rodney Barnett <barnett at ploughman-analytics.com>:
> I'm having some strange problems with the networking on a laptop 
> running Windows XP.  As part of fixing that I'm trying to do a clean 
> re-install of the Shrew Soft VPN Client.
>
> The initial uninstall reported no errors.  However, a re-install 
> reports the following error, but continues to completion upon clicking OK:
> ---------------------
>     Error 0x8000f0203: Couldn't install the network component
>     Possible cause:
>     There is no driver selected for the device information set or element.
> ---------------------
>
> After the installation, an attempt to establish a VPN connection fails 
> with "network unavailable".
>
> A subsequent uninstall reports the following error, but continues to
> completion:
> ---------------------
>     Error 0x1: Couldn't get an interface pointer to pflt.
>     Possible cause:
>     Incorrect function.
> ---------------------
>
> Repeating the cycle gives the same results even after a reboot.
>
> Can anyone suggest a method to clean this up?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Rodney
>
> _______________________________________________
> vpn-help mailing list
> vpn-help at lists.shrew.net
> https://lists.shrew.net/mailman/listinfo/vpn-help