Vista - Message: "X Has Stopped Working"

... where X = any program attempting to access the Internet

Following the 4/09 Windows Update of my Vista64 system, apps attempting to access the Internet have resulted in the message "X Has Stopped Working. ... A problem has caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available". When I've encountered the same problem following previous updates, my standard 'fix' has been to roll back to a restore point prior to the update, re-install the update, after which all is well. But since KB938371 cannot be removed, SR is unable to restore to any point prior to the 4/09 update.

Windows Update and Sidebar ARE able to access the Internet, but apps such as IE, Firefox, Thunderbird, ePrompter, etc. all crash with the above message. I can access other computers on my network, just not the Internet. After IE says it cannot display the webpage, Windows Network Diagnostic reports finding no problem with the network connection. Then comes the "IE Has Stopped Working" message. Following that, I sometimes get a WLLoginProxy.exe error message--either "WLLoginProxy.exe Has Stopped Working", or a WLLoginProxy.exe application error, "The exception unknown software exception (0x0000005) occurred in the application at location 0x028200c4".

Other error messages I've received include "Windows Problem Reporting Has Stopped Working", and a WerFault.exe application error, "The exception unknown software exception (0x0000005) occurred in the application at location [varies]". I also received (one time) a message indicating that DEP had prevented WLLoginProxy.exe from running. Out of curiosity, I tried disabling DEP to see if it was shutting down other apps, but that solved nothing.

I have disabled all startup programs including my AV (NOD32) and all unnecessary services, all to no avail. I've created a new user account with nothing installed. Problem persists.

What is causing these programs to stop working when they try to access the Internet, and how do I fix it? This problem pertains only to my Vista Business 64 system. None of my XP systems have experienced a similar problem.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Uninstall the recent updates (except KB938371). Restart. If this solves your
problem, reinstall one at a time, testing as you go, until you find the
culprit.
For future reference, do not automatically install updates. Choose “Download
updates for me, but let me choose when to install them”
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*Report back, please*


"IowaPC" <IowaPC.37px91@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:IowaPC.37px91@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net...

Sorry, should have mention that I had already done that yesterday.

Thank you for your suggestion, Bob. Now that I have a minute, let me provide a more complete response. I tried uninstalling all of the 4/09 updates (except for the uninstallable KB938371), which did not help. Reinstalling them didn't help either. Although this episode of the problem centers around the 4/09 updates, the problem itself has existed for months. SP1 seems to have had no effect on it, other than the fact that I can no longer work around it by rolling back to an earlier restore point.

Any additional suggestions by anyone will be most welcome ... this problem is getting very OLD ... very FAST.

ASUS M2A-VM ACPI BIOS Revision 0503
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4000+
2.00 GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 6200 LE
Windows Vista Business 64-bit SP1

Assuming IE7.

Right-click on the IE desktop icon and select the Start without add-ons
option. If this solves your problem, enable add-ons one at a time, testing
as you go, until you find the culprit.
-------
*Report back, please*


"IowaPC" <IowaPC.37t2g6@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:IowaPC.37t2g6@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net...

It doesn't. Results are exactly the same. IE cannot display webpage ... Windows Network Diagnostics finds no problem with network connection.

As mentioned in the original post, this problem is not specific to IE. It occurs with Firefox, Thunderbird, JetAudio, ePrompter, and most applications attempting to access the Internet, such as utilities that automatically check for updates. Exceptions I've found are Windows Mail, Windows Update, Sidebar, Error Reporting, and Internet Time ... these ARE able to access the Internet without any problem.

Thanks again for your response. Still looking for a fix.

Hi IowaPC,

Try resetting winsock:

Start an Administrative command prompt (right-click command prompt, run as
administrator)
Type netsh winsock reset
hit enter
Reboot your computer.

"IowaPC" <IowaPC.37u4n8@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:IowaPC.37u4n8@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net...--
Jane, not plain 64 bit enabled :-)
Batteries not included. Braincell on vacation ;-)
MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

Problem solved!
Hi Jane, Thanks!I suspect that's exactly what I've done, although via a different route.

The needed clue came when I re-enabled NOD32 and it attempted to update. The error message was "Failure to open socket". When I googled that message, I found a post suggesting the following fix within NOD32:

IMON >
IMON Setup >
Miscellaneous Tab >
In "Network configuration changes" click "repair now"

That did it. Full Internet access has been restored. No more crashes.
Thanks to all for your responses.

Follow-up question: What might have occurred that would have caused winsock to need to be reset?

I think this solved my problem. I left my computer on all night while running my torrent software (which usually crashed after awhile) and it was still running in the morning.

Crossing my fingers, Thank you