Vista - Winsock Issues: Is this the appropriate place to post?

Hello,

I am in desperate need of some help. I am in the UK and have recently
changed my ISP from Virgin to Sky. Apart from the atrocious and pathetic
service offered by Sky to me, I have discovered that my internet connectivity
is down because of a Winsock error. The diagnostic program Netdiag is so
unreliable that although it first notified me that the error was due to an
LSP in the Winsock, it has never notified me since I deleted the Registry
entry and the Program folder entry about the error ever again. Instead the
Netdiag tells me that it cannot connect to the internet because the http,
https and ftp ports are blocked by a firewall which is wrong because I turned
the firewall off (rendering myself vulnerable) only so I could connect to the
internet.

After trial and error connections on many occasions I saw the Microsoft
support page
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../bb457156.aspx
This advised typing “netsh Winsock reset catalog� in front of the C prompt.
Although I have restarted the computer on a number of occasions, doing that
has not restored connectivity even though the Winsock has been reset
according to the computer.

I only manage to connect to the internet by trial and error after many
messages that the problem may instead be in the modem and to turn the modem
off and on and then to contact my ISP which is pointless because as I
mentioned above Sky broadband hardly ever respond. I tried another ISP and
the computer connected without any hassle so the problem is with the ISP
although I just want to make sure before I take the rogues at Sky broadband
to court. Does anyone please know what to do about the Winsock error other
than spending another 100/- and reinstalling windows and losing data just
because Sky Broadband is a third-rate ISP?
I also have received information that this is a Registry error but again am
not sure how to ascertain or remedy that.
I await your kind response.