Loss of internet connectivity on server

[Don]

I have a SBS 2000 installation with 2 NIC's that has been running flawlessly
for years. About two months ago an issue started that first presented itself
with the inability to establish a VPN connection. I assumed it was a glitch
and rebooted the server. Since that time, the problem would occur on a more
frequent basis, about once a week. This last week, the problem is now at the
point where it occurs almost every day. There are several symptoms I have
noticed when the problem arises as follows:

On the server
- When opening Internet Explorer, the applicaton hangs indefinitely at a
blank white page.
- There are no Warning or Alarm events posted to any event log that would
indicate the source of the problem.
- POP3 Connector fails to retrieve e-mail from the e-mail host company. No
error message is logged of the failure.
- Double-clicking the Internet Connection icon on the taskbar fails to
display the connection status window.
- When rebooting the server, Windows hangs indefinitely at the step named
"saving your settings". The only way to reboot is to push the power button.

On client workstations
- Clients are still able to browse the internet without any problem.
- External messages are still sent out successfully.

From Remote sites
- When trying to establish a VPN connection, the VPN popup stops at the
first message "Connecting to IP address"
- If a VPN session is already connected at the time the problem occurs, the
session continues to work.


I am at a loss as to what is causing this problem, which is quickly turning
into a crisis situation. Going back a couple of months, there have been no
significant updates to the server. Windows updates were not installed, and
are not configured to install automatically. I have tried deleting the ISA
cache but this made no difference. For a while I thought it might be related
to Panda Anti-virus, however I disabled all the Panda services and rebooted.
No anti-virus is running at all yet the problem still occurs.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
Don

[Merv Porter]

Hi Don,

The "saving your settings" problem sounds like a profile issue...

You experience log off problems on a Windows XP-based, Windows Server
2003-based, Windows 2000-based, or Windows NT 4.0-based computer
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=837115
----------------------------------
When you try to log off in Windows 2000, the "Saving settings…" message is
displayed for a long time, and Windows stops trying to log off. If you are
using a roaming user profile on a network, Windows indicates that the user
profile on the computer does not reconcile with the roaming user profile on
the network. You cannot log on because the user profile did not log off.
Symptoms of this error are recorded as event messages in the Application
log.
----------------------------------

Can you log on/off successfully using another domain admin account?

I would also make a full backup and then run Chkdsk on your drive(s).

I suppose it could still be a Panda antivirus problem, although I wouldn't
expect this to be intermittent. You might try completely uninstalling Panda
and then try VPN.

There may also be a problem with one of your NICs.

I would take the router out of the equation too by connecting a spare
(non-domain) workstation or laptop to a port on the router and giving it an
IP address in the same range as the external NIC (and a Gateway of the
router itself). Then VPN in from that laptop to the SBS server and see if
you can establish a VPN consistently. This should eliminate the router as a
culprit.
--
Merv Porter [SBS-MVP]
============================

Post by Don
I have a SBS 2000 installation with 2 NIC's that has been running flawlessly
for years. About two months ago an issue started that first presented itself
with the inability to establish a VPN connection. I assumed it was a glitch
and rebooted the server. Since that time, the problem would occur on a more
frequent basis, about once a week. This last week, the problem is now at the
point where it occurs almost every day. There are several symptoms I have
On the server
- When opening Internet Explorer, the applicaton hangs indefinitely at a
blank white page.
- There are no Warning or Alarm events posted to any event log that would
indicate the source of the problem.
- POP3 Connector fails to retrieve e-mail from the e-mail host company.
No
error message is logged of the failure.
- Double-clicking the Internet Connection icon on the taskbar fails to
display the connection status window.
- When rebooting the server, Windows hangs indefinitely at the step named
"saving your settings". The only way to reboot is to push the power button.
On client workstations
- Clients are still able to browse the internet without any problem.
- External messages are still sent out successfully.
From Remote sites
- When trying to establish a VPN connection, the VPN popup stops at the
first message "Connecting to IP address"
- If a VPN session is already connected at the time the problem occurs, the
session continues to work.
I am at a loss as to what is causing this problem, which is quickly turning
into a crisis situation. Going back a couple of months, there have been no
significant updates to the server. Windows updates were not installed, and
are not configured to install automatically. I have tried deleting the ISA
cache but this made no difference. For a while I thought it might be related
to Panda Anti-virus, however I disabled all the Panda services and rebooted.
No anti-virus is running at all yet the problem still occurs.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you,
Don