On a Dell Precision 670 (@work), updated to Vista SP1, and a new Dell Inspiron 530 (@friend) with Vista SP1 installed on it when it was received, I have been having issues using the Internet. Every time I restart my computer, my Internet connection won’t work even though the globe indicator on the network connection icon is showing as being online. I can browse my local network but I can’t do anything online. I found that I could temporarily get around this by disabling and re-enabling the Local Area Connection. However, I wanted a more permanent solution:
Disabling IPv6 on Windows Vista SP1
Option 1:
- Click on the Start Menu.
- Click on Control Panel.
- Once the Control Panel is open, click the Classic View link on the left sidebar.
- Find and double-click Network and Sharing Center.
- Click Manage Network Connections on the left sidebar.
- Find your Broadband connection (usually named Local Area Connection) and right-click on it.
- On the context-menu, click Properties.
- Click the Networking tab.
- Remove the checkmark from Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6).
- Click Ok.
- Close all the windows opened in the previous steps.
- Restart your computer.
Option 2 (requires modifying the registry but allows you to change one setting to affect all network adapters):
Known Issues with disabling IPv6:
- Any programs that require IPv6 will not work. One example is Windows Meeting Space:
Hopefully Microsoft gets this issue fixed soon as I hate workarounds, especially ones that make compromises. Though we all know that workarounds are a necessity of the digital life.
