When your Windows computer has been infected by spyware, it actually does a lot of bad things to your computer. Sometimes the spyware is so badly coded, it even corrupts your Windows computer, making it unstable. Fortunately there are some really powerful anti-spyware software such as Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, SpyBot, Ad-Aware and etc that can detect and remove those pesky spywares. The most common problem after cleaning spywares from a computer is that the network or internet connection doesn’t work properly. Running a “repair” from the connection status window doesn’t help as well because it merely clears, refreshes and re-register Windows ARP cache, NetBT and DNS.

If you’re using Windows XP, there is a tool called LSP-Fix which is able to repair Winsock 2 settings, caused by buggy or improperly-removed Internet software, that result in loss of Internet access. Sometimes Windows XP Network Diagnostics itself is able to detect if there is a problem with the LSP but if cannot and you’re using Windows Vista, you don’t really have any other choice other than reinstalling Windows. Before doing that, you can give Internet Connection Repair (ICR) Utility a try.

Internet Connection Repair (ICR) is a free utility that will help you:

Diagnose and automatically repair the most common Internet connection issues

Solve complex connection issues by providing easy step by step instructions for problems that cannot be solved automatically

Fix problems often associated with removal of spyware/adware or uninstall of network and firewall software

Repair registry and Winsock settings for XP and Vista

Pinpoint issues and direct you to the right support contact for further assistance

ICR file size is a little huge (2MB) but is very easy to use. Just run and click the Run Test button to start diagnosing your Vista computer for internet connection problems. I was able to run ICR on my Vista laptop but somehow it could not get it to run in Windows XP SP3. I only see the program flashing and immediately closing. Not such a big deal because I can use LSP-fix or other winsock repair tool. Most important I need a tool that can fix connection problems for Vista.

Honestly I don’t know how effective is ICR in repairing internet connection problems because I don’t use Vista very much and I’ve only encountered such problems in XP which I managed to fix with LSP-Fix. However it is good to keep this tool in case I might need it some day. If it doesn’t work, I’ll just delete it and wait till I find another one that works. If it works, then it’s a keeper.

[ Download Internet Connection Repair Utility ]

[tags]lsp, winsock, vista, network, internet, ICR[/tags]