Loosing your internet access or having general connectivity issues is not much fun, especially when it doesn’t seem to be the fault of the router or modem. Tracing these issues can be a real pain even if you know where the blame might lie, but worse still, is having no clue as to the cause. If the system has recently been the victim of a malware attack, then the reasons why the connection is having problems become quite clear. But there are many other reasons why this could happen such as internet security or other network related software not playing nicely upon installation / uninstallation, or even tweaking software being over zealous and touching something it really shouldn’t.
There are just so many parts of Windows that deal with the internet and what connects to it, trying to sort these problems out yourself, even if you are pretty techie minded, could run into hours. DNS settings, IP address conflicts, DHCP service issues, TCP/IP protocol corruption, and a problem HOSTS file are just some of the things you could be trying to repair or resetting by going through the registry or tapping away in a command Prompt. A lot of you will remember a small utility called WinsockFix which cures some of Windows XP’s connectivity issues and probably is still a part of a lot of people’s USB toolkits even today.
Well, thankfully things move on, and there’s another utility around which does the same as WinsockFix and a whole lot more besides, making it an incredibly useful tool to keep within arms reach. Complete Internet Repair is able to repair a number of common issues that individually or collectively could cause anything from problems accessing certain websites or Windows Update, to a complete connection failure.
The program is portable so it’s just a case of downloading and unzipping the file. Run the CIntRep.exe by right clicking on it and choosing ‘Run as Administrator’ to get started. There is a brief description of what each repair does by hovering over the related icon.
There really aren’t that many options to change in the program, simply because there isn’t much that you need to tell it to do apart from which repair to attempt. Tick the relevant box and click ‘Go’ if you want to repair multiple items, or just click the arrow for an individual repair. There will be some information scroll through the log window, but to get a better description, the log file can be accessed by going to the ‘File’ menu >> ‘Logging’ >> and clicking on the log file or the folder where the logs are stored.
You probably don’t need me to point out, but it’s worth remembering that this tool should not be run if you don’t have any internet connection related issues. It could break something that isn’t broken. Also, don’t just click everything, instead try those fixes which are the same as, or closely related to the problem. eg; If the problems are with Windows Update or the Firewall, try those fixes first and move on if they don’t work. The program will require a reboot once any repairs have been completed.
If you have ever used tools like WinsockFix or LSP-Fix to repair internet connectivity issues, Complete Internet Repair will replace those and do a lot more to go with it. Do be aware that some security software will complain about the program, but this is only due to the places in the system it has to go and what it has to do to get the repairs done.
Compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7 and Server 2003 / 2008
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