Network shortcut menu shows networks with red cross after sleep (This connection requires an active Internet connection)
I've had this problem occassionally now where I put the computer to sleep over lunch, and then, when I come back, I try and access my VPN connections from the Networks menu in the Notification area on my PC. The two VPN connections that I use both have a red cross and the "This connection requires an active internet connection" message. The internet is connected and everything else on the system works fine, it's just this Networks shortcut menu that seems to be upset. Last time it happened I rebooted the system but this time I went into Network connections the traditional way and I could connect to both VPN networks fine. Once I had done that the Network shortcut menu seemed to have "caught up" and was once again showing both connections without the cross. This feels like a bug to me, although granted it seems to have something to do with sleep, which I guess means it might be down the hardware drivers? I guess I was after reporting it as a bug, if that is possible. It seems that connect is not the place for bugs from what I read on my travels. Cheers
October 27th, 2009 5:34pm

Hi, This can be caused by power settings. Please perform the following steps: 1. Click Start, type "devmgmt.msc" (without quotation marks) in the Start Search bar, and press Enter. 2. Expand "Networks adapters", double-click the network card, switch to "Power Management" tab, uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" option. 3. Click OK. You can also change Power Plan to high and then set a time for "Put the computer to Sleep". To change Power plan, type "Power Options" in the Start Search box and press Enter. Hope it helps.Vivian Xing - MSFT
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October 28th, 2009 10:45am

Hi Vivian Thanks for replying. I've made the change and will see how it goes for the next week or two and report back. Thanks
October 28th, 2009 4:43pm

Hi, Is there any update?Vivian Xing - MSFT
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November 2nd, 2009 12:16pm

Hi Vivian Yes, still happening even with the change you suggested. I just don't understand why Windows can't refresh itself correctly for this list when coming out of sleep etc. Still feels like a bug to me. Cheers
November 2nd, 2009 12:42pm

Hi, According to my research, it should be a Product issue. As the current workarround, as you mentioned, please connect to VPN via Network and Sharing Center. In addition, you can check if the following method will work: http://www.crsw.com/mark/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?List=c0001cfc%2Dd84a%2D4be0%2Db437%2D6a625925a9d5&ID=35 Hope it helps.Vivian Xing - MSFT
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November 3rd, 2009 11:57am

Hi Vivian I came across that link before I posted here, my LAN adapter is already the primary item. What does product issue mean? Is that a bug in polite terms? :)
November 3rd, 2009 12:09pm

Hi, I searched on our database and found that it is a known issue. Please be assured our developers do recognize this issue and are working on it. Meanwhile, I will forward this information to the appropriate department through our internal channel. I believe a solution will be delivered soon. Thank you for your understanding.Vivian Xing - MSFT
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November 4th, 2009 11:57am

Thanks for all your help.
November 4th, 2009 1:18pm

Same, after sleep i could not connect my VPN lines.For me it worked fine to just restart the netcard and all are normal,but offcourse, it is a bug and should be fixed i guess after some patches.Using Win7 Pro.
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November 9th, 2009 11:45am

This isnt just after sleep. Connected to VPN and using the computer actively, the network drops intermittently(as in a weak wireless signal) causing VPN to drop. No fault of yours at this point. However, the available networks screen does not recover when the connection is back up. There is a refresh button that seems it should refresh the availability of the VPN items with the internet back up. If you cant get the thing to work, take away the blasted red Xs and let it fail normally when it finds no internet. The red X is more of a nuisance than a help. I depend on my VPN daily and having to reboot gives me the feel that I'm back on Windose 3.11. Please make this a priority. Moving to Linux is not a big deal these days.
October 18th, 2010 8:38pm

Broken link also
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October 18th, 2010 8:40pm

Nice to see there hasn't been any solutions to this after two years. First post on this thread from October 2007, and it's now October 2011 and Windows 7 still bugs just the same. I've got two computers currently affected with this. Both have WLAN, then LAN as their primary network interfaces. Both require multiple reboots to initiate VPN connections. Internet works just fine, everything else works, but it doesn't help much considering the feature I really NEED isn't there when I need it.
October 5th, 2011 2:54am

While there has been no responce to this thread, I found http://support.microsoft.com/kb/937477/en-us appears correct, in my case I can easily clear the problem by killing and restarting explorer.exe from task manager.
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November 4th, 2011 8:39am

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