# Cannot Disconnect from VPN



## CarstenC (Sep 21, 2007)

My Laptop with *Windows XP Tablet Edition and SP2* is connected in a LAN and works fine there. I have two routers (gateways) that I use to connect to the Internet. *I do not use ICS*.

I need to connect sometimes to a clients network *via VPN *to be able to access servers behind a firewall and not visible to me without VPN. 

*I can connect *to the network via VPN without a problem, *but I cannot disconnect from it*. I went to "network connections" and *tried to disable the VPN *connection to disconnect that way, but this causes the whole *connection manager to hang*. When I shutdown, it won't even do it and hang during "windows is shutting down phase" forever. It is obviously also not able to get the network connection manager killer (that's my assumption). I have to turn off the computer by turning of power (what I hate to do). 

*I tried already SFC*, but that did not change anything. 
*Firewall *is also *not enabled *for the VPN connection.

I have to note one thing. It started all with wrong or *corrupt WAN Miniport *settings due to a driver restore with a tool I won't use no more (for this reason). This caused *VPN not to work at all*. I got it to work by using a windows tool called "*DEVCON.exe*". It allowed me to *rebuild* the settings for L2TP, IP (NDISWANIP), PPPOE, PPTP and IP (PSCHEDMP).

The VPN uses *WAN Miniport (PPTP)*

After that *I was able *to use the* VPN again*, with the only problem left that I *cannot disconnect *from it without doing a hard shut down of the computer.

Any ideas what to look for? Damaged DLLs, False or missing Registry entries (maybe the Devcon.exe was able to create correct entries, but left old and false one in the system as well). I cannot find anything helpful in the Event log.

The System Event log shows an info entry for "RemoteAccess" that a VPN connection was successfully established using the device VPN4-1 (what's that?). The next entry says that I disconnected. I assume that the entry is being made before the connection manager crashes, but I have not verified that yet. I mean it must have, because when I plug the power, nothing is logged anymore and the next entries are all related to booting up the system again and not the shutdown.


I hope all these details help to figure out what to do or check. 
Thanks for your help.


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## emad_louzan (Jun 20, 2008)

I have a same issue on my notebook.
Please help to fix this issue.


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## jethromorais (Jul 5, 2008)

Almost the same issue here, My vpn works fine, but After I connect, it is impossible to disconnect, only with a hard shutdown, My OS is windows 2008, but I dont believe its related, I have a few co-workers with the same issue and they use windows vista, a few with SP1 and the others not, all with the same issue, and here is the catch, we all have the same notebook, Dell D830, with wireless card Intel 3945, with dell drivers or intel drivers we have the same problem.


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## mitsa (Aug 3, 2008)

[bump]

I'm having this issue on Vista. I've found that if I disconnect the Local Area Connect or Wireless Connection *before* I try to disconnect the VPN, then I can reboot or shutdown without the machine hanging. If I try to disconnect the VPN connection first, then the machine just sits there with a black screen in limbo and I'm forced to do a hard power down.

Does ANYONE have any insight into what this issue is? (PLEASE)

Thanks!

[Edit] BTW, It's Vista business 64-bit w/ SP1

[Edit] I'm thinking this post may belong somewhere else... My issue did not occur after a problem with my TCP/IP stack. I did not have to rebuld anything. I just setup the VPN connection recently and have been experiencing this since. Prior to this, my Vista has been running without issue (for over 6 months). If anyone else thinks it should be moved, please let me know - I'm not entirely certain which forum this belongs in. Thanks.


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## Darth Continent (Aug 25, 2008)

I've just had this issue after waking my laptop from hibernation, Windows XP SP3.

I found I could close the connection perhaps indirectly by opening *Task Manager *and doing *End Process* on *explorer.exe*, then clicking *File *=> *New Task* and opening a new instance of explorer.


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## myfreetrial (Dec 10, 2008)

I have exactly the same problem on my laptop.It is a real headache for me because I have to use VPN a lot. Anyone can help???


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## myfreetrial (Dec 10, 2008)

Has anyone got the solution? Please share your expertise. Many thanks.


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## elf (Jul 19, 2002)

I am not sure what could be causing this, but I will help you troubleshoot some. 

Start by looking in your device manager, make sure you show hidden and non-connected devices, and look for any items that are having problems (yellow ! or red X)

You can also, clear your event viewer logs, then after the error, check them again to see if it will shine any light on the problem.


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## myfreetrial (Dec 10, 2008)

Hi, elf, thanks for your reply. I just tried your method, no yellow ! or red X found in my system/net work adapter


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## Riskyone101 (Oct 22, 2008)

Update your antivirus and run a full system scan.

Go here for online scan: http://www.windowsecurity.com/trojanscan/

After it downloads the databases, you may disconnect from online, choose deepscan.


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## robot999 (Mar 27, 2009)

I have exactly the same VPN problem with my new installed windows 2008.
I found a command that can disconnect the vpn.

rasdial.exe VPNCONNECTNAME /disconnect

Make this command as a shortcut. When you want to disconnect, click it.


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## shughes9951 (Mar 30, 2009)

I am having a similar issue with not being able to disconnect from a VPN. Has anyone actually shed any light on this subject yet? I am at least able to use the command to do this disconnect for the mean time but, it would be nice to find a permanent fix.

Thanks is advance


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