Vista + McAfee 2007 + LimeWire = dropping connection

[BasRuiter]

Hello All,

We are trying to identify the cause of the issue that, on Windows Vista machines with McAfee installed, when you start LimeWire the Internet connection drops.

We would appreciate your help in this - could you let us know the following:

1. What McAfee programs are installed, and which version?
- open the McAfee SecurityCenter
- click on View Details (on the bottom right)


2. Are you able to identify which McAfee program is the cause of the issue?
- uninstall the McAfee programs one-by-one untill the problem goes away.
- we are especially interested to know if the issue occurs with only Privacy Service or only the Personal Firewall installed.


3. What version of LimeWire (Pro) are you using?


4. What ports have you configured for LimeWire? Does the issue exist if you try different ports?


5. Opening ports in the McAfee Firewall:
- open McAfee SecurityCenter
- select Internet & Network
- select the Firewall protection
- click the Advanced button
- click System Services (on the left)
- on the next page, in the list, scroll down and check the box beside Windows file sharing

- in the same list you can try to Add the incoming ports used by LimeWire to see if this makes a difference.


6. What other solutions / work-arounds have you tried already?


Please reply with your results in this thread. Alternatively, e-mail or PM me.


Thank you very much.

Bastiaan.

[wondering why]

Hi BasRuiter..
Here are a couple of posts that might be of some assistance...
http://www.gnutellaforums.com/258193-post45.html

http://www.gnutellaforums.com/genera...-solution.html

It has also been noted that disabling the firewall is of no help, it had to be uninstalled...

[danmyman]

Vista Home edition

1. What McAfee programs are installed, and which version?
McAfee Security center 7.2
Virus Scan 11.2
Personal Firewall 8.2
Spam Killer 8.2
Privacy Service 7.2

2. Are you able to identify which McAfee program is the cause of the issue?
Not tried

3. What version of LimeWire (Pro) are you using?
4.12.11

4. What ports have you configured for LimeWire? Does the issue exist if you try different ports?
Yes

5. Opening ports in the McAfee Firewall:
tried, when I got help from McAfee they configured as well the Netbios ports in the system service tab of the firewall. It worked *shortly* but with the next connection and start up of limewire my connection got disconnected again.

6. What other solutions / work-arounds have you tried already?
Pretty much everything that someone has suggested here or at other places. No help!!


PS. On Lime Wire » Support it says
"Many Windows Vista computers that come with McAfee Firewall lose the internet connection when running LimeWire. This is a McAfee bug, not a LimeWire bug. Contact McAfee's support for an updated version of their software."

What do they know that you do not know?

Any help is appreciated!

danmyman

[BasRuiter]

Originally Posted by danmyman

Vista Home edition

PS. On Lime Wire » Support it says
"Many Windows Vista computers that come with McAfee Firewall lose the internet connection when running LimeWire. This is a McAfee bug, not a LimeWire bug. Contact McAfee's support for an updated version of their software."

Thanks for your input.

Let me put it like this - since all updates are automatic, if there is a fix for this you should have received it already. The fact that you're still having this problem means there is no fix yet. In which case I can only read "Contact McAfee's support for an updated version of their software" to mean asking you to contact us to let us know there's a problem and request an update to fix it.

What do they know that you do not know?

I e-mailed (PM'ed) two of the Developers before I posted here, wanting to know the same thing - but so far I haven't received an answer yet from either of them.


To narrow down where the issue lies, could you try the following:

- click Start
- click Run
- type: services.msc
- click OK
- right-click on the McAfee Redirector service
- click Stop
- try LimeWire again to see if the issue still occurs

Note: don't forget to Start the service again after testing (or reboot the PC).

[danmyman]

Thanks for the feedback!!

I have tried what you suggested - success with me!

Switching the service off I can both use limewire full bars and the internet works as well. Tried couple of times also with reboot inbetween no probs.

When I switch the service back on while limewire and ie are still running I can continue use both! So I have a temporary fix now...! Thank you BasRuiter!

Pls let me know if I can assist with more testing... ;-)

danmyman

[Canadian]

Vista Home Premium

1. What McAfee programs are installed, and which version?
-SecurityCenter 7.2.147
-VirusScan 11.2.124
-Personal Firewall 8.2.118
-SpamKiller 8.2.137
-Privacy Service 9.2.134

2. Are you able to identify which McAfee program is the cause of the issue?
No, haven't tried, as it came w/ computer as a trial & I don't have setup/install files.

3. What version of LimeWire (Pro) are you using?
4.12.11

4. What ports have you configured for LimeWire? Does the issue exist if you try different ports?
Default ports, haven't tried reconfiguring.

5. Opening ports in the McAfee Firewall:
Opened Windows File Sharing ports 137-139

Result: Nothing. Same as before.
Will try turning off the Redirector Service next.

Result: Turning off the Redirector Service:
Works perfectly, full bars & good internet connection for other programs.

What does the redirector service do? What are the possible consequences if I leave it off?

Edit again: Restarted the director service, and both LimeWire and other connections still work perfectly. Solves my problem for a little while, at the very least. Thanks for the assistance.

[BasRuiter]

danmyman and Canadian:
Are you both saying that, if you have turned off the Redirector service once and started LimeWire, then on subsequest occasions where you use LimeWire the original problem does not come back? (i.e. LimeWire still works after rebooting the PC or turning on the Redirector service).

What does the redirector service do? What are the possible consequences if I leave it off?

Leaving the Redirector service off is not a good idea as it, in effect, disables parts of your McAfee security package.

[danmyman]

BasRuiter: When the redirector service is switched off, both IE and Limewire work without compromises. If both programms are still running and the redirector service is switched back on, both programms continue to run. However if I quit either one of them when the service is switched on, I cannot start it again without loosing my connection again.
If I reboot the redirector service is switched back on automatically.
danmyman

[BasRuiter]

danmyman: Thank you for clearing that up. What you just said is what I would expect to happen.

Could you try the following, and let me know the result:
- copy the text below to a new Notepad window
- change the 80000 in the text below to whatever port LimeWire uses
- if LimeWire uses several ports you can add lines similar to "80000"="Ignore" one below the other, each with different ports
- important: make sure there are two empty lines at the end of the text in the Notepad window!
- save the file to your Dekstop
- give the file a name with the extension"".reg" (you will see when you've done it correctly - the file icon will look like little blue cubey things)
- doubleclick on the file so that the information is added to the Registry
- try LimeWire again to see if the problem has gone away

Note: since we're changing values in the Registry please be carefull - doing the wrong thing could render your Windows useless. If in doubt make a backup of the Registry first, or make a Systemrestore point.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\McAfee\Redirector\Ports]
@=""
"80000"="Ignore"

[Canadian]

Originally Posted by BasRuiter

danmyman and Canadian:
Are you both saying that, if you have turned off the Redirector service once and started LimeWire, then on subsequest occasions where you use LimeWire the original problem does not come back? (i.e. LimeWire still works after rebooting the PC or turning on the Redirector service).

I was saying that, however, I retract my statement.
After a few hours of use last night, I found that the redirector had to be restarted with increasing frequency to keep the connection at an acceptable level. About an hour after I posted, I did the first restart of the redirector, and within a few hours I was having to restart the redirector every 5-10 minutes.

If you don't mind my asking, Bas, exactly what parts of McAfee does the redirector disable when turned off?