Bizarre Internet Disconnection Occurs During Windows 10 startup

Hi,

I am experiencing a very strange issue following a restart after automatic update KB4486553 was initiated on 15.03.19.

Issue Summary

My internet connections (2 X Ethernet + USB WiFi) all connect briefly during Windows (10) start-up before failing until briefly connecting during the shutdown sequence. Interestingly, the PC thinks that the internet is still connected and reports its status as such. To clarify, non of the usual warning triangles associated with internet connection issues are displayed either. All other devices on the network (including another similarly updated X99 Windows 10 PC from which I am reporting here) are unaffected.

Problem in Detail

Unusually, and perhaps evident only because the PC is an old X58 (Asus P6T7 board) and so boots slowly, on any re-boot the internet is initially connected (as evidenced by Google page, Outlook 2016, Teamviewer connection, WhatsApp access, OneDrive, Dropbox etc). However, within a couple of minutes (during the start-up sequencing) all connection is lost however the network settings "status" continues to report "You're connected to the Internet" (though clearly not) and no warning triangles are displayed either on the taskbar (or elsewhere). Connection is re-established (very briefly) once more during shut-down (evidenced by TeamViewer on the X99 identifying that the X58 had signed in).

Troubleshooting Steps (as attempted thus far as I am able to recall)

• Uninstall the Windows update which preceded the problem
• Re-Start PC (Numerous Times)
• Re-Start/Re-Boot Router (Multiple Times)
• Swap both Ethernet Leads (with known good)
• WiFi Network Report (graph shows connect/disconnects)
• Ping (Gateway IP) - Always successful
• Ping (Internet) - Always fails (to be fair, by the time I am able to Ping this is always after the connection has dropped)
• Run Network Trouble-shooter (Windows could not automatically detect this network's proxy settings)
• Reset the TCP/IP Stack (netsh winsock reset/netsh int ip reset)
• Release/Renew IP Address (ipconfig /renew & ipconfig /renew)
• Flush and reset the DNS client resolver cache (ipconfig /flushdns)
• Uninstalled, replaced and subsequently (as a further step) updated Network Adapter Drivers to latest released
• Disabled (for testing) Antivirus & Firewall software
• From within Windows 10 settings perform Network reset
• Attempted a System Restore to three separate recent restore point (all fail to complete citing anti-virus despite this being disabled prior to restore attempts)
• Attempted an "in place" system repair install (as detailed on these forums) - Fails to complete
• Performed Route Print (both during initial start (connected) and subsequently (disconnected) ) - See content within attached Route Print text file
• Re-boot to Safe Mode with Networking also selective start-up (msconfig) for diagnostic purposes
• Compare network settings against working windows 10 machine for anomalies
• Review of Event Viewer logs (Applications & Services logs) - Microsoft/Windows/Universal Telemetry Client
  
  • Event 55 Reports: "Is the Internet available:true"
  • Error 29 Reports: "Connection state - Some connections have failed since the previous period."

The situation as described above continues to occur in all scenarios despite applying the above troubleshooting steps, often multiple times and in various combinations.

I am reluctant to proceed to a full clean install whilst the anticipated 1903 update is scheduled for release within the next few weeks and so presents a sensible point to do so especially as I have numerous customisations to menu layout and device metadata (all of which have performed with out issue for many years) which I do not wish to unnecessarily repeat within such a short space of time.

Accordingly I would welcome any ideas as to other steps I might follow in order to resolve the problem. I hope ten forums experts can help shed some light on the likely cause.

Many thanks in anticipation of your kind assistance.

PC Pilot

A quick update with the solution in the hope it helps anybody else struggling with the same issue....

Despite numerous troubleshooting steps over 10 days including from "safe mode" and with start-up items supposedly disabled the culprit turned out to be the IPVanish VPN Windows app (which I can only surmise had experienced some form of corruption during the Windows Update restart) and a check box setting called "kill switch" which was found mysteriously enabled deep within the app.

IPVanish has always been configured to start with "Windows" and in a VPN disconnected state. It would seem that IPVanish is deeply embedded in the start-up sequence. The fact it was set to start disconnected (for reasons of issues reaching the email servers whilst connected to the VPN when using Outlook, which itself is set to auto-start with Windows 10 and so to collect my email in the background) triggered the protection offered by the (now enabled) kill switch.

IPVanish provides the following helpful summary of "Kill Switch":

What is a Kill Switch?

A kill switch shuts down all Internet traffic if/when your current VPN connection stops working. This is a great feature to enable if you want to maximize your privacy and anonymity because having a kill switch kills your internet if you are not being protected by the VPN. This means your privacy will still be safe and secure even if connection to our VPN is lost.

IPVanish goes on to provide the following interesting comment:

If you are having any trouble connecting to the Internet, please double-check to make sure that the Kill Switch has not been enabled.

Hope that this helps forum members when troubleshooting similar issues.


PC Pilot.