internet only in safe mode; what to look for

jhearcht · 24 Dec 2016

Win 10 on PC; AT&T Uverse; Ethernet

For the last couple of weeks my internet connection has been intermittent, and online times getting shorter. Today I was unable to get on the internet at all. Updating the network driver didn't help. I first contacted my service provider (AT&T) and they sent techs on two occasions : first to improve quality of house wiring, and then to install a new router. These changes did not fix the problem. So the third tech gave up and said the problem was probably caused by a Windows update. Google search found that intermittent internet is a common problem, but the suggestions didn't help. Finally I booted in Safe Mode, and suddenly my internet connection is stable.

My question now is : what should I look for in Safe Mode to remove whatever is interfering with my internet connection?

Samuria · 24 Dec 2016

It will be either software running at startup or a service disable all startup software and test if it's a service anti virus is best bet. How do you know you have no connection if the browser is failing open for prompt type tracert 194.119.131.66 see if it works

ComputerGeek · 24 Dec 2016

If it works in safe mode next step should be doing trying a Clean Boot and troubleshooting from there
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/...conflicts.html

jhearcht · 24 Dec 2016

I did a Safe Mode boot with Internet, but then my wireless keyboard didn't work. I now have borrowed a wired keyboard, but I don't know what to look for in Config.sys or some other place. My guess is that a Windows update changed something that interferes with internet connection. There's at least a hundred items in Config. I don't see anything directly related to the Network Adapter & Driver in the list of services.

Any clues as to what kind of service might cause internet to blink on & off? Otherwise, I'll just have to go down the list and turn-off an item, then reboot a hundred times.

PS__In Config.sys I alternately turned off 3 blocks of items, including MS items, and Internet was OK each time. But since the problem is intermittent, it's hard to tell if that means anything. For now, I have disabled only one MS service, the spying app "dwmapppushsvc". But Google search indicates that Win 10 doesn't allow you to completely eliminate that "service". Time will tell if it makes any difference.

jhearcht · 27 Dec 2016

Update : after unchecking "dwmapppushsvc" in Config.sys, my internet connection has been stable. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, and knocking on wood, with hope that it's a complete fix for the problem. But is MS aware of a bug in its "Diagnostic Tracking Service" spyware? It's also labeled as "WAP Push Message Routing Service", but I don't know if turning it off will have any other noticeable consequences. It will probably be reinstalled in the next Win update.

Windows 10 Preview Has A Keylogger to Watch Your Every Move