Access to Network and Dial-Up Connections blocked

May 5, 2008

I am in a losing battle with my IBM laptop over access to Network and

Dial-Up Connections (shades of HAL 9000), which it will not let me into come

hell or high water from either of the two administrative profiles on this

machine. I even created a third administrative profile in an attempt to

outsmart it, but access to this is just blocked, period.

I'm not sure if the IBM "Access Connections" program on the laptop, which

does seem to work, covers the same territory, but I'd like to be able to fix

this, which is the only listing in Control Panel I can't open.

May 5, 2008

Re: Access to Network and Dial-Up Connections blocked

What happens when you try to open it? Are you recieving any error

messages? What about the Event Log, are any errors showing there? If

this is a permissions issue check and make sure that you have proper

permissions on the Ncpa.cpl file. You may have other (registry keys)

permissions which may prevent opening the file, try this and see if it

fixes things:

Aaron Stebner's WebLog

Solving setup errors by using the SubInACL tool to repair file and

registry permissions

http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2006/09/04/739820.aspx

John

Roger Fink wrote:

> I am in a losing battle with my IBM laptop over access to Network and

> Dial-Up Connections (shades of HAL 9000), which it will not let me into come

> hell or high water from either of the two administrative profiles on this

> machine. I even created a third administrative profile in an attempt to

> outsmart it, but access to this is just blocked, period.

>

> I'm not sure if the IBM "Access Connections" program on the laptop, which

> does seem to work, covers the same territory, but I'd like to be able to fix

> this, which is the only listing in Control Panel I can't open.

>

May 5, 2008

Re: Access to Network and Dial-Up Connections blocked

This is not familiar terrtory for me, so I'm following along as best I can.

I assume you are referring to Event Viewer. Under System Log there is a

recent warning event. When I doublle click it, it says "Adapter Intel

PRO/100VE Network Connection Adapter Link Down".

The message when I click the Control Panel icon is "You do not have

permission to open the Network and Dial-up Connection folder". There is no

error number.

I can't get to this right now but I will follow up on your suggestions. I'm

unfamiliar with the Ncpa.cpl file, but I'll do what I can and post back.

Please feel free to add anything else in the interim.

John John (MVP) wrote:

> What happens when you try to open it? Are you recieving any error

> messages? What about the Event Log, are any errors showing there? If

> this is a permissions issue check and make sure that you have proper

> permissions on the Ncpa.cpl file. You may have other (registry keys)

> permissions which may prevent opening the file, try this and see if it

> fixes things:

>

> Aaron Stebner's WebLog

> Solving setup errors by using the SubInACL tool to repair file and

> registry permissions

> http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2006/09/04/739820.aspx

>

> John

>

> Roger Fink wrote:

>

>> I am in a losing battle with my IBM laptop over access to Network and

>> Dial-Up Connections (shades of HAL 9000), which it will not let me

>> into come hell or high water from either of the two administrative

>> profiles on this machine. I even created a third administrative

>> profile in an attempt to outsmart it, but access to this is just

>> blocked, period.

>>

>> I'm not sure if the IBM "Access Connections" program on the laptop,

>> which does seem to work, covers the same territory, but I'd like to

>> be able to fix this, which is the only listing in Control Panel I

>> can't open.

May 5, 2008

Re: Access to Network and Dial-Up Connections blocked

It sounds like you may have disabled it through one of the Group Policy

Objects.

To open the Group Policy snap-in enter gpedit.msc in the Start Menu

Run box. In the Group Policly look at:

User Configuration

\Administrative Templates

\Start Menu & Taskbar

\Remove Network Connection from Start Menu

Set this policy to "Not Configured". You may need to reboot to have the

GPO apply... or wait about 90 minutes for the default GPO refresh rate

to reapply the policy.

John

Roger Fink wrote:

> This is not familiar terrtory for me, so I'm following along as best I can.

> I assume you are referring to Event Viewer. Under System Log there is a

> recent warning event. When I doublle click it, it says "Adapter Intel

> PRO/100VE Network Connection Adapter Link Down".

>

> The message when I click the Control Panel icon is "You do not have

> permission to open the Network and Dial-up Connection folder". There is no

> error number.

>

> I can't get to this right now but I will follow up on your suggestions. I'm

> unfamiliar with the Ncpa.cpl file, but I'll do what I can and post back.

> Please feel free to add anything else in the interim.

>

> John John (MVP) wrote:

>

>>What happens when you try to open it? Are you recieving any error

>>messages? What about the Event Log, are any errors showing there? If

>>this is a permissions issue check and make sure that you have proper

>>permissions on the Ncpa.cpl file. You may have other (registry keys)

>>permissions which may prevent opening the file, try this and see if it

>>fixes things:

>>

>>Aaron Stebner's WebLog

>>Solving setup errors by using the SubInACL tool to repair file and

>>registry permissions

>>http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2006/09/04/739820.aspx

>>

>>John

>>

>>Roger Fink wrote:

>>

>>>I am in a losing battle with my IBM laptop over access to Network and

>>>Dial-Up Connections (shades of HAL 9000), which it will not let me

>>>into come hell or high water from either of the two administrative

>>>profiles on this machine. I even created a third administrative

>>>profile in an attempt to outsmart it, but access to this is just

>>>blocked, period.

>>>

>>>I'm not sure if the IBM "Access Connections" program on the laptop,

>>>which does seem to work, covers the same territory, but I'd like to

>>>be able to fix this, which is the only listing in Control Panel I

>>>can't open.

>

May 5, 2008

Re: Access to Network and Dial-Up Connections blocked

That solved the problem. Thanks very much.

Unfortunately a new, mission critical one has crept up. I can't open System

in Control Panel (nothing happens at all - no error message). Before posting

this I checked every other item in Control Panel and they all open up. I

also notice that, unlike my desktop, when I right-click My Computer, there

is no Properties option, which would open the same panel. I re-enabled

Remove Network Connection from Start Menu to see if that had something to do

with it, but that had no effect, so I doubt that the enabled/not configured

change caused it, but whatever the problem, it is fairly recent, since I was

able to open System a couple of days ago.

John John (MVP) wrote:

> It sounds like you may have disabled it through one of the Group

> Policy Objects.

>

> To open the Group Policy snap-in enter gpedit.msc in the Start Menu

> Run box. In the Group Policly look at:

>

> User Configuration

> \Administrative Templates

> \Start Menu & Taskbar

> \Remove Network Connection from Start Menu

>

> Set this policy to "Not Configured". You may need to reboot to have

> the

> GPO apply... or wait about 90 minutes for the default GPO refresh rate

> to reapply the policy.

>

> John

>

> Roger Fink wrote:

>

>> This is not familiar terrtory for me, so I'm following along as best

>> I can. I assume you are referring to Event Viewer. Under System Log

>> there is a recent warning event. When I doublle click it, it says

>> "Adapter Intel PRO/100VE Network Connection Adapter Link Down".

>>

>> The message when I click the Control Panel icon is "You do not have

>> permission to open the Network and Dial-up Connection folder". There

>> is no error number.

>>

>> I can't get to this right now but I will follow up on your

>> suggestions. I'm unfamiliar with the Ncpa.cpl file, but I'll do what

>> I can and post back. Please feel free to add anything else in the

>> interim.

>>

>> John John (MVP) wrote:

>>

>>> What happens when you try to open it? Are you recieving any error

>>> messages? What about the Event Log, are any errors showing there?

>>> If this is a permissions issue check and make sure that you have

>>> proper permissions on the Ncpa.cpl file. You may have other

>>> (registry keys) permissions which may prevent opening the file, try

>>> this and see if it fixes things:

>>>

>>> Aaron Stebner's WebLog

>>> Solving setup errors by using the SubInACL tool to repair file and

>>> registry permissions

>>> http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2006/09/04/739820.aspx

>>>

>>> John

>>>

>>> Roger Fink wrote:

>>>

>>>> I am in a losing battle with my IBM laptop over access to Network

>>>> and Dial-Up Connections (shades of HAL 9000), which it will not

>>>> let me

>>>> into come hell or high water from either of the two administrative

>>>> profiles on this machine. I even created a third administrative

>>>> profile in an attempt to outsmart it, but access to this is just

>>>> blocked, period.

>>>>

>>>> I'm not sure if the IBM "Access Connections" program on the laptop,

>>>> which does seem to work, covers the same territory, but I'd like to

>>>> be able to fix this, which is the only listing in Control Panel I

>>>> can't open.

May 5, 2008

Re: Access to Network and Dial-Up Connections blocked

Look in the registry under either or both the HKCU or HKLM branch to see

if a NoPropertiesMyComputer policy exists :

http://www.pctools.com/guides/registry/detail/980/

If the policy is not in the registry look in the \WINNT\system32 folder

for the SYSDM.CPL file and make sure that you have proper permissions on

the file.

Did you by any chance recently upgrade, change or add security software

to your machine? New or different AntiVirus or Firewall or other

security suite? These applications now often disable some of those

things without alerting the users. Also make sure that you have no

virus or other malware on the machine.

John

Roger Fink wrote:

> That solved the problem. Thanks very much.

>

> Unfortunately a new, mission critical one has crept up. I can't open System

> in Control Panel (nothing happens at all - no error message). Before posting

> this I checked every other item in Control Panel and they all open up. I

> also notice that, unlike my desktop, when I right-click My Computer, there

> is no Properties option, which would open the same panel. I re-enabled

> Remove Network Connection from Start Menu to see if that had something to do

> with it, but that had no effect, so I doubt that the enabled/not configured

> change caused it, but whatever the problem, it is fairly recent, since I was

> able to open System a couple of days ago.

>

> John John (MVP) wrote:

>

>>It sounds like you may have disabled it through one of the Group

>>Policy Objects.

>>

>>To open the Group Policy snap-in enter gpedit.msc in the Start Menu

>>Run box. In the Group Policly look at:

>>

>>User Configuration

>>\Administrative Templates

>>\Start Menu & Taskbar

>>\Remove Network Connection from Start Menu

>>

>>Set this policy to "Not Configured". You may need to reboot to have

>>the

>>GPO apply... or wait about 90 minutes for the default GPO refresh rate

>>to reapply the policy.

>>

>>John

>>

>>Roger Fink wrote:

>>

>>>This is not familiar terrtory for me, so I'm following along as best

>>>I can. I assume you are referring to Event Viewer. Under System Log

>>>there is a recent warning event. When I doublle click it, it says

>>>"Adapter Intel PRO/100VE Network Connection Adapter Link Down".

>>>

>>>The message when I click the Control Panel icon is "You do not have

>>>permission to open the Network and Dial-up Connection folder". There

>>>is no error number.

>>>

>>>I can't get to this right now but I will follow up on your

>>>suggestions. I'm unfamiliar with the Ncpa.cpl file, but I'll do what

>>>I can and post back. Please feel free to add anything else in the

>>>interim.

>>>

>>>John John (MVP) wrote:

>>>

>>>>What happens when you try to open it? Are you recieving any error

>>>>messages? What about the Event Log, are any errors showing there?

>>>>If this is a permissions issue check and make sure that you have

>>>>proper permissions on the Ncpa.cpl file. You may have other

>>>>(registry keys) permissions which may prevent opening the file, try

>>>>this and see if it fixes things:

>>>>

>>>>Aaron Stebner's WebLog

>>>>Solving setup errors by using the SubInACL tool to repair file and

>>>>registry permissions

>>>>http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2006/09/04/739820.aspx

>>>>

>>>>John

>>>>

>>>>Roger Fink wrote:

>>>>

>>>>>I am in a losing battle with my IBM laptop over access to Network

>>>>>and Dial-Up Connections (shades of HAL 9000), which it will not

>>>>>let me

>>>>>into come hell or high water from either of the two administrative

>>>>>profiles on this machine. I even created a third administrative

>>>>>profile in an attempt to outsmart it, but access to this is just

>>>>>blocked, period.

>>>>>

>>>>>I'm not sure if the IBM "Access Connections" program on the laptop,

>>>>>which does seem to work, covers the same territory, but I'd like to

>>>>>be able to fix this, which is the only listing in Control Panel I

>>>>>can't open.

>

May 6, 2008

Re: Access to Network and Dial-Up Connections blocked

I will do those checks and post back, but to answer your question, I

recently upgraded about twenty basic drivers from the Lenovo website driver

matrix for this model. I also upgraded the BIOS and BIOS embedded

controller.

Allow me a rant: We don't know that the driver upgrades are necessarily the

cause of the problem but the fact that they could be I find outrageous,

since it's a normal procedure that "intermediate" level users are encouraged

to do (and should). How many are going to find their way to this group to

(hopefully) get bailed out? The more likely destination: the repair shop.

John John (MVP) wrote:

> Look in the registry under either or both the HKCU or HKLM branch to

> see

> if a NoPropertiesMyComputer policy exists :

> http://www.pctools.com/guides/registry/detail/980/

>

> If the policy is not in the registry look in the \WINNT\system32

> folder

> for the SYSDM.CPL file and make sure that you have proper permissions

> on

> the file.

>

> Did you by any chance recently upgrade, change or add security

> software

> to your machine? New or different AntiVirus or Firewall or other

> security suite? These applications now often disable some of those

> things without alerting the users. Also make sure that you have no

> virus or other malware on the machine.

>

> John

>

> Roger Fink wrote:

>

>> That solved the problem. Thanks very much.

>>

>> Unfortunately a new, mission critical one has crept up. I can't open

>> System in Control Panel (nothing happens at all - no error message).

>> Before posting this I checked every other item in Control Panel and

>> they all open up. I also notice that, unlike my desktop, when I

>> right-click My Computer, there is no Properties option, which would

>> open the same panel. I re-enabled Remove Network Connection from

>> Start Menu to see if that had something to do with it, but that had

>> no effect, so I doubt that the enabled/not configured change caused

>> it, but whatever the problem, it is fairly recent, since I was able

>> to open System a couple of days ago.

>>

>> John John (MVP) wrote:

>>

>>> It sounds like you may have disabled it through one of the Group

>>> Policy Objects.

>>>

>>> To open the Group Policy snap-in enter gpedit.msc in the Start

>>> Menu

>>> Run box. In the Group Policly look at:

>>>

>>> User Configuration

>>> \Administrative Templates

>>> \Start Menu & Taskbar

>>> \Remove Network Connection from Start Menu

>>>

>>> Set this policy to "Not Configured". You may need to reboot to have

>>> the

>>> GPO apply... or wait about 90 minutes for the default GPO refresh

>>> rate

>>> to reapply the policy.

>>>

>>> John

>>>

>>> Roger Fink wrote:

>>>

>>>> This is not familiar terrtory for me, so I'm following along as

>>>> best

>>>> I can. I assume you are referring to Event Viewer. Under System Log

>>>> there is a recent warning event. When I doublle click it, it says

>>>> "Adapter Intel PRO/100VE Network Connection Adapter Link Down".

>>>>

>>>> The message when I click the Control Panel icon is "You do not have

>>>> permission to open the Network and Dial-up Connection folder".

>>>> There

>>>> is no error number.

>>>>

>>>> I can't get to this right now but I will follow up on your

>>>> suggestions. I'm unfamiliar with the Ncpa.cpl file, but I'll do

>>>> what

>>>> I can and post back. Please feel free to add anything else in the

>>>> interim.

>>>>

>>>> John John (MVP) wrote:

>>>>

>>>>> What happens when you try to open it? Are you recieving any error

>>>>> messages? What about the Event Log, are any errors showing there?

>>>>> If this is a permissions issue check and make sure that you have

>>>>> proper permissions on the Ncpa.cpl file. You may have other

>>>>> (registry keys) permissions which may prevent opening the file,

>>>>> try

>>>>> this and see if it fixes things:

>>>>>

>>>>> Aaron Stebner's WebLog

>>>>> Solving setup errors by using the SubInACL tool to repair file and

>>>>> registry permissions

>>>>> http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2006/09/04/739820.aspx

>>>>>

>>>>> John

>>>>>

>>>>> Roger Fink wrote:

>>>>>

>>>>>> I am in a losing battle with my IBM laptop over access to Network

>>>>>> and Dial-Up Connections (shades of HAL 9000), which it will not

>>>>>> let me

>>>>>> into come hell or high water from either of the two

>>>>>> administrative profiles on this machine. I even created a third

>>>>>> administrative

>>>>>> profile in an attempt to outsmart it, but access to this is just

>>>>>> blocked, period.

>>>>>>

>>>>>> I'm not sure if the IBM "Access Connections" program on the

>>>>>> laptop, which does seem to work, covers the same territory, but

>>>>>> I'd like to

>>>>>> be able to fix this, which is the only listing in Control Panel I

>>>>>> can't open.

May 6, 2008

Re: Access to Network and Dial-Up Connections blocked

One of the things I did was download and install the IBM hidden restore

partition, which was not on the machine. That could be the culprit.

[snip]

>

> Did you by any chance recently upgrade, change or add security

> software

> to your machine? New or different AntiVirus or Firewall or other

> security suite? These applications now often disable some of those

> things without alerting the users. Also make sure that you have no

> virus or other malware on the machine.

>

[snip]

May 6, 2008

Re: Access to Network and Dial-Up Connections blocked

I kind of doubt that would have changed security or policy settings, it

could have caused a drive letter change but other than that I can't see

it changing specific group policies or other registry based policies.

John

Roger Fink wrote:

> One of the things I did was download and install the IBM hidden restore

> partition, which was not on the machine. That could be the culprit.

>

> [snip]

>

>>Did you by any chance recently upgrade, change or add security

>>software

>>to your machine? New or different AntiVirus or Firewall or other

>>security suite? These applications now often disable some of those

>>things without alerting the users. Also make sure that you have no

>>virus or other malware on the machine.

>>

>

> [snip]

>

May 6, 2008

Re: Access to Network and Dial-Up Connections blocked

Not sure how I managed to so misinterpret your words. I will work on my

reading skills.

At any rate, Spybot S&D caught it:

<Microsoft.Windows.System:

[sBI $C9D262B4] Settings (Registry change, nothing done)

HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-1715567821-1606980848-1343024091-1001\Software\Microsoft

\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\NoPropertiesMycomputer>

It offered to "fix selected problem". Not sure if it would actually fix

things, I was nervous about it, but I went ahead and the fix worked.

Apart from normal updates I haven't made any changes to the antivirus or

antispyware programs, so I guess the cause of this is still a mystery. FWIW,

one more recent event I neglected to mention - I installed a wireless card

and driver (the machine had no wireless capability), which seemed to go OK.

Roger