Thursday, July 10, 2008

Unable to initialize windows sockets interface, error code 10107

I was called the other day to have a look at a computer that couldn’t go online. I thought “probably something small”. Yeah! RIGHT! On Vista? HA! So I go there. I have a look. User log on was taking minutes, welcome screen more. No IP address. No DNS server. What the hell? I had never seen something like this.

Kaspersky wasn’t working. It was complaining that some components couldn’t run. “Ok”, I thought, “let’s disable some Vista settings not needed. Maybe that will live things up a bit because the computer is ‘flowing’ like honey on sand; not at all!”.

I open up Services and disable the worst ‘evil doer of delays’ the Windows Indexing. As I was moving up and down on the list of services, trying to figure what else I can kill, I saw DHCP service stuck on ‘Starting’. “Wait a second”, I said to myself (yes I talk to me. We have the greatest conversations this way. Full of zest and intelligence. Anyyywayyyys), “that’s not right. Why is this taking so long to start? Isn’t DHCP a service that assigns an IP address from the server? Maybe that’s the reason why. Ok let’s hit Google for answers”.

Unfortunately there was NONE to be found for Vista. It was like Micro$oft didn’t want to give MORE evidence of their crap OS. I was getting angry and frustrated. I had the user asking me every 5 seconds if I can fix it? Why the damn thing is not working? I tried ipconfig /all. Media disconnected. Ipconfig /renew. Media disconnected. Nothing. I was getting even more angry in the point to just format the damn thing and put Linux in it.

All my tries with the Windows repair suggestions were getting to the same result. Nothing. But as M$ is putting it: “It seems that there is still an error with your connection. Please contact your System Administrator”. In other words “Piss off and leave us alone. Find your solution yourselves.”

But I would not get defeated. I will get to the bottom of this. As I was searching the internet, I stumble across in an article about repairing the winsock. I found some helpful commands that I run straight away:

Sfc /scannow

The command found some errors and repaired them. But at the end the connection wasn’t up still. So I tried the next command:

Netsh winsock reset

After a short run the TCPIP stack was repaired and I could see a connection again. I was overjoyed. My user was happy too. I can’t understand why M$ couldn’t add that simple command into their Automatic repairing crap that they have??? I will never find out (NOR I CARE!)

I would like to thank all those people that contributed to the technical forums that helped me fix this error and moved my knowledge, on the mystic arts of fixing Vista problems, on step further. I bow to you. Thank you.

69 comments:

Anonymous said...

This happened to a client of mine with XP -- Her antivirus and antispyware programs were disabled in funky ways, and her Verizon Access Manager wouldnt even open.
This post saved me a very unhappy customer and i think i may get "netsh winsock restore" tattooed on my forearm so i don't forget it!

Anonymous said...

1. goto http://support.microsoft.com
2. search "unable to initialize winsock vista"
3. click on first result.

Apparently thats too hard for linux zealots these days.

Anonymous said...

I just got a call from a friend with the same problem. A google search brought me here, and your advice had him back online in no time.

Thank you!

Dave L said...

I agree with the previous post.

DHCP Services not starting was causing me to pull my hair out trying to fix my sister-in-law's PC. I was neck-deep in checking registry permissions when I stumbled across this post. Great job.

Netsh to the rescue!

Anonymous said...

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
My sister was having this same issue and I could not figure it out at all. Her computer is online and she is very happy.

Thanks again.

Anonymous said...

YOU ARE AMAZING, THIS LINE THEN A QUICK REBOOT AND THE INTERNET WORKS. 6 HOURS OF SEARCHING!!!!

Sunil said...

Superb advice!!! Netsh really helped fix the issue.

Brian T. said...

great advice! netsh worked nicely.
M$ support should send you a check!

Unknown said...

And I bow to you sir. Thank you for the post.

Anonymous said...

All I can say is THANK YOU - This problem plagued me all damn day (man vista blows)... wish I would have found your site first. Will send some good karma your way!

Anonymous said...

I went to the support.microsoft.com and the "unable to initialize winsock vista" came up but it just took me to a list of sites about vista and no useful information whereas the sfc followed by a reboot and netsh worked.
Thank you.
Brian

Unknown said...

Brilliant. Worked flawlessly. *STANDING APPLAUSE*

showergel said...

Thank you! This worked perfectly. However I have a question.. do we know what causes this? I fixed it on my wife's laptop and the problem came back 2 reboots later.. at which time I fixed it again. It would be nice to know the source of the problem!

gaz said...

worked a charm on my neighbours laptop, cheers!

Arivunambi said...

I got lock with same issue.I did google search and got your post.

When I tried by typing netsh winsock reset in command prompt by logging on as Admin user,got below error message.

Initialization Function InitHelperDll in NSHHTTP.DLL failed to start with error code 10107

The requested operation requires elevation.

To get around this went to All Programs, Accessories, right click Command Prompt and clicked Run as administrator.Now I typed netsh winsock reset in command prompt.Now the command got work and informed me to restart the machine.I restarted my laptop.

Now my laptop is online.Request you to include this point also in your post.

Please continue your great job.
My heartiest thanks to you.

Anonymous said...

You have no idea how your blog and the March 1 2010 post have saved me from having a 'way too long' conversation with Verizon Wireless about my VZAccess manager not working. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

ZenDada said...

Saved me hours of misery trying to fix my kid's computer. Thank you!

Anonymous said...

It's VISTA -- thats what the REAL problem is. This post goes straight to the point. Saved me several hours of backup/OS reload etc.

Anonymous said...

I'm using windows 7 pro and had problems installing some new connectivity software for a client I support. Like others before me an internet search - on a working computer - led me to here. And it saved my bacon too!!!

Najid said...

Thanks for solving

Anonymous said...

Thanks, I am another soul rescued. One other word I might add for others is that the first time I tried the netsh command, I got an error message back stating that the command required elevation. When running cmd.exe, I had to right click and choose "Run as Administrator". Then netsh worked flawlessly, as others have noted.

henryjosephmcp said...

Thanks for the post. Like Anonymous, my victim was messing with Sprint software when their laptop lost it's mind and refused to communicate. netsh winsock reset worked!

Anonymous said...

X-D Thank you!!! I was really getting desperated, thank you so much for posting this!

Anonymous said...

Hey, I work for Telstraclear in NZ, and I just want to say thanks man, saved my ass from an angry customer.

cialis said...

Hello, I do not agree with the previous commentator - not so simple

Jeff said...

I tried the netsh winsock reset command prompt.
I got back:
initialization function inithelperDLL in NSHHTTP.DLL failed to start with erroe code 10107.
The requested operation requires elevation.

NOW WHAT?
Vista need chucking in the bin.
Any help gratefully recieved.
Jeff in Poole UK

Jeff said...

Hi all should have read all the comments right through.
Sorry, alreadty an answer to my last post. Just getting grief form the missis, so need to get her back on line as quickly as possible.
Thanks for the answer to the original problem.
Fixed it now as administrator!!

Jeff

Unknown said...

I was about to shoot my computer and go buy a new one. This worked perfectly! Thank you very much for posting the info!!! I love that M$ searches for help on the internet... but what happens when you can't connect to the internet? Thank You!

Anonymous said...

You just saved my a$$. Thank god for wireless devices and smart people who share with the rest of us poor desperate souls!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for a down to earth post " I talk to me also" :)

Anonymous said...

WOW, after 3 days of searching, somehow I came across this post, thanks to your great advise and that of those who also jogged my memory to right click on the cmd function to run as administrator, I have finally resolved the issue. Man I wish I found this on my first search, but made the mistake of scrolling through the M$ sites, grrr. THANKS HEAPS :-)

skiilines said...

Thank you. This saved my day at work!

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much! This was vastly more helpful than Microsoft's site.

Anonymous said...

thank you so much. worked a charm! you've evidently saved hours of my life :)

Milind said...

thank you very much! it solved the problem for me, too!!

Anonymous said...

Unbelievable! Been hungup on this problem for quite awhile on my son's laptop. Finally sat down and dedicated myself to fixing the problem. Met all kinds of frustration until I found your post. Doing sfc/scannow befor the netsh winsock restore was the key and the charm! Thanks so much!! I don't have him bugging me anymore!!

vimtron said...

Hey buddy ... it worked for me thanks ..... and crap Vista.

shra4 said...

God Bless you! I tried everything in the book for hours and could not find anything and then when i was about to give up... I saw your post. Thank you so much!

Nerdy Bird said...

Hey Man! U are awesome and save me! Thanks 1000x!!

Leigh said...

BOOOOOOM!!!! It worked! Cheers dude! :)

cialis coupon said...

Thanks for the nice blog. It was very useful for me. Keep sharing such ideas in the future as well. This was actually what I was looking for, and I am glad to came here! Thanks for sharing the such information with us.

distinct.one2002 said...

Thanks for blog.Really helpful

Anonymous said...

Many thanks to you, you saved me hours of searching for the solution.

Anonymous said...

there's a good chance this saved the me the embarassment of a reformat (AKA technician easy mode)

Thanks.

Jason said...

Thank you! Been scratching my head over this problem for a client's laptop for a week. Service were stuck in "starting..." state, a cable plugged into the ethernet socket *was* detected, but its IP address always came up as a 169.x.y.z address rather than a 192.168.x.y

That one command fixed it all:

Netsh winsock reset

I had already tried diabling, re-enabling and repairing the network connections, to no effect.

Anonymous said...

Thank YOU! You've saved me plenty of time!

Unknown said...

Thank You~!!!

AndreasNYC said...

Thanks much. Gave a Merry Christmas to someone when I fixed her computer just now!

Cheers!

Anonymous said...

You are a real lifesaver!!! Thanks ...

Anonymous said...

it worked perfectly for my windows 7, thanks a lot for the info and help.. you the best

Anonymous said...

Prezado, seu post foi de extrema ajuda no meu problema, parabéns!!!

Anonymous said...

Worked perfectly for me too, and even though I got the following error when doing the reset, I ignored it, rebooted, and it still worked:
Initialization Function InitHelperDll in NSHHTTP.DLL failed to start with error code 10107

I think in my case it had something to do with disabling the Cisco VPN Client - re-enabling it still didn't fix things, until I happened across this easy answer. Good work!
Thanks,
Blaine

Anonymous said...

You absolute bloody hero.

Thank you thank you very much

Anonymous said...

Another thank you from me

Anonymous said...

you are my god...thanks netsh~

Andrew K said...

THIS METHOD WORKED!
SAVED SO MUCH TIME! THANK YOU! WINDOWS VISTA DHCP WILL NOT START... WILL NOT RECOGNIZE ANY AVAIL NETWORKS...

SUMMARY: RIGHT CLICK CMD.EXE / RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR

"SRC / SCANNOW"

"NETSH winsock reset" COMMAND as previously mentioned

RESTART COMPUTER. BOOM, DONE!

Anonymous said...

Hi Thanks for your post.

It helped me to get the server working back.

Anonymous said...

Hi Thanks for your post.
It helped me to get server working back.

Anonymous said...

Worked like a charm! you rock!

Anonymous said...

Spent many hours trying to get the wireless to work. Was ready to give up and then I found your fix. HOORAY, it worked.

Anonymous said...

NETSH winsock reset fixed my problem, thanks

Anonymous said...

Had leftover NLF sockets from bad norman security suite removal, removed registry winsock entries, your command finished the job.
Many thanks, was a vista pc.

Anonymous said...

Worked for me Windows 10. Had the NSHHTTP.DLL failed to start with error 10107 issue. Thank you.

Al Gray said...

This helped me now greatly. Using Windows 8.1 Pro in case anyone is wondering if it works with that OS. Many thanks. :D

Lemonade Mint Nu said...

Just tried in windows and it works a treat. Thankyou.

Lemonade Mint Nu said...

Just tried in windows and it works a treat. Thankyou.

Anonymous said...

Worked like a charm!!! Thanks a lot

Anonymous said...

Just to say you are a real hero!!!. Works like magic!.

Eng. Femi said...

I got my pc working fine after I issue those commands. Thanks for the help