Re: Updates now max out IE's agent string length, causing problems

This appears to be a different issue- it does not appear to involve a
maxed-out user-agent string, but seems to be related to .NET components
causing some kind of issue in your network. I think that I saw a similar
issue caused by a (hardware) firewall that had application filtering turned
on, causing odd timeout issues due to bugs in its code- if you have a
firewall, maybe try turning off the application/IDS/anti-virus/etc. for a bit
and see.


"JW" wrote:

Pa Bear asked me to repost this here as it may be related:

Interesting problem with a long description, I have been at this a while
please be patient.

I have a fairly large network (over 1000 workstations). Internet Explorer 7
intermittantly has "Page Cannot be Displayed" error on several sites we use
everyday. If you refresh or click the link (or favorite) multiple times the
page will eventually load. I am using Active Directory, Filtering, Firewall,
Anti-virus etc, so I started eliminating. (I have read all of the previous
posts)

Here is where I am at now. Windows XP Pro. SP3 (freshly loaded) and Internet
Explorer 7. I have gone as far as to bypass everything in my network and
statically assign an address from the ISP and plug in directly to an outside
ISP port. I have no AD, no filter, no firewall, no anti-virus, no add-ons and
default IE security settings (cringe). Yes, I even ran IE with no addons.
If I apply all of the updates (as of 2-4-09) -except- the .NET updates (any
.NET including service packs) the workstation works as it is supposed to.
Once I install any of the .NET updates the behavior returns. I have ran a TCP
dump to examine the packet traffic. What i see is the browser contacts the
remote server, and starts sending traffic, this just stops and then all I see
is keep-alives every 10-20 seconds until it times out and displays the error
"Page Cannot be Displayed". If the refresh button or the link (favorite) is
clicked several times prior to the error, the page will eventually load. This
is not https and is not just one site. It is not a DNS or bandwidth issue. If
I try to uninstall the .NET updates, it still will not work. I have to take
it back via a restore point to make it function properly.
As another test, I fully patched the system (as of 2-4-09) including the
.NET updates and installed Firefox 3.0.6. The behavior does not repeat if FF3
is used as the browser. I would rather not deploy FF3 throughout the network.
I really do not want to try to restore every workstation either.
This is not critical but is extremely annoying, the end users are not happy.
I am looking for any debugging advice or thoughts on what to look at next.

.