Hi all, We have various proxy servers across the world which our clients connect to using auto-discovery (wpad). This has not been an issue but periodically Windows 7 boxes just stop connecting. I've done a *lot* of digging, and have found that when the client stops working for some reason the following registry keys are set: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Wpad\{network id} WpadDecision = 0 WpadDecisionReason = 1 On working clients the key values are reversed: WpadDecision = 1 WpadDecisionReason = 0 So something is setting the keys which then blocks the WPAD processing which in turn blocks internet access. Some of the machines are in a domain, others are stand-alone (so this should eliminate GPO). This leads to my questions: 1) What are these keys? (I can't find any documentation) 2) What causes these keys to be set so that WPAD stops working? I'm hoping this will then automatically lead me to my answer of "so how can I stop this happening". Suggestions and insights welcome! Cheers, Mike

Anyone...?

Hi Mike, Are you still experiencing this issue? These keys are what Windows 7/IE8 use to persist that a network supports or does not support WPAD. This helps users when roaming to and from corporate environments avoid costly and unnecessary WPAD detections on networks that don't support it. WpadDecision=0 indicates that Windows failed to discover a proxy script on this network and was also also able to browse to and FQDN internet resource without the proxy. Windows should be able to diagnose this problem using the network troubleshooter. Have you tried this option? Thanks, Eric

Hi Eric, Thanks for the information - most useful. Yes the problem still persists and I'm still trying to isolate the trigger for the machines involved. Getting the users to run the network troubleshooter isn't really an option :-) Cheers, Mike

Hi Mike did you get anywhere with this issue? We are having very similar issue under Win7 x86 SP1 and IE8: WPAD is set to disabled in the registry as the laptop can connect to the internet directly via router / Access point, but once the VPN is up it doesn’t recheck for WPAD but rather assumes there is still a direct connection to the internet. I’m looking into a way of disabling this “feature” by possibly changing the permissions on this regkey ? Anyone else got a solution ? Kind regards Nathan

Hi Mike did you get anywhere with this issue? We are having very similar issue under Win7 x86 SP1 and IE8: WPAD is set to disabled in the registry as the laptop can connect to the internet directly via router / Access point, but once the VPN is up it doesn’t recheck for WPAD but rather assumes there is still a direct connection to the internet. I’m looking into a way of disabling this “feature” by possibly changing the permissions on this regkey ? Anyone else got a solution ? Kind regards Nathan You can disable the feature using the registry key: DWORD - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Wpad\WpadOverride = 1

Thanks Eric. That has done the trick ! Kind regards Nathan.