Repair and Reset Windows Vista TCP/IP Winsock Catalog Corruption

This solution applies to Windows Vista:

Recently, I installed some free anti-virus software on a friend's laptop (the operating system was Vista).  After the installation, I encountered one problem after another.  Windows Firewall connection turned off and became disabled.  I was unable to connect to the internet even though my wireless connection was showing as enabled.  Internet Explorer was showing a "Page cannot be displayed" error.

I started surfing the net on my other pc for anyone who might have encountered a similar problem.  

Lo and behold, I found this link!  It was easy and solved the problem, five short steps.  Be sure to click on the link for an explanation as to what caused the Winsock corruption.  This fix could save you a lot of potential headache.  

1.  Click on the Start button.

2.  Type Cmd in the Start Search text box.

3.  Press Ctrl-Shift-Enter keyboard shortcut to run Command Prompt as Administrator.  Allow elevation request.

4.  Type netsh winsock reset in the Command Prompt shell, and then  press the Enter key.

5.  Restart the computer.

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/06/18/repair-and-reset-windows-vista-tcpip-winsock-catalog-corruption/