VPN Irritation

I need some HelpDesk action from my brethren Orgahs:

I need to set up a VPN. So I go to the appropriate control panel, click "create a new connection," then "Connect to the network at my workplace," only to discover that both the "dial up" and "Virtual Private Network connection" options are grayed out.

I figured it was either my security or my evil habit of uninstalling services I don't use. So I disabled all security (including TeaTimer), whipped out my XP Pro disc, went to "add or remove Windows components," and re-installed all of the networking-related components. Then I jumped into msconfig to make sure I hadn't disabled any relevant service.

That done, I heaved a sigh of relief, rebooted my PC, and discovered the problem hadn't changed in the slightest. Suggestions?

See if following are disabled:
Remote Access Auto Connection Manager
Remote Access Connection Manager

Do this using either msconfig or services.msc

[edit]
Source of info: http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;273861
Always helps to search microsoft's KB ~:)

Both are enabled. That's exactly the sort of thing I was looking for in msconfig.

Have a look at the link though as it has some instructions to try. Other than that, I would suggests searching a bit more there.

If all fails, you can try: netsh int reset all
under run. Usually fixes a lot of internet related problems.

Hello Lemur,

My limited experience: DSL modem can't establish a VPN. Routers can.

This is most likely not a hard fact (routers that can't and modems that can), but we ran into this too and simply solved it by adding a router.

If it's greyed out then you need to have the Telephony and Remote Access Connection Manager services running. Don't use msconfig when dealing with services, use services.msc

All the updates are installed?

I think there was an issue with XP SP2 for some users when it was first released that it caused a similar issue...found the link .

Quote:

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September 23, 2004 (IDG News Service) -- Microsoft Corp. will accelerate the rollout of Windows XP Service Pack 2 over the next month and has released the first official update for SP2 to fix a problem some users had with virtual private networks.

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So if you are running XP SP2 first release with no updates then you will have this issue.

A fair point, but trust me, I keep my XP boxen fully updated. After installing SP2, i more or less count on a good three hours of downloading and installing all of the patches, updates and shivs.

I took the honorable Caravel's advice and did some fiddling in services.msc, but I haven't had a chance to test the results. I'll get back to the thread when I've had time to do a second attempt at the VPN.

Update: Caravel's fix worked just dandy, and I am now able to join a VPN from my Windows XP box. Huzzah!