Error Message: The Page Cannot Be Displayed

• Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 4.0, 4.01, 4.01 Service Pack 1, 4.01 Service Pack 2, 5, 5.01 for Windows 95
• Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 5, 5.01 for Windows 98
• Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition

SYMPTOMS

When you try to gain access to a Web page, you may receive the following error message:

Internet Explorer 5

The Page cannot be displayed.

Internet Explorer 4.x

An internal error occurred in the Windows Internet extensions.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur because of any of the following reasons:

• The Internet Explorer connection settings are incorrect.



• An incorrect entry exists in a Hosts file.



• The Winsock.dll, Wsock32.dll, or Wsock.vxd file is missing or corrupted.



• There are multiple copies of the Winsock.dll, Wsock32.dll, or Wsock.vxd file, or one of these files is in the wrong folder.



• TCP/IP is not installed or is not functioning properly.



• The WinSock2 registry key is corrupted.



• The Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) installation is corrupted or is not functioning.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, use the following steps:

NOTE: If you receive the error message after installing ICS with America Online (AOL) as your Internet service provider (ISP), refer to the "If the Error Message Occurs After Installing ICS with AOL" section of this article.

1. Verify that you can connect to your ISP and that the connection settings for Internet Explorer are correct (for example, make sure the Use a Proxy Server check box is cleared if you do not use a proxy server).



2. Open an MS-DOS prompt window (click Start, point to Programs, and then click MS-DOS Prompt), type ping 127.0.0.1, and then press ENTER. If you receive 4 replies, go to step 3. If you do not receive 4 replies, perform the following steps:


Uninstall TCP/IP:


1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Network.



2. Click a component on the Configuration tab, click Properties, and then record all of the component's settings. Repeat this process until you have recorded the configuration information for all of your components.



3. Remove all TCP/IP-related network components from network properties. To do so, click a component on the Configuration tab, and then click Remove. Repeat this process until all of the TCP/IP-related network components are deleted from network properties, click OK, and then click Yes when you are prompted to restart your computer (if you are not prompted to restart the computer, then do so manually).



Reinstall and configure TCP/IP:


1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Network.



2. On the Configuration tab, click Add, click Protocol, and then click Add.



3. In the Manufacturers box, click Microsoft, in the Network Protocols box, click TCP/IP, and then click OK.



4. Click OK, and then click Yes when you are prompted to restart your computer (if you are not prompted to restart your computer, then do so manually).
   
   NOTE: You may receive "version conflict" error messages during this process. If this happens, click No when you are prompted to keep a newer version of each file.



5. Repeat step 2.



3. Connect to your ISP and start Internet Explorer. Try to gain access to www.microsoft.com by name and by the Internet Protocol (IP) address. If you can connect using the IP address but not the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN), check for entries in the Hosts file on the local computer:



1. Click Start, point to Find, and then click Files or Folders.



2. In the Named box, type hosts. Search in the drive where Windows is installed (usually drive C).



3. If you find a file named "Hosts," open the file with Notepad and view its contents. If there are no entries beyond the one for the local host (for example, 127.0.0.1 Localhost), contact your ISP for possible problems with its DNS server.



4. If a Web site does not load using either the FQDN or IP address, open an MS-DOS prompt window (click Start, point to Programs, and then click MS-DOS Prompt) and try to ping a known good Web site using both the FQDN and IP address.
   
   NOTE: Many larger Web sites have this feature disabled and you will not be able to ping them successfully.
   
   If you can ping the site by the IP address but still receive the error message, continue to step 7. If you cannot ping using either the FQDN or IP address, verify that you can still ping the local host (127.0.0.1).



5. Check network properties and look for multiple instances of the TCP/IP protocol bound to the dial-up adapter.



6. Check for multiple instances of the Wsock32.dll, Winsock.dll, and Wsock.vxd files. Also check the dates and versions of these files. Rename any file that is not in the appropriate folder (Wsock32.dll and Wsock.vxd should be in the Windows\System folder, and Winsock.dll should be in the Windows folder).



1. Click Start point to Find, and then click Files or Folders.



2. In the Named box, type the appropriate file name (for example, type wsock32.dll, winsock.dll, or wsock.vxd), and then click Find Now.
   
   NOTE: Be sure to search in the drive where Windows is installed (usually drive C).



3. To rename extra copies of the files that are not of Microsoft origin, right-click the file that was found, click Rename, and change the file extension to .old. (for example, rename the Wsock32.dll to Wsock32.old).
   
   NOTE: If you receive an error message that a file by that name already exists, choose another file extension (for example, .zzz).



For additional information about the correct dates and sizes of these files, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q135539 Windows 95 CD-ROM Directory Listing (4 of 5)

Q150440 Windows 95 Service Pack 1 CD-ROM Directory Listing (4 of 5)

Q158193 Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2 CD-ROM Directory (5 of 6)

Q188428 Windows 98 CD-ROM Directory Listing (1 of 14)

Q238664 Windows 98 Second Edition CD-ROM Directory Listing (1 of 14)

7. If your computer is running Windows 95, look for the Ws2bakup.bat file on the hard disk.
   
   NOTE: If your computer is running Windows 98, skip to step 11).



1. Click Start, point to Find, and then click Files or Folders.



2. In the Named box, type ws2bakup.bat, and then click Find Now.
   
   NOTE: Be sure to search in the drive where Windows is installed (usually drive C).



3. If the file is found, proceed to step 8.



8. Restart the computer and bring up the Windows 95 Startup Menu by holding down the F8 key when you see "Starting Windows 95" (white type on a black screen). Click Command Prompt Only, and then type the following commands pressing ENTER after each command:




cd windows
cd ws2bakup
ws2bakup.bat

9. After the Ws2bakup.bat file is finished running, press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart the computer.



10. After Windows has restarted, proceed to step 11.



11. Export and delete the WinSock2 key located in the following registry key:


WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).


HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinSock2

12. Uninstall Dial-Up Networking (DUN) using the following steps:


NOTE: Make sure you have the Windows CD-ROM or disks on hand.


1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Add/Remove Programs.



2. On the Windows Setup tab, click Communications, and then click Details.



3. Click to clear the Dial-Up Networking check box, and click Yes if you receive any messages about it being required by other components.



4. Click OK until you are prompted to restart the computer (if you are not prompted to restart the computer, then restart the computer manually).



5. After Windows restarts, repeat steps a-d, except click to select the Dial-Up Networking check box in step c.
   
   NOTE: The above steps also apply when you receive an error message similar to the following examples:




An internal error occurred in the Windows Internet Extensions

Unable to create a network socket connection

13. If you still receive the error message, you may need to manually uninstall TCP/IP and Dial-Up Networking. For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    Q181599 How to Remove and Reinstall Dial-Up Networking and TCP/IP Files

If the Error Message Occurs After Installing ICS with AOL

REFERENCES

For additional information, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q219843 Problems Using Internet Explorer with Incorrect Hosts File

Q175722 Err Msg: Internet Explorer Cannot Open the Internet Site...

Q175039 Err Msg: A Connection to the Server Could Not Be Established

Q188952 'Internal Error Occurred' Error Message Using Internet Explorer

Q222909 Err Msg: Internal Error in Windows Internet Extensions

Q185533 TCP/IP Does Not Work After Upgrading to Windows 98

Q191064 Error Messages When Running TCP/IP-Based Utilities or Programs

Q238550 Cannot Browse the Internet Using Internet Explorer While Connected to AOL

Q181599 How to Remove and Reinstall Dial-Up Networking and TCP/IP Files

Q158474 Windows TCP/IP Registry Entries

Additional query words: windows extensions socket connection corrupt

Keywords : kberrmsg msiew95 msiew98
Version : WINDOWS:4.0,4.01,4.01 Service Pack 1,4.01 Service Pack 2,5,5.01
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb