Connection Options Are Not Available When You Try to Create a New Dial-up Connection (811350)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional

SYMPTOMS

When you try to create a new dial-up connection on a computer that is running Windows 2000 Professional, only the following network connection options are available:
  • Dial-up to the Internet
  • Accept Incoming Connections
All other options are not available.

CAUSE

This issue may occur on computers that have been upgraded to Windows 2000 Professional from Windows 95 or Windows 98 and that have Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS) modem sharing installed.

During an upgrade, the Windows directory may be placed in the path statement before "Windows\System32". The following path is typically used:
Path=c:\windows\system32;c:\WINNT
Computers that are upgraded from Windows 95 or Windows 98 have the following path: 
Path=c:\windows;c:\windows\system32
The Connections folder is called by Windows Explorer, which uses the current directory (\Windows) by default to search for support files (*.dll files). Older versions of these .dll files may remain in the \Windows directory. This may cause Windows 2000 to use these older files instead of the files in the \Windows\System32 directory.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, verify the path environment variable for Windows 2000, and if the variable is not correct, make changes to the variable. To do so, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, and then click Run.
  2. Type cmd, and then click OK.
  3. At the command prompt, type set, and then press Enter.
  4. Verify the path statement in the returned output.
If \Windows appears before \Windows\System32, follow these steps:
  1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
  2. Click the Advanced tab.
  3. Click Environment Variables at the bottom of the page.
  4. In the list, select the path variable, and then click Edit.
  5. At the beginning of the line, type %SystemRoot%\system32;.
  6. Click OK to close any open windows.
  7. Rename the files in the \Windows directory that have a .dll extension. To do so, follow these steps:
    1. Click Start, and then click Run.
    2. Type cmd, and then click OK.
    3. Type cd\, and then press Enter.
    4. Type cd\<systemroot> (where <systemroot> is the directory name of the Windows 2000 installation).
    5. Type dir *.dll, and then press Enter.

      A list of any .dll files in the main Windows directory is displayed. In a typical installation, only the following .dll files reside in the default Windows directory:
      • Twain.dll
      • Twain_32.dll
      • Vmmreg32.dll
    6. Note any other .dll files that are listed. Use Windows Explorer to change the extensions of these files from .dll to .old.
You may have to restart your computer for these changes to take effect.

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

259886 Network Connection Wizard Options Unavailable After Upgrading from Windows 95/98 to Windows 2000 Professional



Note The Accept Incoming Calls option depends on the user's permissions.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:11/5/2003
Keywords:KB811350
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