ThinkVantage Access Connections

I like my ThinkPad and I appreciate the flexibility I get from managing network connectivity using ThinkVantage Access Connections. However, the ThinkPad got into a state where any change to a wired or WAN Miniport profile caused the Ethernet connection to fail with error "DHCP server not responding." Wireless connectivity continued to work, although it took me a long time to figure that out.

Similarly, any change to the Access Connections (like trying to upgrade to the current version) caused wired connectivity to fail.

For a long while, the only solution I found was to revert changes using Windows system restore. Last weekend I decided I had had enough, and spent the time to out-stubborn the problem.

It turns out that deleting and re-adding the Ethernet NIC using Windows Device Manager and Add New Hardware did the trick. I could now change profiles, upgrade software, etc. without breaking my wired connection. Good!

However, deleting and re-adding the NIC broke all my WAN Miniport connections. VPN access and even dial-up no longer worked. Happily for me, "harrisb" had posted a solution for this one on a Lenovo forum: http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/message?board.id=Special_Interest_Windows&thread.id=398 It's one I would never have figured out on my own!

So, I am back to being a happy ThinkPad camper.

Bitmonger

I'm Bob Brown and I've spent thirty years managing technology and another dozen (with some overlap) teaching about it at the university level. I'm still teaching and I do a bit of consulting.

In the process, I frequently prove that experience is what you get when you're expecting something else.

To help others share those hard-won experiences, one hopes with less labor and frustration, I want to write about them, sharing answers with others who may face the same problems. We shall see how I do.