Windows Vista - Dial-up gives "Invalid Handle" error?

[Shaitan00]

Using a DELL Windows Vista Desktop (with dial-up modem) we started getting a really odd behavior out of the blue (supposedly)... For the past few months there have been no issues connecting to the internet (dial-up) but two days ago (coincidentally after a power outage, mind you I am being told this started to occur prior to that) our connection stopped working. Specifically we still dial-in (I hear the modem and all the handshakes all the way to the end) and once it is finished I get "connection failed" - the error code is "Error #6 - Handle is Invalid" (which caught me off guard).

I tested the dial-up account from another PC and it works fine (so it is not the username/password or the ISP), there is something up with this VISTA machine (for some odd reason) that it won't complete the Dial-Up connection anymore (nothing new was installed, nothing was added/removed hardware or software), looks like it was turned off (correctly) and back on 24-hours later and bam - doesn't work anymore.

I did some research online and found that this can typically be solved by removing any 3rd party software (have none), removing the modem drivers, running a repair tool ("RArepair.exe"), and then re-installing the drivers and software (have none). I found many copies of RArepair.exe for 2K/XP but am unable to track downa a VISTA copy and I hesitate to run the 2K/XP copy blindly (obviously). Other then that the only solution I see is re-install fresh (which would kill me right now)...

Any thoughts, suggestions, hints would be much appreciated - sadly the PC itself is 3 hours away (parents place) so unless there is no other way around it a full re-install of VISTA would really suck (would need to make backups and all that)... So if you have ANY ideas ....
Thanks,

 

[zacdl]

Wait- you still use dial up????



When you tried to dial up to the Internet, you received the error "Error
6: the handle is invalid."

This issue can occur if the RAS or NDISWAN component is corrupted. The
problem can occur after removing some 3rd party program such as AT&T
dial up program because the uninstallation program may not be designed
very well. To troubleshoot this issue, please perform the following
steps.

1. Remove Modem driver from the Device Manager.

- Right click My Computer and select Properties.

- Click on Hardware, Device Manager. Click on + sign by modem, right click and
uninstall modem.

2. Delete the dial up connections and remove 3rd party RAS related
program if any.

3. Run the attached file to install RArepair.exe, then run RArepair.exe to
reinstall RAS components. Reboot.

4. Reinstall Modem driver and the 3rd party dial up program if it is
required by your ISP.

5. Recreate the dial up connection and check if the problem is resolved.

Edit- Missed the part where you mentioned these steps... try them again anyways though.
You might try installing whatever software AT&T (or whoever you use) gave you.

 

[Shaitan00]

I have no 3rd party software (AT&T or other, I use Windows Vista only). And RArepair.exe is made for 2k/XP, do you have a VISTA copy I can use?
Thanks,