Skip to main content

Cisco VPN with Windows 7 (ndis.sys BSOD)

After giving it much thought, I recently upgraded our first enduser to Windows 7. Having used Windows 7 (64-bit) for over a month with not many issues you can imagine my surprise when the user's laptop kept bluescreening after disconnecting from the VPN. On average it would bluescreen about 50% of the time just after I clicked disconnect. The error would report that ndis.sys was the root of the problem.


After researching the issue online I could only find information on the more popular Cisco IPSec VPN client and not the Cisco AnyConnect client. Also, the issue they were facing was related to the computer going into a bluescreen cycle after installing the Cisco VPN client and rebooting. My laptop would reboot sucessfully and never have problems until I tried to use the VPN.

I found several websites which gave workarounds, but no real solutions. Eventually I found an article that mentioned if you install a DNE update it would correct the problem. I try to not post anything on here that's redundant and to only post information that I've had a hard time finding on the Internet. While his article is accurate and did fix my problem I felt it could be improved upon in two ways. First, I couldn't find any articles that mentioned the AnyConnect client. Everything was referring to Cisco's more popular IPSec client. My tests were done using Cisco's AnyConnect version 2.4.0202 (the latest version at the time). Additionally, the article I read stated you needed to manually delete two files related to ndis.sys and then do a Windows repair using the installation media to restore those files after installing the VPN client. Citrix has since updated the process and made it much easier. Below are the steps I followed which took care of the problem.

  1. Uninstall your Cisco AnyConnect client.

  2. Reboot

  3. Go to Citrix's website to obtain the winfix.exe and dneupdate.msi. (Cisco uses DNE which was developed by Deterministic Networks. Citrix bought Deterministic Networks.)

  4. Run winfix.exe to automatically correct the files that the other article manually instructed you to edit. Once complete it will prompt you to reboot.

  5. Run dneupdate.msi to update DNE, which is what's causing the BSOD.
  6. Reinstall the Cisco AnyConnect client.

While I was only able to test it on one machine, it did successfully fix my problem and by looking online it looks like it has fixed many others. As we deploy more Windows 7 machines I'll be sure to edit this post if I run into any problems with this process.

Popular posts from this blog

Beeline Case for iPhone 6 Review

Having a waterproof or shock proof phone case is great, but it doesn't do you a lot of good if you can't retrieve your phone from where it's been dropped.  This is the Beeline case for iPhone 6 and its main goal is to solve that very problem.  Beeline was kind enough to send me these cases for review and in this review we'll find out if Beeline's unique retractable carabiner make it a worthy companion for your next outdoor adventure.
Read more

Wireless Lapel Mic for Cisco Conference Calls

I was recently asked by one of our VP’s to investigate a way for people who are at a remote location to participate in a presentation at our corporate office.    My first thought was video conferencing, but video wasn’t necessary because participants didn’t need to see each other.    The only real requirement was to see the presentation slides and hear the presentation audio.    Since we have a Cisco Meetingplace server I figured that would be easy.    The challenge was the VP wanted the presenter to be heard clearly and not have to speak directly into a phone.    He suggested we find a wireless lapel mic. After looking at the  7937 product data sheet it noted that the phone supports "a third-party lapel microphone kit".  I assumed this was a Polycom product since the Cisco conference phones are made by Polycom.   I opened a chat session on Cisco’s website.    Both a Cisco agent and his supervisor said they didn’t know how the lapel mic worked.    They also didn’t know where
Read more

Review - LG Mega Capacity Washer and Dryer

If you want the best washer, you get a front loader.  If you want the best front loader you get an LG.  And if you want the best LG front loader, you get this. This is LG's 5.2 cu ft mega capacity washer.  It's definitely known for its capacity, but today in addition to that we're going to take an in depth look at some of the other features that LG has implemented and see if it's worth the hefty price tag that they require.
Read more

Amazon Affiliate Disclaimer

Please consider purchasing these products through my Amazon affiliate links. It's the same awesome Amazon price and experience for you and it helps me to keep making thorough reviews by paying me a commission.