Repairing Damaged Winsock2

The symptoms when Winsock2 is damaged shows when you try to release and renew the IP address using IPCONFIG. You get the following error message: An error occurred while renewing interface 'Internet': An operation was attempted on something that is not a socket.

OR

In Internet Explorer you may receive the following error message: The page cannot be displayed Additionally, you may have no IP address or no Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address, and you may be receiving IP packets but not sending them.

If you get such error message you can fix this in WindowsXP SP2, using a single line command to reset the winsock2 registry entries:
netsh winsock reset catalog

There are two easy ways to determine if Winsock2 is damaged:

From the XP source files, go to the Support / Tools directory

Winsock Test Method 1

Run netdiag /test:winsock

The end should say Winsock test ..... passed

Winsock Test Method 2

    Run Msinfo32
    Click on the + by Components
    Click on the by Network
    Click on Protocol
    There should be 10 sections if the Winsock2 key is ok

    MSAFD Tcpip [TCP/IP]
    MSAFD Tcpip [UDP/IP]
    RSVP UDP Service Provider
    RSVP TCP Service Provider
    MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
    MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
    MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
    MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
    MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
    MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...

If the names are anything different from those in this list, then likely Winsock2 is corrupted and needs to be repaired.
If you have any 3rd party software installed, the name MSAFD may be changed.
There should be no fewer than 10 sections.

To repair Winsock2

    Run Regedit
    Delete the following two registry keys:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock2

    Download Reg file to delete these entries

    Restart the computer
    Go to Network Connections
    Right click and select Properties
    Click on the Install button
    Select Protocol
    Click on the Add  button
    Click on the Have Disk button
    Browse to the \Windows\inf directory
    Click on the Open button
    Click on the OK button
    Highlight Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
    Click on the OK button
    Reboot

    Or Download Reg file to add the correct registries back in. Then reboot the computer